By Ashley Blair
Southern Africa to Egypt.
Place and country names are those Joy used in her diary.
The incredible story of the New Zealand midwife Joy McKean who rode a 150cc Bantam Major around the world alone continues:
On Saturday 2 June 1956 Joy finished night duty at the Lady Chancellor Maternity Hospital, Salisbury at 7:30am and by 10:45am she was on her way to London. She passed through Southern Rhodesian Immigration and Customs and was told that the Mozambique customs post was 90 miles away. She was also told that the road would be sand for 30 miles, then sand and corrugations to Tete and once over the Zambezi River there would be potholes that would be the worst of all. At Tete Joy crossed the Zambezi River on a pontoon pulled by a launch. Later the road became much rougher and a pannier broke off the carrier which she repaired the next morning. She rode for five miles through very winding steep hills to the Nyasaland Customs Post where she found the customs officer had been in the Royal New Zealand Navy in Auckland! This was a very remote area and Joy was asked to take a note to a garage from a driver whose car had broken down 20 hours before – she was the first person the driver had seen since then.
Joy on the morning she left for London in front of Lady Chancellor Maternity Hospital, 2 June 1956. Photo Steve Ede.
After Blantyre Joy rode through Zomba, Dedza, Lilongwe and just before Salima she could see the sparkling water of Lake Nyasa. Each night she slept just off the road under a tree to keep the dew off. She made a quick visit to the shore of Lake Nyasa before heading back to Lilongwe. The Bantam was not running well as it was using a lot more petrol than usual and the spark plug had to be changed frequently. That night there were no trees nearby and she got very wet from the dew. The next day the Bantam ran out of petrol. She tipped the motorcycle on its side, “played about with the points” and managed to start it again. A truck driver gave her petrol and oil which she paid for before crossing into Northern Rhodesia.
On the road to Lusaka. Photo Steve Ede.
At first the road to Lusaka was much better but became worse the further she rode with large trucks almost blinding her with dust. Joy had to change the spark plug three times in 20 miles and finally stopped to clean out the carburettor. She slept under a tree in the grounds of Lusaka Hospital and next day tried unsuccessfully to find someone to look at the Bantam. She did get the chain cleaned and bought more spark plugs. The day after she headed north on what was to be her longest one day ride – 275 miles. The road climbed and she passed amazing rock outcrops, saw an antelope and later while riding in the dark, eyes shining in the dark. She stopped about 9pm near a hotel. It was cold, windy and later when the wind dropped she was wet with dew – her worst night by far. The following day she ran out of petrol but two Italians heading to Kariba to work on the dam gave her some.
The Immigration Officer at the border was a young Scotsman who offered Joy a bed for the night and stamped her passport at breakfast the next morning. He asked Joy where she had slept the previous night and when she told him it was under a tree near the Mpika Hotel he was horrified. “Oh never, never do that! Did you look up the tree? That’s where leopards are.”
The turn off just north of Kapiri Mposhi 10 June 1956. Photo Steve Ede.
Mbeya in Tanganyika was a large town and the Bantam still needed to be sorted. Joy changed the gearbox oil, cleaned the carburettor, took off the cylinder head and exhaust and cleaned them, then cleaned and tightened the chain. A mechanic thought the loss of compression was due to broken or worn rings, something that could not be fixed in Mbeya. Joy headed off to Nairobi. She rode to over 7,000 feet above sea level and started to descend just as it was getting dark. She slept under a tree near African homes. Next day the road was sandy and dusty in places until just before Iringa where there was really deep sand as well as corrugations. The Bantam was missing so Joy changed the plug, adjusted the points and let it cool but it was no better. At Dodma she adjusted the points again. Joy was unaware that she was now in the area where the South African Motor Cyclist Corps were operating on their BSAs during World War 1.
On the road to Arusha. Photo Steve Ede.
Nearing Arusha Joy was thrilled to see heads of giraffes poking up above the trees as the sun set. From Arusha she detoured 48 miles on a good road to Moshi at the foot of Mount Kilimanjaro. She passed about 100 zebra and antelope and was delighted when, “The mountain cleared as the sun set with a pink glow in the snow.” That night while camping out she could see Kilimanjaro in the moonlight. The night before reaching Nairobi she saw in the moonlight an animal the size of a large Alsatian quite close to her. It leapt away when she shone her torch and threw a rock towards it. Worried at the time that it may have been a lion (although told later it was probably a hyena) Joy packed up and moved away to spend the night under a tree in the glow of lights from a Mau Mau detention camp.
Nairobi June 1956. Photo Steve Ede.
She reached Nairobi after riding 3,000 miles in 16 days, all except 700 miles on dusty gravel roads. A mechanic found the Bantam went much better with the silencer off – because it was filled with sand and oil. After the silencer was cleaned the Bantam ran much better. She took the bike to the Lucas agent who found a lot of the electrics needed attention including replacement of the ignition coil bracket. She was not charged anything. Back at the mechanics the carrier was welded and the charge was eight pounds! This left Joy with just ten shillings to get to Kampala.
An extract from Joy’s diary of Wednesday 20 June 1956:
Got petrol and left Nairobi, 400 miles to Kampala. I climbed through beautiful dairying and cropping land with some forest plantations. I reached 7000ft. It was cold but fine. I have never seen such large clean African huts. They were everywhere, spread out like towns. After about 20 miles I reached the escarpment of the Rift Valley. A fine view from the top extended west into haze. A good road and grade led 2 to 3 miles down through dense tropical growth. Stopped on the way down to look at red flowering lilies. Once down on the flat it was desert-like growing thorn bushes, but not devoid of grass and herbage. Climbing and passing a volcano to the south I came to open land where zebra and antelopes grazed. To the west a lake appeared and I passed small Indian towns and a dairy herd. In the late afternoon sun I could see a storm gathering to the NW. Soon the wind changed to a cold NE and I ran into the outskirts of the storm. I passed through hills like another escarpment and from Gilgil reached Nakuru at 5.45pm. It was an attractive town with avenued streets, fine homes and schools. Noticed barbed wire around the railway station and at level crossings. Got petrol. A shower of rain caused me to expect trouble. On my way again the road climbed gently through open farm land for 20 miles. Then the sealing ceased and the road ahead was under construction. Mud, mud, mud after all the rain. On a rough road I made a long slow climb in the dark with light rain falling at times. Eventually I reached the Jolly Farmers’ Inn. Carried on in open land to just below the summit when my wheels were so clogged with mud they would not turn. It was 9.00 pm and the moon gave some light. I tried to free them with my knife. It was a terrible job. I remembered the same problem with my first Bantam on my way to Perth. A transport lorry stopped and we yarned. He was going via Eldorat to Kampala but I wanted to go via Kisumu. I got going but was soon stuck again. I partially freed the wheel but it was no use going further. I went up the bank and put myself under pine trees and left the bike on the road. It was a miserable night and for no reason I did not feel safe. I never got warm. Nothing passed during the night.
Next day just before Kisumu the Bantam stopped with no spark and although Joy tried everything it would not run. She pushed the bike two miles to a road junction and waited there for an hour and a half until she was given lifts on trucks to Kisumu where two Indian motorcyclists took her to the only motorcycle shop in town. The Sudanese mechanic found a loose wire from the coil but would not take any payment. At Kampala the British Passport Office said that she might be able to get into Sudan without a visa but she could just as easily be turned back. She knew when she set out that Sudanese visas were very hard to obtain. She already had a ticket for a ship on the Nile from Juba. At Woblenzi, north of Kampala, she stopped to buy a pineapple and admire a woman’s cross stitch embroidery. Joy showed some of her embroidery and through a translator the woman asked where to get embroidery transfers.
Sudan Uganda border 23 Jun 1956. Photo Steve Ede.
Joy kept riding into the night as she was anxious to get to Juba before the boat sailed. Just before Juba she almost ran over a large python which she thought at first was a tree branch until it crossed right in front of her. Joy arrived on the east bank of the Nile not knowing that Juba was over on the west bank. When crossing the Nile next morning on a barge she was convinced the boat had already sailed but soldiers directed her to an office where she was told to follow a ute. This led her to the back of a building where she was asked for her passport and visa. She apologised profusely for not having a visa but the driver of the ute laid out a set of stamps on the front seat, which seemed to be his mobile office, stamped her passport and issued her with a visa for fifteen shillings. Everyone seemed very happy that she was in Sudan. She was approached by a white man who shook her hand, said his name was Watson and he was a teacher in Uganda. He explained that the Nile was very low and the paddle steamer could not reach Juba. Everyone, as well as the Bantam, would be taken by truck 50 miles north to where the ship was.
Atura Ferry 23 June 1956. Photo Steve Ede.
Joy, who always relished ship voyages, said later that the week sailing down the Nile was one of the greatest trips she had ever done in her life. She saw crocodiles, hippopotamuses and herds of up to 80 elephants while passing through the Sudd. The birdlife was “tremendous”. The paddle steamer towed passenger barges with people who slept on the deck; 50% of the men and about 25% of the women were naked.
Nile steamer that Joy travelled on for six days. Photo Steve Ede.
Joy on the Nile steamer. Photo Steve Ede.
There were only four Europeans on the voyage: Joy, Mr Watson, an American Jewish violinist who had played for the King of Nepal and a red headed South African chemist who was going to Holland. Malakal was the only stop on the voyage and everyone went ashore. When Joy came to board the boat two young men were waiting, one with a syringe.
“We will vaccinate you,” one said.
“You’ll do nothing of the sort,” was her reply.
“We have smallpox. The Governor has been vaccinated.”
“I’ve got a valid vaccination certificate. I’m not going to have this,” said Joy. She showed them her certificate, but she was not sure they could understand it.
A policeman standing near told the two to let Joy go on board – without vaccinating her. None of her European colleagues had been accosted by the vaccinators.
Juba on the banks of the Nile. Photo Steve Ede.
At Khartoum she met the Medical Officer of Health for Lagos who was on an official visit. He took Joy to meet Government health officials. It was at Khartoum that Joy, who wore her hair long with a head scarf, washed her hair for the first time ever on the trip in cold water – from a tap in the grounds of a hotel. A train took Joy and the Bantam on a 29 hour dust laden journey from Khartoum to Wadi Halfa and from there they went back on the boat to the Aswan High Dam. There she found that the petrol tap had been broken at Juba when the tank was drained. She usually emptied the tank herself but on this occasion did not have time. After the tap was repaired she had trouble finding her way and was followed by hordes of children.
Nearing dusk she reached a place where rocks had been placed right across the road. A group of men were standing nearby and she could hear donkeys and dogs. Two of the men came over to her and putting their hands on the handlebar indicated it was time to sleep. Joy switched the engine off and the men wheeled the Bantam over to where they were spending the night. They brought out what Joy described as a “middle eastern bed” which she slept on under the stars. In the morning Joy washed in the canal and one of the men took her into a compound where there were children sleeping and a calf tied up. The man’s wife greeted her, gave her water which she used to have a second wash. After brushing away dust and ants from the compound floor the woman brought out a low table and put out glasses of milk and tea and a flat loaf of bread which each person passed around after breaking off a piece. Although Joy was shown great hospitality by all Arab people she met, she remembered with great fondness this particular encounter with lovely people whose hospitality she was very grateful for. She was reluctant to leave them at 6am but wanted to be away before the day became too hot.
She visited Luxor, Karnak and Thebes before leaving Alexandria by ship for Beirut. Just before the dock gates at Alexandria Joy skidded on tramlines and “went flying”. It was a slow fall and she was more worried about the Bantam than herself. She hurt her elbow, the back of her head and her right shoulder. Suddenly it seemed to Joy that everyone on the dock had rushed to assist her. She was helped up, offered water and the bike picked up. After recovering she walked the remaining distance to the ship, pushing the Bantam.
Note: Photos are screen shots from a video of a slide presentation Joy gave to relations in Australia.
Extracts from Joy McKean’s diaries of her 1955 to 1957 world trip, as compiled by her niece Catharine A. McKean and following Joy’s death, have been included with the permission of Catharine A. McKean’s estate and Julian K. McKean as the trustees of Joy McKean’s will. These diaries reflect the views and impressions of Joy McKean only and the language is that in use at the time her diaries were written.
Acknowledgements
Suzanne Barnaby
Geoff Clarke
Annice Collett, Vintage Motor Cycle Club
Steve Foden, BSA Owners Club librarian
Lynda Goulden
J. McKean
Bernard Kerr
Liz Robertson
Jane Skayman
Heather Woods, New Zealand Nurses Organisation
References
McKean, C. Midwife on World Safari. Privately printed for the McKean family.
Interview with Naomi Margaret (Joy) McKean, Date 21 May, 10 July 1984. Ref OHA-2175. Alexander Turnbull Library, National Library of New Zealand.
The Motor Cycle.
Trove. https://trove.nla.gov.au/