THE INSULATOR COLLECTING HOBBY IS GROWING!
Part 1: "Let's recognize our fellow collectors in 
Australia and New Zealand"

On October 20, 1993, Bill and I boarded Continental flight #789 in Houston to begin a month long vacation in Australia and New Zealand. It was our first time to travel to this part of the world and we were excited! The principle reason for our trip was to spend some time with our son Mark Albers and his family, who live in Black Rock (near Melbourne) in the State of Victoria. We suspected we might visit a few insulator collectors as well, since word had spread that we were coming. 

Approximately 22 hours after we left home, our plane landed in Sydney. It was 6:30 in the morning on Friday and it had been a long, killer flight! Seconds after we had cleared Customs, we spotted our good friend Laura Monckton, who had risen early and driven to the airport to meet us. From that point on, everything was positive. Laura and I are long time insulator buddies and have corresponded for years. Many of you will remember meeting her when she flew to Houston for the 1988 NIA National Show. We met Laura's husband Gary for the first time (he's neat!) and were invited to spend the weekend at their home in Gymea. During the next three days together we saw many sights in and around Sydney, spent a lot of good visiting time, took a couple of long walks, learned about Australian birds, plants and opals, ate too much, and threw away the calorie book. Bill even learned how to lawn bowl! We also spent more than a little time admiring Laura's very extensive collection of insulators from Australia, New Zealand, Europe, and North America. On Sunday evening we said good-bye to these two special friends and moved on. It wasn't easy. 

Laura and Gary Monckton

For the next two days we did a little sight-seeing on our own and met with three other collectors at our hotel in Sydney. Richard Edmonds is one of the friendliest and most enthusiastic collectors I have ever met. He is 20 years oId and has almost an uncanny sense of how and where to find the most desirable insulators -- and he's fast, according to. his companions an the trail!

Richard Edmonds

Warren and Faye Foster are relatively new to the insulator hobby but have managed to gather together quite a large (like humongous) collection in a short time. They do not lack for friendliness, enthusiasm or dedication, either. We did some trading and enjoyed a lovely dinner together before we left Sydney. Warren has since had triple bypass surgery, but he is doing well now, and they are going to make every effort to attend the Houston NIA National in 1994. We are betting on them!

Warren and Faye Foster

The following day, we flew to Melbourne for the long awaited reunion with our son and his family. Mark (36) is on a three year assignment with Esso Australia, serving as Technical Manager of their Production Department. He and his wife Cindy have four children, including Amy, our seven month old (as of this printing) baby granddaughter, whom we looked forward to meeting far the first time! The next two weeks at their home were precious time, and we packed everything into them we could: a weekend at Wilson's Promontory, where we saw many of Australia's wild animals and colorful birds in their natural habitat, and a stop-off at Phillip Island on the way home to see the Fairy Penguins parade in out of the sea at the end of the day; the childrens' ball games and Sports Days; a visit to Mark's corner office on the 35th floor of the Melbourne Central building (what a view!), and a peek at Byron's (10), David's (7) and Amanda's (5) school; many fine meals prepared by Cindy; a scenic drive along the Great Ocean Road, including Loch Ard Canyon and the rock formations known as "The Twelve Apostles", etc. The best of all was just being together, seeing where they live, catching up on family news and passing warm hugs all around.

Cindy and Mark Albers, 
with children 
(L-R) David, Amy, Byron 
and Amanda

During our time in Melbourne, we were also able to work in visits with a few insulator collectors.

Lucas Wollaston, a long time' collector friend and pen pal cheerfully took a long train ride up to Melbourne from his home in Delamere, South Australia. We had only a couple of hours together, which went way too fast, but we enjoyed the time and were able to trade a few good insulators. Lucas is a fine young man and a very knowledgeable collector!

Lucas Wollaston

Gail and Noel Dawson

We had previously corresponded with Gail and Noel Dawson, who live in Grovedale just around the bay from Melbourne, but we had never met them. When they learned of our visit to Australia, they very graciously offered to host a get-together and barbecue at their home one evening, saying that there were other insulator collectors in the area who would like to meet us. The invitation was happily accepted and we were able to meet five other families who live in the general area. Everyone brought food and the meal was delicious. The Dawson's son Andrew was responsible for much of the preparation, including help at the barbecue pit. He is very active in Scouts, judging from the many patches he had sewn on his poncho. The family insulator collection holds many rare specimens, one in particular, which will appear in Part II of this article coming up in the April issue of CROWN JEWELS. It was a pleasure to tell them that the piece has been assigned a new CD number! 

Among the guests that evening were:

Alan Norton of Black Forest, S. Australia (he just happened to be in town on business, and we regret not meeting his wife Muriel)

Lorraine and Ron Bernard from Yarraville, Victoria

Vicki and Brian Bates, who live close to the Dawsons

Ern and Esma Taylor, whose home is in N. Geelong, Victoria

Cheryl and Brian Woodman of Corio, Victoria

They were all enthusiastic about insulators and meeting them was a very rewarding experience. It was interesting to learn that most pieces in Australia change hands by means of trading, rather than buying, so collectors are curious about how we price insulators on this side of the ocean. Needless to say, several trades were agreed upon before we left the Dawson household!

For the past couple of years I've exchanged letters with Mike and Gill Hornabrook, who live on a sheep and cattle ranch near Casterton, in the south of Victoria. They had hoped that Bill and I might be able to make a visit down there, as well. This was arranged with Mark and Cindy, and at the end of a combination train/ bus ride, Mike met us in Casterton and we headed toward their home in the country. We stopped at a neighbor's place along the way to watch sheep being sheared and were impressed at the large number of animals that trained shearers can handle in a single day. It's quite an art. Gill greeted us at the door, offering hot tea and cookies bigger than they make 'em in Texas! We enjoyed these two friends immensely, and did many things together in the 24 hours we were there. We ate cold boiled "yabbies" (crawfish) fresh from their farm pond, enjoyed Kangaroo sausage, mutton stew and Gill's homemade lemon pie, and walked the fields with Mike to learn about many of Australia's trees. After admiring his fine collection of insulators displayed inside, Mike invited me to choose some pieces from the large piles of duplicates lying everywhere outside (that was fun!). In the meantime, their son Jim gave Bill a tour of the Hornabrook sheep station where their own sheep had recently been shorn. The visit ended all too soon, but we all had a wonderful time. Then it was back by bus/train to Melbourne to enjoy the last 2 days with our family.

Mike And Gill Hornabrook

On November 11, we left Australia on Qantas Airlines to begin the first lap of our return to the States, stopping over in Auckland, New Zealand for a few days. It was the weekend, and Kieran Shanahan, whom I've known for years, had arranged to meet us at the airport and we were soon on our way to his home in Browns Bay, just outside of Auckland. There we met Sheryll, Kieran's lovely wife of 2 years. They urged us to stay with them and we're so glad we did! It was precious time and they were both a delight! We took in many quaint shops with gifts, colored glass and antiques, enjoyed beautiful views in and around Auckland, rode the ferry across the bay, picnicked in the park, visited the Auckland Zoo, went to Waitomo to see the Glow Worm Caves, etc. And Sheryll continued to put delicious meals in front of us. Kieran not only collects insulators, but electrical warning signs, switches, fuses, cobalt bottles, battery jars, inks, glass piano casters, old books and marbles, etc. Thanks to his generosity, we added a large carton of insulators to be checked on the plane back to Houston. We learned a lot from listening to Kieran -- he's a very well-read young fellow. And he picked a winner when he married Sheryll! They both asked me to stress that any collectors who find themselves in Auckland are welcome guests in their home.

Kieran and Sheryll Shanahan

Bill and I are indebted to all these people who bent over backwards to make us feel welcome, especially our children and grandchildren. We have many memories to cherish. I might add that collectors there would like to correspond with any of our readers who are interested in trading insulators or information. Laura Monckton and Kieran Shanahan are listed in the current CROWN JEWELS Directory, and if you will write me, I'll be happy to supply addresses for any of the other collectors.