After attending the
Biennial End of an Era Commemoration and Rededication Service at Nirimba Education Precinct on Saturday 17th of June
(2023) Brian 'Stroppie Chippy' McKenzie and I went
exploring in my car, to see how much my old '
Alma Marta' had changed since the closure back in 1993...
Suffice to say, there is virtually nothing readily recognisable from my days at
'Bonehead College' and although
Brian was very useful
(and patient,) in pointing out former landmarks, albeit resplendent in
their new livery, I found the whole exercise somewhat disorienting and overwhelming...
It would take a full day and copious photos
to fully review the entire grounds of what's become the
Western Sydney University, Nirimba Campus a.k.a. Nirimba Education Precinct,
(as impressive
as it is,) so I decided I'd leave it for another time, and drove out onto the airstrip for a final look back before departing...!
It was there that I was struck by something I
COULD relate to, taking me back to many days I spent as a regular
M.U.P., stripped to the waist, generously basted in raw cocoanut oil, under a scorching sun, in
what amounted to
'forced child labour' on the construction of the airstrip
Parade Ground Grandstand, hewn out of humongous beams stripped from the floor of the main dock at G.I.
(or was it Cockatoo..?)It was in the very early days of its construction, with our job being wielding oxy/ acetylene cutting equipment to burn out the huge rivets
(rods, actually,) securing the steel plating covering one complete side
of each of what were probably 12" x 12" x 15' wooden beams, which would ultimately be repurposed to build the solid
(and eventually, greatly modified,) grandstand...
The grandstand has long since been demolished, of course, but what little signs remain are the concrete pathways...
...added at some later stage, connecting each bank of the multi-section grandstand...
...but what really tickled me
was, upon closer inspection of the junction of the concrete paths in the photo above...
...was an actual chunk of the timber used in the construction, which
I may actually
have handled sixty years ago...! 
The hunk of timber I'm referring to can just be seen directly below the square of raised concrete...
...almost buried into the grass...
Never let it be said I didn't leave my mark at
HMAS Nirimba...!One final observation, here being pointed out by
Brian, is the advance of what I believe are
ADF service housing on reclaimed, built-up land, just beyond the airstrip, a new suburb called
Akuna Vista...
_________________
Rick Pengilly
WEBMASTER
Ex-CPOMTH3
R42630
13th MOBI Intake
July'62 to July'74
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Akuna Vista Estate... 