john.robert_mcpherson
35 Palm Beach (Qld) SLSC training Indonesians in swimming, Kartika Plaza, Kuta Beach, Bali, Indonesia. September 1977.
35 Palm Beach (Qld) SLSC training Indonesians in swimming, Kartika Plaza, Kuta Beach, Bali, Indonesia. September 1977.
Guri (Gookie) Lluka developed a special bond with the trainees. Gookie was a big Albanian Australian with the build of a wrestler. Barry Magnus informed the Indonesians that the barrel chested Gookie was 'Mr Buddha'. This delighted them and rather than try getting their tongues around 'Guri' or 'Gookie' they happily addressed Gookie as 'Mr Buddha'. Gookie had been called worse so he took the name in his stride. For the smooth-skinned Indonesians the most spectacular thing about Gookie was not his bearlike physique, but rather the thick pelt of hair that covered his body. Well, most of his body. Gookie's scalp was showing more skin than hair. We told the trainees that the hair had migrated from his head to his body -- which amused them greatly. It amused them even more when we continually told Gookie it was time he took off his gorilla suit. Gookie of course responded with his usual tirade of feigned outrage, which initially baffled the Indonesians, but soon delighted them when they understood the game.
Gookie's patience was endless and his humour unfailing. While both came to him naturally, putting in over twenty years behind the wheel of a taxi battling traffic and helping passengers solve often-bizarre problems had certainly given him a unique approach to people. Gookie was loud, cheerful and extremely cheeky. His language was larrikin Australian and if the had no idea what "Up periscope!", "Krakatoa! The island's sinking!" or "Hey, Johnno! What does it mean if you've got sore murgatroids?" actually meant, the context of the question, statement or instruction was clear.
Gookie always has had a way with words. When teaching his pupils resuscitation Gookie told them that when inflating a patient's lungs it was bad if "You hear a sound like a volcano rumble in his guts". This meant that they were inflating the stomach rather than the lungs. On one occasion Gookie spied a pony drawn cab in Denpasar. He therefore decided to climb up into the sulky and make the acquaintance of a brother taxi driver. The man's eyes were as wide as dinner plates as he found his cab invaded by a large, grinning, hairy man wearing a black fez and looking much like a mischievous Ottoman Turk. Gookie reassured his colleague by soothing him with a mantra of "Me taxi driver" even as he took the reins from the driver's hands. Whether the man understood that he was in the presence of a fellow cabbie or was just too scared to try ejecting a fez wearing colossus from his cab I don't know. The driver did looked relieved though when Gookie had finished familiarizing himself with a one horse power taxi and had alighted.
35 Palm Beach (Qld) SLSC training Indonesians in swimming, Kartika Plaza, Kuta Beach, Bali, Indonesia. September 1977.
35 Palm Beach (Qld) SLSC training Indonesians in swimming, Kartika Plaza, Kuta Beach, Bali, Indonesia. September 1977.
Guri (Gookie) Lluka developed a special bond with the trainees. Gookie was a big Albanian Australian with the build of a wrestler. Barry Magnus informed the Indonesians that the barrel chested Gookie was 'Mr Buddha'. This delighted them and rather than try getting their tongues around 'Guri' or 'Gookie' they happily addressed Gookie as 'Mr Buddha'. Gookie had been called worse so he took the name in his stride. For the smooth-skinned Indonesians the most spectacular thing about Gookie was not his bearlike physique, but rather the thick pelt of hair that covered his body. Well, most of his body. Gookie's scalp was showing more skin than hair. We told the trainees that the hair had migrated from his head to his body -- which amused them greatly. It amused them even more when we continually told Gookie it was time he took off his gorilla suit. Gookie of course responded with his usual tirade of feigned outrage, which initially baffled the Indonesians, but soon delighted them when they understood the game.
Gookie's patience was endless and his humour unfailing. While both came to him naturally, putting in over twenty years behind the wheel of a taxi battling traffic and helping passengers solve often-bizarre problems had certainly given him a unique approach to people. Gookie was loud, cheerful and extremely cheeky. His language was larrikin Australian and if the had no idea what "Up periscope!", "Krakatoa! The island's sinking!" or "Hey, Johnno! What does it mean if you've got sore murgatroids?" actually meant, the context of the question, statement or instruction was clear.
Gookie always has had a way with words. When teaching his pupils resuscitation Gookie told them that when inflating a patient's lungs it was bad if "You hear a sound like a volcano rumble in his guts". This meant that they were inflating the stomach rather than the lungs. On one occasion Gookie spied a pony drawn cab in Denpasar. He therefore decided to climb up into the sulky and make the acquaintance of a brother taxi driver. The man's eyes were as wide as dinner plates as he found his cab invaded by a large, grinning, hairy man wearing a black fez and looking much like a mischievous Ottoman Turk. Gookie reassured his colleague by soothing him with a mantra of "Me taxi driver" even as he took the reins from the driver's hands. Whether the man understood that he was in the presence of a fellow cabbie or was just too scared to try ejecting a fez wearing colossus from his cab I don't know. The driver did looked relieved though when Gookie had finished familiarizing himself with a one horse power taxi and had alighted.