LUCKY SHIPPING REPORTER SURVIVES RAINFOREST CRASH LANDING

 Further proof that our  waterfront  roundsman is losing his facullties  due  to senile  decay and   the  grave  global shortage of  monkey gland injections  is  his   failure  to  instantly  snap up a  highly desirable object   at  the   monthly  market   in  the  leafy  grounds of the  Mundingburra   State    School ,Townsville .

Due to his deteriorating  eyesight , he  thought  it   was a   nondescript     souvenir   of  Melbourne's  Moomba  Festival, so  just took  a  photo  of the object.

With the help of a  magnifying  glass,  he  later  examined the  photo    and let out a  salty  oath as if  being masticated by hungry  Moby Dick  when he discovered it  was a  sandwich tray  for   the   MacRobertson  Trophy  London to Melbourne Air Race ,  described as the world's greatest , part of  Melbourne's  1934 centenary celebrations . 

 Here  is the snap of the  highly desirable  tray, with a small chip,  in all its glory, still  bearing  the  paltry  ten bucks  price  sticker.

On the left  is  an outline   of  the  United Kingdom ; there   are several  planes  depicted  heading  for   Australia  and  the years  1934-l935. 

There were  five compulsory stops along the way- Baghdad, Allahabad, Singapore, Darwin , in the Northern Territory, and Charleville, Queensland  .

The  wealthy Australian  confectionery  manufacturer  Sir  Macpherson  Robertson  put  up  15,000  pounds first prize   for the   18,222 km race , which started in October  1934 , watched by 60,000,   a  gold  medal  given  to  each pilot  who completed  the  flight within 16 days .

First off  was the Comet Black Magic  flown by Scottish pilot  Jim Mollison and his pioneering aviatrix wife,  Amy Johnson . Early leaders, they were forced  to retire in Allahabad due to engine trouble .

How could the Shipping Reporter possibly have  failed  to instantly realise the   importance of  this  link  with  Australia's  aviation history ? 

Belatedly  realising  its desirability ,  he hitched a lift back to the  market  , but all the dealers   had  packed   up  and  gone  home  , gnash,  gnash .

The   big   question   he asked  himself  over and over : Will  it still  be    available  in  a  month ? Of course,  some  other  smarter person may have  snapped it up   soon  after  the  myopic   Shipping  Reporter  took   the  candid  camera  snap.

Imagine his   delight when  he tottered  along to  the  market  after  an anxious   month    and   found   the  tray  still   for  sale !!!    

 Along  the way  he  managed  to  buy a large bundle of postcards , some of which  are a monty to  appear in  this blog ,  two  war  books , one  The Origins of the Second  World War,   by A.J.P. Taylor, with its extensive new Second Thoughts  introduction , and   took several  photos of  interesting other  items , some with a  nautical touch,   on display .