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her one night, which I sort of did but she said I wasn’t doing it properly. Which, she said, is why I wasn’t enjoying it as she expected me to, so she decided to give me lessons? It was just so awful –- not to mention the fact that she turned a bit nasty because she felt insulted. When we finally reached Kalgoorlie - still 600 kilometres from Perth - I rushed to see if I could change carriages. I would happily have gone the rest of the way to Perth by camel if need be to escape her clutches!

Sex, and Almost a New Brother and Sister
    Being back in Perth as a young adult was a lot of fun, catching up with family and the few friends I had, but I was missing Melbourne a lot. My family were most welcoming and I was also treated as though I was almost a ‘man’ - ‘almost’ being the key word - still not quite there today!
    On my return to Melbourne after the lovely holiday in Perth I started to attend theatres as well as cinemas. I couldn’t get enough of show business. I even joined the Beaumaris Players, a small amateur theatre group where I was given a tiny role - one line - in a play called The Shop at Sly Corner. I can still remember the first part of that one line - ‘Mrs Towser of Dunmow who passed close to the spot where the body was found...’ However, my stammer made it harder than most to deliver the line but I managed it successfully for the week it was playing.
    I also saw a few live shows and always managed to find a way backstage - I think I was so damned enthusiastic and just charmed my way past the stage door man. I remember being able to stand in the wings and watch excitedly as the various scenes changed. I also brushed shoulders with many stars of the day but I especially remember the singer David Whitfield, the pianist Winifred Atwell and the very buxom Sabrina from England, who was much sweeter than her sex-symbol image might have indicated. Occasionally I found myself sitting in the male dressing room at one of the musicals between the matinee and evening performances, mesmerised by the dancers putting on what seemed to be a ton of makeup followed by what were called dance belts - all that equipment into such a confined space! Thankfully, not one of them was interested in me ‘that’ way. I was definitely underage and cute so full marks to them.
    Melbourne was also my first experience of what is called a ‘ glory hole’ . The following might seem a bit distasteful to some of you but it is all a part of my growing up and yet another unique experience for me. I had to use the bathroom at the Australia Cinema and had just sat down when what looked like a baby’s arm fell through a hole in the wall. I almost passed out! I didn’t know whether to shake hands with it or what. I was out of there in a hurry! I found out much later in my ‘ beatnik’ phase that the Australia Cinema was notorious for this kind of activity. I came to have further experiences of a similar nature much later that always struck me as rather amusing. Over the years as I slowly ventured more into the gay scene I would occasionally come across other ‘ glory holes’ but they always scared me because you could never see who was attached to the member being thrust through the hole. It could have been Jack the Ripper, which is a scarier thought! The procedure in the cubicles was pretty much the same all over the world - feet would touch slowly under a cubicle then a note would be passed under the wall or through the hole asking pertinent questions such as ‘ Anywhere to go?’ and ‘ How old are you ?’ but all with the same intent of having a ‘quickie’. I’m pretty sure the AIDS scare finished this particular practice, not the healthiest pastime but very popular with some gay guys for many years.
    People ask me if I ever felt lonely doing everything on my own but in fact I thrived on my own company, except once when I attended an