Once settled in Australia (in Wollongong), I found myself wondering about the many Dutch mariners from Royal Interocean Lines who were living in Sydney. I wanted to make contact and was surprised that there was no annual reunion.
With my wife Kate, I decided to organize one. We thought that if we met with only one other couple for dinner, it would be worth the effort and cost.
We
set a date and went to see the owner of the restaurant Warung
Indonesia. Many of you will remember this lovely woman who delighted in our
scheme and got right behind us.
We
talked menu and cost, and agreed to let her know the numbers as early as
possible. We could not guess at a figure but told her to expect anything from 2
to 40.
The
advertisement was placed in the Sydney Morning Herald and the then “Dutch
Australia Weekly”. We had fun wording the advertisement, but the real fun started
as the letters and phone calls began.
People
familiar and unfamiliar telephoned and we were delighted and excited as the
cheques rolled in and the numbers grew.
One
of the people who rang was Kees van Geffen from Bateman’s Bay. As well as
accepting the invitation on behalf of his wife Essy
and himself he offered to paint the RIL flag on hardboard. Kees’ flag was
prominent at several of our celebrations and I have been told that he later
painted the KPM flag as well. Aart Hopman from Canberra rang and we had the
pleasure of his company in Wollongong before and after some of the reunions.
Another
who replied to the advertisement was Wim Schröder. He
was in touch with several RIL personnel and offered to spread the word. Sadly
Wim is no longer with us but when Kate and I retired as organizers after the
first five years, he and John Papenhuizen took up the
reins.
That
first reunion was held on a cold May evening and those of you who were there
may remember the atmosphere of expectation as people arrived and started to
take their seats.
Kate
and I could hardly contain our excitement as the dinner began and we received
word that SIXTY-THREE people had indeed turned up.
A
short time into the evening I stood to introduce myself and to welcome everyone
to the dinner that was to become the first of the Annual Reunions.
I
spoke briefly of my own career with RIL and suggested that we go around the
tables and hear a summary of each person’s experience with RIL
This
resulted in some marvellous moments. Everyone spoke and we were treated to a
feast of memories.
One
particularly moving moment occurred when Nico Buis (who was inspired to go home and organize a Melbourne
Reunion) stood to introduce himself. He had only just said his name and ship
when suddenly, with a shriek of recognition, a colleague with whom he had been
close twenty-odd years earlier, leaped to his feet from the chair immediately
behind Nico and the two were reunited in a big
spontaneous hug.
The
stories and laughter continued until the tolerant and understanding staff let
us know they wanted to close. Some of the revellers went home while others made
their way to another venue but most agreed we would have to do it again.
Word
spread during the following year and our second reunion found 90 people
crowding into Warung Indonesia. We decided we would
have to look for another venue.
Because people had
travelled long distances, from Melbourne, Canberra, Bateman’s Bay, Dora Creek,
Gosford etc we changed to midday events and our third reunion was a luncheon
cruise on the Showboat. I think our fourth may have been on the Showboat as
well and then we moved to Chinatown.
A
wonderful gift accompanied our second reunion. On behalf of RIL, Rinus Barneveld offered to sponsor the reunions. That
sponsorship has continued ever since and is greatly appreciated.
Kate and I are very sorry to be
missing today’s 20th reunion – we are in Europe to attend our first
RIL-KPM reunion in Amsterdam. Have a wonderful time: we look forward to hearing
all about it.
Willem
Bras