June Locock
June Morley was born on October 29 , 1938 , at Craignish Maternity Hospital in Windsor .
Dad , Lawrence “ Barney ” was an always in-demand farmhand and his work took him and the family from Colo , to Richmond , to Ebenezer and finally in 1942 to Sackville Reach .
“ Mum , Vera , found employment running the Sackville Reach Post Office and manning the telephone exchange ,” June said .
June ’ s education began at Ebenezer Public School which was four miles away from the Morley family home .
“ I either walked it , rode a bike or a horse – my journey to and from school always involved whichever mode of transport was most convenient ,” June laughed .
June ’ s education ended after Year 9 at Richmond High when she departed for that job at M . L . Morris .
In 1954 16-year-old June met another local farmhand , Jack Bonser , at a social tennis venue and friendship and then love developed , the couple becoming engaged a year later and then marrying the following year at St Matthews Anglican Church , Windsor .
Over the ensuing years , as she became mother to Sandra , Wayne and Neale , June was able to mix motherhood with hard yakka , travelling to farms around the district earning a quid picking potatoes , beans , peas and citrus .
“ From 1963 until its closure in 1975 , I had the opportunity to operate the Sackville North Post Office , which was out front of our family home ,” June said .
June and Jack divorced in 1976 but love returned to her life , developing a longtime relationship with Kevin Kidd , who worked in the Commonwealth Works Department at Richmond RAAF .
“ Kevin was a wonderful man but he left us on March 22 , 1999 after a debilitating stroke ,” June said .
Kevin ’ s death was the second tragedy experienced by June - on August 16 , 1980 , her youngest son , 20-year-old Neale , an apprentice carpenter , died in a car accident only 200 metres from the family home .
But life with all its trials and tribulation always finds a way to lift the spirit .
And that happiness came in the shape of Barry Locock , whose wife , Jan , had passed away in February 2002 .
“ I had vaguely known Barry and we firstly became friends and then fell in love , marrying on July 3 , 2004 , at Kanwal on the Central Coast ,” June said .
Ever since their marriage , Barry and June have been hard to pin down !
To say they have a bad dose of the travel bug , is to say Bill Bryson loved getting on board a plane and heading for another interesting destination .
“ We have done all of Australia by caravan and we have just completed our 25th cruise ,” June said .
“ Both Barry and I are really enjoying life in , should I say , it , our twilight years but we ’ re both healthy and I ’ m sure further years afloat are ahead of us .”
June and Barry have criss-crossed Australia umpteen times , north to south , east to west and there ’ s hardly a town or city they haven ’ t parked their vehicle and caravan .
The travel bug has taken them around the world – Europe ( river cruises ), the Mediterranean , Scandinavia , the Far East , the Caribbean , New Zealand and Hawaii .
One of the highlights of their travels was a road trip down the east coast of the USA , visiting all the tourist hot-spots including Elvis ’ mansion in Memphis , Nashville ’ s Grand Ole Opry , and the vibrant and colourful New Orleans .
Yep , life is travelling smoothly for these two with the wanderlust – they are both living a lifestyle they deserve .
June and Barry take time off on a recent cruise along the majestic Rhine River to get their “ sea legs ” on a visit to a delightful garden in Austria .
THE HILLS INDEPENDENT theindependentmagazine . com . au ISSUE 106 // APRIL 2024 7