DAYS OF WINE AND ROSES….
*By Delerine Munzeer*
*Moiya Hazell recalls what it was like to be born in “Ceylon” and live a
carefree life on a tea plantation in “Ceylon” over half a century ago…*
*Moiya Hazel on her recent visit to Norwood where she spent her early
childhood***
Norwood Bungalow as it stands today is one of the world famous “Ceylon Tea
Trails” bungalows, which maintain the ambience and old world charm of an era
long gone by. But Moiya Hazell Kidde-Hansen is a rare person who has
experienced the real thing – she was born and lived at Norwood when life
still went on at a tranquil pace and we all had time to “stand and stare.”
Moiya Hazell was born at the Hatton Nursing Home in Dickoya in 1949, as were
her older and younger sisters before and after her. This nursing home no
longer exists but it was where most planter’s wives of that era went when
the need arose. Her father Dick Hazell was planting at Medecoombra Estate
for a short while before moving on to Norwood where Moiya spent the first
very happy 12 years of her life.
*A young Moiya Hazel with her parents at Norwood*
“We never went to school,” recalls Moiya. “Mum taught us at home until it
was time for us to school in England.” She recalls that as young children
they had to be very self-sufficient and finds ways of entertaining
themselves. This was long before the era of computer games and T.V. – a
period during which children actually learned to integrate with one another,
build relationships with fellow human beings as opposed to machines, and use
and develop their imaginations to keep themselves occupied.
She recalls how Podi Singho the cook would make them sugar sandwiches and
lovely plaited rolls with a thick layer of butter (the bread was always
baked in the bungalow kitchens) and they would picnic in the garden. “If
snails happened to invade the garden, we were given a bucket into which we
would collect them and be paid one cent for each snail collected,” she
remembers adding: “If we got two rupees we thought it to be a lordly sum in
those days.” “Mother would read to us every afternoon after lunch – the
usual Enid Blyton stories and it was a truly happy and carefree life,” says
Moiya.
Moiya remembers their neighbour – Elton Lane – who drove a pale blue
American car and one of the children’s greatest thrills came when Lane
allowed them to push the button which opened the boot of this magical car.
“He had built his own mausoleum and we were fascinated by it and would ride
around it and think about him being buried there!” says Moiya.
She recalls her father going snipe shooting in Mannar and on one particular
occasion he came home around 4 a.m. and announced to her mother that: “I
have a pony in the trailer – you sort him out.” Notwithstanding the hour,
her mother did just that and the pony became a part of their lives, starting
out the size of a large Alsatian and growing to a size where they were able
to go riding every day.
*Moiya Hazel as a child at Norwood with her pony ‘Dollar’*
Among her other memories of those halcyon days, Moiya counts going camping
in Okanda, near Panama in Arugam Bay. “We had special khaki shorts and
shirts and jungle gear made for these camping expeditions,” she says.
“We had a little barking deer called Bambi and ever so often she would
escape from her enclosure, and we would have to call out all the tea
pluckers to go and look for her,” says Moiya. They also had quite a few
other animals including cows, pigs, chickens and rabbits and her father kept
a pack of hounds and would often go hunting in the jungles and mountains
which lay behind the bungalow.
“My Dad would grow mushrooms and Mum would make her own butter and cream
cheese and she would even make our own ham, bacon and sausages,” she says.
Recounting how the Hazells first came to Ceylon Moiya says her father Dick
Hazell was originally from Guernsey, Channel Islands and came to Ceylon in
1935. He was a creeper on Norwood Estate, starting out as an S.D. or “Sinna
Dorai” and ending up as P.D. – “Periya Dorai.” While planting he had joined
the Ceylon Planters Rifle Corps (CPRC) and saw active service during the war
in Burma and Egypt along with other planters from Ceylon.
Dick Hazell met Thea, his wife to be in the New Forest in Hampshire while on
home leave. It was a whirlwind romance, they married in 1946 and he returned
to Ceylon while Thea his 25 year old wife followed a while later travelling
from England to Ceylon on board a troop ship. “And unfortunately my father
forgot and no one was there to meet the ship!” recalls Moiya. But Thea was
made of sterner stuff and remained unfazed by this slight hiccup. She had
stayed two days in Colombo and travelled upcountry to begin her life as a
planter’s wife.
“Norwood was a simply perfect place,” enthuses Moiya. She recalls that what
is today the Irwin suite at the end of the corridor was the children’s
nursery. “We always ate in the nursery and never had a meal until we could
put food in our mouths!”
Moiya married at the Scotts Kirk in Colombo and had “a wonderful wedding
reception” at the Ballroom of the Galle Face Hotel.
Moiya Hazell has moved around the world considerably since those wonderful
days of her childhood and youth spent at Norwood in “Ceylon.” She lived in
the Middle East, moved to Denmark and Poland finally South West France. “But
I want to return home to Ceylon,” she says. “I want to end up here and
finish up where I started….”
*Reproduced with permission of the author. First published in the Sunday
Observer*
* * These images can be seen in a larger size in the Photo Album. Please
type “Moiya Hazel” in the keyword search which will bring the images up.*
taken from: http://www.historyofceylontea.com
–
Fazli
AbaY at its Best
Surf Forecast for Arugam Bay in real time on magicseaweed.com
Press Coverage of the situation in Arugam Bay
Link to the old website of the Arugam Bay Hotel Association
Huge and often updated photo collection from Arugam Bay
Former Discussion Forum - now replaced by arugam.info
AbaY Hotel Intro
- # Introduction to all AbaY 'Hotels' To give some idea of their location, all 'hotels' are numbered. Beginning with #001 at the bridge, Northern end of Arugam Bay
- #001 Star Restaurant
- #01 Stardust Hotel
- #02 Rainbow Village
- #03 Galaxy Lounge
- #04 AbaY Beach Resort
- #05 Beach Hut
- #06 Hotel Sea Shore
- #07 Friendship Restaurant
- #08 Tiffany Hotel
- #09 Water Music
- #10 Nishantha Restaurant
- #11 Nestha Resaturnat
- #12 Sam's Hut
- #13 Waves of Love
- #14 Rock View Beach Hotel
- #15 Tsunami Hotel
- #16 Midbay Hotel
- #17 Tropicana Hotel
- #18 Sea Wind Hotel
- #19 Sea Rock Hotel
- #20 Aloha Cabanas
- #21 Danish Villa
- #22 Roccos Hotel
- #23 Food Garden Restaurant
- #24 Nina Cabanas
- #25 Lucky Leprechaun Hotel
- #26 Farath Guest House
- #27 Mermaid Village
- #28 Why Not? Restaurant
- #29 Ali's Restaurant
- #30 Blue Ocean Hotel
- #31 Royal Garden Hotel
- #32 Tri Star Hotel
- #33 Sunrise Hotel
- #34 Orient Beach Restaurant
- #35 Shanoon Beach Resort
- #36 Zara Beach Rest
- #37 Hideaway Hotel
- #38 Cafe del Mar
- #39 Hillton Hotel
- #40 Hello Madam & Gekko Restaurant
- #41 Surf & Sun Resort
- #42 Deen's Hotel
- #43 Home Needs Shop
- #44 East Beach Hotel
- #45 Sooriya's Hotel
- #46 AbaY Surf Shop
- #47 Hawkys Surf Shop
- #48 Sano Hotel
- #49 Perera's Restaurant
- #50 Siam View Hotel -SVH-
- #51 Hangloose Hotel
- #52 Subashi Beer Bar
- #53 Meena's Beer Bar
- #54 Shashni Beach Resort
- #55 Seven Sea Restaurant
- #56 Tharaka Restaurant
- #57 Beach View
- #58 Rupas Cabanas
- #59 Ruwangi Place Restaurant
- #60 Lahiru Place Hotel
- #61 Fishing Net Hotel
- #62 Palm Grove Holiday Inn
- #68 Mambo's Chill Out Surf Cafe A small Hikkaduwa resort at Arugam Bay
- #69 East Surf Cabanas
AbaY Hotel web site links
- Siam View Hotel The only Thai sea side resort in Ceylon
- Hillton Hotel Rahim's Hillton Hotel
- Stardust Hotel A top Danish managed resort
- PottuVille Point Resort Invest and relax nr. AbaY!
- Rupas Hotel Rupas Hotel & Restaurant
- Galaxy Lounge Galaxy Lounge Hotel
- Roccos Hotel Roccos Beach Front Hotel
- Tsunami Hotel, AbaY Est. 1999
- The Danish Villa Colonial style bungalow for rent
- Aloha Cabanas Tom Rieder's Aloha Cabanas
Best Photos of AbaY
- Walk from the Bridge to the end of AbaY 2007 Let us be your eyes and take a stroll!
- Romantic Arugam Bay Love photo selection
- Surf Photos of Arugam Bay Best Surfing photos 2007
- Arugam Bay Wild Life Wild Life selection photos
- Fun in Arugam Bay Having a good time in AbaY
- Is AbaY Dangerous? No Problem!
- Loving Couples are happy at Arugam bay People deeply in LOVE come to AbaY. Why?
- Party at Arugam Bay AbaY: An ideal Party resort!
- Another walk on the wild life Wild Photos
- PottuVille Point Photo Impresions The Point nr. Arugam Bay - Sri Lanka's finest resort to be
Blogs
- Arugam Bay Tour & Travel blog Tourist Services guide and local PR
- CASP rebuild Ampara blog PR on CASP ideas of rebuilding Ampara
- Cerno - A blog by a Sri Lankan in Sri Lanka Cerno. A blog by a Sri Lankan who lived abroad
- Frazer's Blog A UNOPs guys experiences on the East Coast
- Janis Kirpitis Blog - partly in Latvian Janis impressions as he assisted "Help" NGO
- Jessica Lees Blog A US lady's views, vision and experiences
- Jo-Anne Liburd's S.L. Impressions Jo-Anne is a Canadian working for Sewage Lanka
- Lanka Page Inside the smoking gun of Sri Lanka
- Papersurfer Papersurfer
- Sports sans Frontieres Niccolas au PottuVille - in French
Commercial Attacks
- Arson, murder, looting attacks in Sri Lanka non-political, but commercial dispute stories
Deutsche Freunde
- Excelent Simple Wisdom Simple Wisdom - Florian & Daniella
- German supporters of Ceylon and AbaY SLB - Sri Lanka Board
- Lanka First Web Site Lanka First- Country Information
- Reisespinne Global Travel Forum in German Language
- Saffa Org Situation in Arugam Bay
- Sri Lanka Forum Information & Discussions in German language
- Sri Lanka Info (In German) Neue Version des 'Spider' Forum Romanums
Friends
- Andrea Quintarelli in AbaY Croix Rouge and Italian fund raiser A. Q.
- Arugam Bay Tourist Association Mercy Corps sponsored site
- Cerno - A blog by a Sri Lankan in Sri Lanka Cerno. A blog by a Sri Lankan who lived abroad
- Hilltop Survivor Project Post Dec. 2004 survivor's Group
- paddle4relief Tim's private help for Arugam Bay
- Paddle4Relief Small, effivient private help organization
- Responsible Tourism Partnership Promoting good Tourism in Sri Lanka
- Supporting children through art Kids Card project and other help for AbaY
Home, Cooking, Recipes
- Somlak's Kitchen site Asian Cooking made easy
Literature about AbaY
- Der Krokodil Felsen A Book about Arugam Bay
Religious blogs
- Ancient sites are mentioned Magul Maha Vihara, Lahuga is promoted
- PottuVille Prayer Times Mosque Times at Arugam Bay and PottuVille
Safaries & Wild Life
Sri Lanka's Wild life Experts- Eco Guide Association CEGA AbaY Tour Guides
- Lahugala National Park THE home of Sri Lanka's wild Elephants
Stop over suggestions
- Suryanamaska Angela's Hotel near kandy
- Tree Tops Jungle Lodge Adventure near Buutala
Surf & Weather Info.
- Elephant Rock Surf Break Info by Wannasurf Wannasurf Info on Elephant Roack
- Okanda Surf Info by Wannasurf Wannasurf Info on Okanda Surf Break
- Peanut Farm Surf Info by Wannasurf Wannasurf Info on Peanut Farm break
- Storms, Typhoons, Clouds Real Time Satellite Views of Asia
- Surf Forecast by Magic Seaweed Surf & Swell Predictions and reports
- Wannasurf Info on Arugam Bay main break Arugam Bay Main Break Surf Info by Wannasurf
- Wannasurf Info on PottuVille Point break PottuVille Point Surf Info by Wannasurf
- Wind Guru Kite- and Wind Surf Information
Taxi Sharing
- ArugamTaxi@Gmail.com Throntree Taxi suggestions
Traveller's Reports
- Thorntree Lonely Planet
Weather at Arugam Bay
- INDIA METEOROLOGICAL DEPT INDIA METEOROLOGICAL DEPT
- Weather Satellite Picture in Real time Weather Satellite (India & Sri Lanka)
Arugam Bay Photo Gallery
0 Responses to “Lankan Friends”