Bondi Local | Pat Coleman aka ‘Marni
Bondi Local | Pat Coleman aka ‘Marnie’
Born in 1929, Pat aka ‘Marnie’ and her late husband Barry raised five children in the same house in Bondi.
Melanie was introduced to Marnie by her God-Daughter Ava Matthews.
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Where did the nickname Marnie come from?
When I first became a grandmother I would have like to be called Granny but my grand daughter already had a ‘Granny’ on the other side and children don’t need two of them. I was watching a programme on television where they kept saying “Marnie, Marnie!” and the captions underneath were saying “Grandma, Grandma!” so that’s how I became ‘Marnie’. It’s Gaelic for grandma. And now most people refer to me as ‘Marnie’.
How long have you lived in Bondi?
Just about 50 years! I’ve seen a lot of changes. And always in this house. We’ve done a lot of lot of renovations. All the ceilings are new unfortunately. We had a ceiling fall in on us one time during a football final. You can imagine all the dirt. A lifetime of dirt!
You and your late husband Barry both flew for Qantas I believe?
Yes we did. We met when we were both working for Qantas. He had a girlfriend and I had a boyfriend at the time. Our first date was in Honolulu i.e. we went out with a group of people but we clicked. And then I’d be going one way and he’d be going another way but before too long we were being rostered on the same flights! We flew together for two years and we saw the world together which was fantastic. In those days we used to stay in really lovely hotels and we would be away for three or four weeks at a time.
Why did you move to Bondi?
Barry had lived in Bondi since he was 10. I grew up in Randwick. So we were both from the Eastern Suburbs. We moved here when his mother lived here, when we got married in 1957. She had lived here for 20 years before that, so I’ve been associated with this house for 70 years.
What do you love about Bondi?
I love the casual atmosphere. I love that everybody says hello to each other. You’re close to the beach so you get the sea breeze at night. We’re not right on the beach so we don’t get that awful stuff but we get the benefits by being just one street back. It’s the atmosphere. And it’s changed an awful lot in that time.
How for example?
Well it used to be more transient as many people were renting. And we had different nationalities, and I’m not going to denigrate any one nationality in particular, but we had one lot that was fighting all the time. It was awful. Then we had the neighbours, the renters who would put all their rubbish out on the street. It was just a totally different place.
When we had our children, Christmas was beautiful. Children were playing in the streets. There were not a lot of driveways then because not many people had a car. And you used to park in the street. And there were lots of nature strips and there’d be cricket played. And we always had a lot of children around us because we had a lot of children! And they always wanted to come to our house and Barry was always very sociable and so we’d have a Brighton Boulevard BBQ.
Is there anything like that still?
No, not really because people have moved in who are older or their kids are younger. Back then kids were allowed out to play on the street.
Christmas morning you’d hear the bells of the new bikes ringing. And the scooters and everyone would be racing up and down the street. And it was just so different. Children were fortunate. But we did have a couple of cranky ladies who lived next door to us. They never wanted the children to walk on the nature strip. So when I was going shopping I took great delight in walking along the nature strip!
The summer time was the best time of year. We’d all make the beds and have the house tidy and then at 10 o’clock we’d have the bread, the food, the fruit and lots of light lemon cordial with lots of ice, the boogie boards, umbrellas, flippers and goggles – it was like a caravan. And with the neighbours we’d all go down to the beach with the children and there’d be a whole lot of us down there. We’d get down there between 10 and half past and stay until 6:30 – 7 o’clock at night. It was the most wonderful time … zinc cream all over the children. T Shirts would go on at lunch time.
Do you remember the Bondi Beach Hire?
You mean where you’d get the spray and hire the surfboard? Yes!
We’d all sit on the edge of the sand [the kids] with their Coolite surf boards because they weren’t old enough then for fibreglass and there’d be 5 or 6 mothers and we’d all watch them and then we’d get them in for lunch and then off they’d go and then the mothers would go in at about 6 o’clock. The children would push us into the waves on their surfboards.
And my children, because we lived at the sea, they were all in the nippers. Girls weren’t allowed in then, only boys. Debbie [Marnie’s daughter] wasn’t interested. She was a ballerina, so she danced. So they learnt how to judge the sea, the rips. It’s so important. I think it’s something that everyone should be taught for free. The Government should provide lessons for free to all children. My kids were all in the march past and Mark had the flag, and the belt one, feeding the rope and all the exercises. I’ve been to every beach in NSW for all the competitions!
They all wanted a fibreglass surfboard and I said when you can swim 3 miles out to sea and you earn half the money then we’ll pay the other half.
They’re 50 something now and they still surf. Now they’re teaching their children to surf.
Bondi was much less developed in those days. There were not a lot of apartment blocks. Barry my husband said to me, “one day this will all be units” and he was quite right. He also said “but they won’t get our house because I’m going to leave here in a wooden overcoat!”. So he’s gone and now I’ll leave here in a wooden overcoat.
There’s a lot of local shops up in our neighbourhood. It’s a real little community.
Are there many people from your era still around the neighbourhood?
I don’t think there are many still living!
You’ve outlived them all!
A lot of them have moved away. And a lot have died.
Have they passed on their homes to their families?
A lot of them passed their places on to the children and then the children have sold up and moved.
One day I was coming home and I saw a for sale sign next door and I got worried as I thought they might be putting in units. I called the Council and they told me about a by-law that says that unit blocks can only be built on the one side of the road and not the other. I said that’s very strange because there are some blocks on this side, and anyway why one side or the other? We were never notified of that by-law. Nobody was.
Do you ever eat out in Bondi?
There’s The Depot down the road. And there’s bills down in the new development on Hall Street. Since the Hakaoh Club came down we have a fantastic little shopping area down there.
What did you think of the Hakoah Club being pulled down?
I thought it was the best thing since sliced bread. We’ve got Harris Farm, we’ve got Italian Restaurants, we’ve got bills. We’ve got Papa’s where you can get those cannolis, great coffee. There’s a fish shop. We’ve got a great fish shop just up the road here too, Bondi’s Best.
Up the road we have a couple of little coffee shops and we’ve got a new American Diner [Paradise Road Diner].
The first thing I learnt about you is that you were an amazing cook.
When I first got married I couldn’t cook. My step-mother was a chef at Government House. She cooked wonderful food and my father always had a fruit and vegetable business. That’s why I’ve lived so long I think. We always had the best food. She was very innovative for her age. We used to have to take date sandwiches and cold lamb sandwiches to school. And we’d be running around singing, “who wants to swap sandwiches for jam!” So she would never let us cook but we used to watch her occasionally. She used to make the most beautiful Christmas puddings. She’d make about 10 for friends and neighbours. She’s make them in the copper coz we had big coppers back then. She’d hang them from a dowling to dry until she had to give them away.
Anyway, when I got married I couldn’t cook at all. But you learn over the years. Two friends and I saw that Charmaine Solomon had just arrived in Australia from Sri Lanka. It was when Gough Whitlam was in [as Prime Minister] and we could do, for $5 or $10, this course at East Sydney Tech, and so off we trotted to Charmaine Solomon’s course. She lasted a year and we stayed the year with her. And we learnt such a lot from that. We learnt Chinese, Thai and Sri Lankan. We had the best ingredients and we’d have a banquet. I’d come home and tell the children what I’d made and then do it the next day but that south east Asian cooking - there’s such a lot of preparation – I’d be chopping all day and stirring the wok and then these five children would come home and it would be gone in five minutes! I got to love cooking and I always let my children in the kitchen. Mark used to make pavlovas. His were the best pavlovas. Even the grandchildren can cook.
When I was young at meal times children were seen and not heard but in my house meal times were the most social and wonderful times. When you’ve got a lot of children [Marnie has 5] all the other children come to you. The boys would bring their girlfriends home. It must have been so daunting!
Do you have a motto for life?
I have a motto for me now because I don’t have that many more years left so I’m going to enjoy what I’ve got: “Life is beautiful. You get out of life what you put into it.” And that’s what I tell the young ones.
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PS: Marnie only told Melanie after they finished their interview that post her kids leaving home, she ended up working at UNSW for the Faculty of Law. She was seconded to Law Asia and was twice sent to the Philippines as a their representative. She ultimately retired when she was 70. Inspiring stuff.
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Full interview on SoundCloud below or HERE
