Tales of PNG – Experiences of Two Women

Presenters: LIz Thurston and Marie Clifton-Bassett
Date: Sunday 19 May 2019
Time: 11.30am – 2.30pm
Where: Gordon Golf Club, 2 Lynn Ridge Avenue, Gordon. NSW.
Cost: $15 per person – lunch can be purchased at own expense.
RSVP: 9 May 2019 to Sara Turner Email: events@pngaa.net
Payment by direct debit (please notify admin@pngaa.net) or by using the form below.

Liz Thurston’s early childhood was spent on Makurapau Plantation past Kokopo. Her father, Ted Fulton, arrived in Rabaul in 1926, and before the war was gold prospecting in the Sepik with Jack Thurston. Liz, with her husband and children, circumnavigated the world for four years on their yacht, Drina, in the early 80s. Liz chronicled their voyage in her book, Dolphins at Sunset. IN 2005 Pandanus Books published her father’s memoir, No Turning Back, which Liz edited and contributed to. During her time as a committee member of PNGAAm Liz was privileged to work on the DVD, Walk Into Paradise. She was also on the committee of the Rabaul and Montevideo Maru Society as her uncle was lost on the ship. In 2013 Liz bought land in Fiji and has built a plantation house that overlooks the Koro Sea. The scent of frangipani in her garden and the trade wind sunsets bring back delicious memories of her PNG childhood.

Marie Clifton-Bassett will touch on highlights of her life – describing what it was like going to PNG in the 1950s, and making a new life in a strange country. Her husband rose through the ranks of the then Department of District Services and Native Affairs so we will hear a little about what life was like as the wife of a District Commissioner. After returning to Australia following PNG Independence, Marie joined the Australia Council for the Arts and has since enjoyed retirement and overseas travel.