Balwyn High School 1957 to 1962 Reunion
Balwyn High School 1957 to 1962 Reunion
  • Welcome
  • About our 50 year reunion
  • FEEDBACK on Get-together 27 October 2012
  • Photos from 2012 Reunion Dinner
  • Lost and Found
  • Vale
  • Students' Stories: What have you been doing for the past 50 years?"
    • Andy Blunden
    • Anne Hawker (Jubb)
    • Brian Stagoll
    • Diane Kerr (Davidson)
    • David Slater and Dorothy Fergusson
    • Carol Poon
    • Dorothy Vietz (Gibson)
    • Gerd Kratzer
    • Gisela Olbrich
    • Helen Vallack
    • Ian Priestly
    • Ian Stavely
    • John Sinclair
    • John Willis
    • Kath Semmel (McKay)
    • Lindsay Cook
    • Michael Alston
    • Otto Rehak
    • Pam Heath
    • Paul Barnard
    • Peter Barter
    • Peter Thomas
    • Peter Winford
    • Phyl Coath
    • Ray Walker
    • Robyn Dalziel
    • Roger Schnagl
    • Sue Foster (Jones)
    • Sylvia Garnham (Geddes)
    • Tim Green
    • Val Brooks (Bennett)
    • Warren Pill
  • Mac Ronen: A 1962 Teacher's Story
  • Photos and Memories of our time at BHS 1957 to 1962
    • Personal reminiscences >
      • Brian Stagoll Memories
      • Gerd Kratzer
      • Kath Semmel (McKay)
      • Lindsay Cook Memories
      • Michael Alston
      • Paul Barnard
      • Peter Barter - Nostalgic Memories
      • Peter Thomas reflections on BHS
      • Sylvia Garnham (Geddes)
      • Val Brooks (Bennett)
    • 1957 Group photos
    • 1958 Group Photos
    • 1959 Group photos
    • 1960 Group Photos
    • 1961 Group Photos
    • 1962 Group photos
    • 1963 Group Photo
    • 'Feeder' Primary Schools
    • Biology Field Trip
    • Broken Hill and Canberra Excursions 1961 and 1962
    • School Social May 1962
    • 1962 teachers
    • The Voice of the Three Per Cent
    • A student debate
    • Speech Night 1962 program
  • 1962 School Statistics
  • 'Organising mob' Contacts
  • Share your thoughts and comments Blog
  • Forum
  • 14 July 2013 gathering
  • 16 August 2014 Gathering
  • 11 November 2017 Gathering
  • 10 November 2018 Gathering
  • 70 YEARS OF BALWYN HIGH
  • 1962 Group photos

Robyn Dalziel

I went straight from Balwyn High to Melbourne Uni (BA, Dip. Ed. majoring in English Literature and History/Political Science) and then back to school again, to be precise Niddrie High School, where I taught English, English Literature and French. But although I enjoyed my teaching experience, as soon as I had worked the obligatory three years to pay off my studentship I headed for ‘the old country’ aboard the Fairstar.

I taught English in a Secondary Modern school in Stevenage, made several forays into Europe and then managed to land up in hospital with a collapsed lung. Thanks to the good old National Health the subsequent operation and lengthy hospital stay did not cost me a penny, even though I had been employed for only a few months. Afterwards I did various temping jobs (including tea lady at Glaxos!) before landing a clerical job at Australia House. I had left Australia with no intention of returning home any time soon, but did so in 1972 because my father was gravely ill. After his death, I moved to Canberra where I worked for the Department of Education & Science dealing with overseas (Colombo Plan) students.

It was in Canberra that I met my future husband, a Dutch diplomat.

We spent the next 15 years in a variety of overseas postings including New York, Geneva, Karachi and Istanbul. I loved them all, but have especially warm feelings for Istanbul and the Turkish people.

In 1988 my husband Jaap took early retirement and we returned to the Netherlands, where two of his three children from a previous marriage lived. By now I was fluent in Dutch and casting around for work. After a bit of teaching English as a second language I started to translate (Dutch to English), initially taking on anything that came my way but eventually specialising in architecture, design and art. Quite by chance I had found my true métier and gave free rein to my workaholic tendencies. In addition to translating books and articles, I worked as English copyeditor and translator for two Dutch architecture magazines.

When my husband died suddenly in October 2003 I had to decide whether to remain permanently in the Netherlands – which I still regard as my second home – or to return to Australia, where my mother was still alive and in need of support. Given that the Internet and email meant that I could now work anywhere in the world, I decided to come back to Melbourne, although when it came to choosing where to live, cosmopolitan Carlton won out over Balwyn. I continue to work for Dutch publishers and architects, although not as frenetically as in the past. I have taken up Italian and try to travel to Europe every year, mainly to the Netherlands and Italy.

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