Looking Back with Jac: A life well travelled with Loris

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Loris and I had never met but it wasn’t long before we realised we both shared a love of travel, and boy do I have some catching up to do.

As I sat down in a stunning vintage chair with a soft covering, I noticed the perfect view Loris had from her room.

It overlooked the small lagoon and the Deniliquin Children’s Centre where you could hear the joyous ring of children’s laughter and play.

She described the kids as “so cute”, and says she loves hearing them play.

Loris was born on September 4, 1928 in Nagambie, to loving parents Rose and William Atley.

She has three siblings Bill (dec), Katherine and John – affectionately known as Jack.

As her story starts, she takes me through a childhood of many locations due to her father’s job as a farmer and station manager.

It was when he became the station manager of a property near Eppalock that her story takes shape.

“When I think of my childhood that’s where I think of,” she said.

“We stayed there until the owner’s eldest son was able to take over; it’s a long story.”

The owner had been tragically killed. His son went jackarooing to gain experience, and when he was ready he returned to take over from Loris’ family.

“We went to a little bush school during the war and the year I left school it closed.

“We had a teacher we shared with another school up the road.

“We did three days one week and two days the other, and we were at home on the off days.

“I can’t recall but I imagine he would set us work that we had to do.

“Our teacher came out of retirement and used to ride his bike to school.

“We moved to Blighty in 1943 when I was around 14 years old,.

“As soon as I was 17 I went to Melbourne nursing. I did general nursing at Fairfield Infectious Hospital and midwifery at the Royal Women’s in Melbourne.”

She then returned to Deniliquin for a couple of years.

“I originally came home on holidays.

“I had hardly got home before they sent someone out from the hospital to say they were short staffed,” she said.

“So I stayed to help out.

“It was good because all the big stuff I had seen in Melbourne enabled me to do the basic stuff at home really well.”

From there Loris headed to a quaint country hospital in Beechworth that she said “was nice to work at”.

After that it was to the hustle and bustle of the Dandenong Hospital while waiting to travel to Queensland with a friend.

The pair eventually took off for Townsville, and after six months travelled further to the Atherton Tablelands known for its National Parks and waterfalls.

They stayed a couple of years.

“I loved it up there.

“My sister Katherine informed me she was having her third baby, so I said I would come home before the baby was born, which I did,” she said.

Next Loris went to Eildon where she married and had her two beautiful children, Linda and Bruce.

“We then went to Melbourne to live,” she said.

Loris moved back to Deniliquin with her children and it then became her home base when she wasn’t travelling the world.

“I took up community nursing, which was called mobile nursing then.

“I was the second mobile nurse here.

“Then Matron Fee offered me a job at the Deniliquin Hospital. I stayed until I retired in 1988.”

In that time, Loris did a diploma of nurse education and worked at the nursing school.

“It was a small school for nursing.

“We were affiliated with Wagga Wagga Base Hospital and we had general students from around the district that we taught.

“Nine hospitals participated in a block system on rotation, in groups, for enrolled nurse training.

“Students come to us from all around the district for theory and then back to their own hospitals for the practical side.

“I didn’t really want to do it at first. I was asked twice and I thought, I can’t keep saying no,” she giggled.

“I really got to like it after that, and I did it until I retired.”

In between travels Loris cared for her parents in their home, both aged in their 90s.

“It got a little bit too much after a while and mum went into hospital where she passed, and dad to Navorina until he passed.”

Loris’ first overseas trip was to Fiji with her daughter. She also did two trips around Australia on camping safari.

Perhaps one of her proudest trips – and one I am completely in awe of – is her solo trip around most of the world.

“I thought I’m only doing this once, so I did Europe, England, Scotland, Wales and Canada.

“I didn’t have any interest in America.

“I didn’t mind travelling on my own, it was safer then.

“It was a different world then, people were very friendly on my travels. I feel they were more friendly because I was on my own.”

The only difficulty she had on her travels was a mix up with no visa.

She had been told before setting off that no visa was required in transit for up to six hours at the time.

“This wasn’t the case,” she said, half giggling at the thought.

“So I was met off the plane by two big, burly security guards, they took me in and I just had to sit there.”

I was quietly, smirking to myself.

I had just seen the first hint of a rebel in Loris that I knew was in there, but just took me ages to coax it out of her.

“After sitting there for a while they finally sorted it out and returned my passport to me, and all was well.”

Loris returned to Deni from this trip and enjoyed being back at her home base for a while.

Her next adventure involved a trip with her sister to England on a university stay.

“We stayed at the universities while the students were away on holidays,” she said.

“We visited Cardiff in Wales, Dundee in Scotland and back to Canterbury.

“They took us on tours every day, it was wonderful.”

I asked about the stays and Loris told me to “Google it”.

There is something about the elder generation telling me to ‘Google it’ that makes me laugh. I tired so hard not to show my amusement.

The travel bug was well and truly in Loris’ heart, and her next adventure was a trip with two friends.

This time they explored Switzerland, Austria, the Italian Alps and into Italy.

Then the trio made their way to England where they hired a large motorhome for the remainder of their trip.

“It was only $2000 shared between the three of us for 50 days,” she said, recalling it was a bargain at the time.

“I was the nominated driver and I didn’t have any issues.

“We travelled to the east coast to the top of Scotland, across and back down the west coast, right around the bottom of England and back,” she said.

“I really enjoyed the trip; it was a good trip.

“I’ve been lucky enough to do travelling.”

I don’t think luck had anything to do with it.

I think it was the result of hard work, and a strong independent woman ready to explore the world.

And explore she did – even if they were only short trips.

When Loris’ daughter started her family, Loris would spend a lot of time going backwards and forwards between Deni and the Mornington Peninsula.

“I have four grandchildren and one great grandchild,” she said proudly.

Loris was also a trailblazer of the Deniliquin and district community.

She and Sonia Rapley were among the first women to be allowed to join the Probus Club of Deniliquin — a club for retired or semi-retired business or professional people.

They paved the way for many more to come, and were honoured with others for their long service to the group.

“We used to have a social luncheon once a month and little trips that we paid for ourselves,” she said.

“It was a wonderful time.”

Loris has called Orana home for the last 3.5 years and says the staff “are amazing”.

Her brother Jack is also in Orana, while sister Kathy is in Bendigo.

Being my cheeky self I asked Loris what her secret to beautiful ageing is. She smiled and responded.

“Longevity is in our family. I have a first cousin who is 102,” she said.

She also shared a secret which has been repeated by many of her generation, that good food is the way to a long fulfilling life.

I could have sat and talked to Loris for hours more.

Before I left we looked through her photos and old newspaper clippings, and there is one thing I know for sure: Loris is a beautiful lady with a literal world of experience, a gentle nature and a lifetime of stories to share.