Each week I post another fascinating true-life excerpt from my friend & mentor’s journals while she was Housekeeper & Cook at The Flamingo, during the period 1968-1999, titled Cookie’s Diaries. Together we’ve changed a few things around & set Cookies story in a fictional Australian country town so as to protect the innocent & the not so innocent!  We hope you enjoy Cookies journey from such humble & all but penniless beginnings to owning & running the highly successful country guesthouse, ‘The  Flamingo’. To read the last chapter click HERE.
PARSNIP & MUSTARD SOUP & MAKING SENSE OF THE 70′s
Despite ourselves, we could not NOT watch No. 96 each week, the television show that had taken our world by storm with a level of titillation and taboo subjects that had never been seen on Australian television before. The night No. 96 premiered was to be known as “the night Australian television lost its virginity”.
Frederick & Jamie were great fans of the show, because for the first time ever the character Lawyer, Don Finlayson was openly gay & had several boyfriends over the course of the series. I imagine looking back both men looked upon this television series as profound in the least. You couldn’t walk down the street & chat with friends without everyone talking about No. 96′s most famous sex symbol, Abigail, & our guests would have caused a riot if the television was not turned on & tuned in to No. 96 at 8.30 pm each night for the show.
Our world was changing so rapidly with a social voice that just got louder & louder, it seemed the old ways were crumbling & my generation were responsible for actively pushing all the boundaries. Â We all had our opinions on the politics of the day, the Vietnam War & thrilled that our marches & demonstrations had brought our boys home. Women’s Liberation was a term loosely thrown about and it was always interesting to guess which guest would be for or against, as it was not at all fashionable to simply not care either way for these hot topics back then. Even Frederick wore side burns & let his hair grow down, almost to his shoulders as a concession to fashion & the styles worn back then. Continue Reading 
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