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It was the case in Brisbane as well, - hence the battle.
From the link that you provided,
Quote:
News reports of the incident (November 1942) were suppressed overseas, and the reasons for the riot were not mentioned in the few Australian newspaper reports of the event.
Could it have been sparked by US submarine torpedoing and sinking of the Montevideo Maru in April 1942?
My father served in the Royal Navy ( HMS Implacable ) and spent quite a bit of time in Australia during WWII.
Then when it was time for the family to emigrate, he flipped a coin between Melbourne and South Carolina. South Carolina it was. Otherwise I would be Australian. Other family emigrated to Australia or Canada. Still have a cousin in Australia. And several in Canada. I still have family in the UK, as most did not emigrate.
Indeed, and on all my annual visits to Australia ( 1990-1997 ) I couldn't help but wonder what my life there might have been like.
All of my visits there were at the invitation of the Australian government ( BOM and CSIRO ). And I always had time to explore a bit. Darwin, Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide, and the northwest of Tasmania ( Cape Grim ).
All my visits to South Africa were holidays, mostly for mountain climbing ( I was much younger then ). I just love Cape Town.
Have only been to SA twice, in 1998 and last year. Just love the place and Capetown is one of my top five favourite places in the world.
But… we were so sad last year to see no improvement in so many ways in the twenty-five years between our visits. The country continues to be crippled by “load shedding†ie acute shortages of power. In May they were experiencing up to eight hours a day without power.
Two happenings stay in my mind. One was when going on an early morning game drive we were provided with a very large picnic breakfast. Our guide commented that it was about as much as most people get to eat in a day. The second was a query as to why there were not more bicycles being used. The reply was that most people cannot afford one and even if they can, where can they leave it without it being stolen.
We had a tour to Kenya cancelled by Covid in 2020 and have only been to Zimbabwe in 1998. So hard for me to compare SA with other countries. I find it unique.
Very unique indeed. In fact on my first visit may decades back I came so close on remaining there. Life was so good and far more 'exciting' (not quite the word (interesting perhaps better than The South West Coast of Australia)
Work was easy. The group I fell in with were so far removed from the local youth of my time to make any comparison insane.
More visual stimulation. Actual movement. Far more worldlier IMO. Less predictable by far. One thing I noticed on more recent returns is just how dangerous Durban has become. Nothing akin to live decades back and very wary there Down Town regardless of time of day. Not so still in Cape Town although have come close to potentially a couple of dangerous possible outcomes.
Very interesting hearing the views of Modern RSA by the various races. Actually many are not to far removed in opinion regardless of colour and race . I feel the main problem is that the black people always experienced a high level of crime with undeserved regularity, but has escalated, a lot thanks to the drug termed tic over there , not to unlike meth over here. Where as the whites who were rather protected in times past, now experience a far escalated crime rate with little fear. Still know a number that have not experienced any serious crime and good protection avails in many wealthy white neighbourhoods.
As for bicycles, I dare say that is true. Then again I or my then partner had three bicycles stolen in London over the course of seven odd years (All with decent locks) and five had house break ins, (one an inside job) not including a gang street attack with weapons that occurred outside that period in London. Obviously in RSA a far shorter period but when lived there nothing more than a few 'minor' bar scrapes that could happen anywhere. (especially OZ at the time)
I do hear about the power crisis very present there now. I don't recall it experiencing it when last there but that was 2012.
As for safari parks, far prefer the ones that it is allowed to self drive. One near Richards Bay comes to mind. (I wonder if it still so?) Besides lions we found every animal we sought at our own speed .
I have been on organised safari tours and not nearly as good and some mighty expensive staying over night.
Great to hire a car and do own thing. Garden Route very easy. Namibia is another country I'd recommend. Although the driving is there is terrible and we had a tire blow out in a rental car , just avoiding leaving the road.
Indeed, and on all my annual visits to Australia ( 1990-1997 ) I couldn't help but wonder what my life there might have been like.
All of my visits there were at the invitation of the Australian government ( BOM and CSIRO ). And I always had time to explore a bit. Darwin, Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide, and the northwest of Tasmania ( Cape Grim ).
All my visits to South Africa were holidays, mostly for mountain climbing ( I was much younger then ). I just love Cape Town.
I don't think I've met a person yet that hasn't failed under the spell of The Mother City. (Cape Town) Most unique place indeed. Something in the air, outside of the vista, that screams this is different, in the best of ways.
You've kind of answered your own question here, apartheid was a huge factor in South Africa's isolation.
Still plenty of tourists during those years. I dare say any one wanting a fairly crime free assurance while desiring an African experience would pick RSA.
If anything the constant international press of the time on apartheid matters , would have ensured South Africa was in the minds of many, who otherwise may not have given it much thought.
Have you been to SA and to Australia? I am not sure what similarities you can observe? We spent two weeks in SA last year and I really cannot think of many comparisons at all.
There are definitely many similarities between SA and Australia, house construction style, small town porches and shops, outdoor lifestyle, BBQ culture (Braai in Afrikaans), etc...
Road signs are similar, many think Durban, for example, look like an Australian city. British South African accent sound a bit similar to Australian accent as well.
SA was also pretty much the only export market (with New Zealand) for Australian car models (when Australia did produce cars) Holden and Fords.
They even shared many same TV ads with different wording
A South African couple I met when I was living in Vancouver Canada, they are still very good friend of mine, left South Africa at the end of the 1990s and toured Australia and North America extensively, eventually they decided to move to Canada because Australia, in their words, reminded them of SA, very similar vibes and they wanted a more dramatic change.
Last edited by saturno_v; 03-06-2024 at 08:06 PM..
Road signs are similar, many think Durban, for example, look like an Australian city. British South African accent sound a bit similar to Australian accent as well.
When looking at the two sets, except for the speed limit signs (which are pretty universal just about everywhere outside the US and Canada) and the stop signs, one will see that they're very different - Australia veering towards North America and South Africa towards Europe.
Or unless, saturno_v, you means the street signs?
As for the accent, emphasis on "a bit", because the South African accent has a very strong Afrikaner/Dutch influence totally lacking in the Australian accent.
Last edited by yofie; 03-06-2024 at 11:20 PM..
Reason: adding one more sentence
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