Fraternisation between the domestics and the shearers was banned, but Ruby’s parents must have fraternised because, not six months after they met, Ruby’s mum was having to tell Mrs Hadenfeld she was pregnant.

‘She was dismissed on the spot,’ Ruby said, ‘as was my father, but they didn’t care.’

‘Because they were in love?’

‘Because they were in love,’ Ruby agreed. ‘They were in love, and both of them by then also wanted to go home, which for Mum was always Britain. I hope that doesn’t offend anyone: Mum really did love it here in Australia, and her memories of the place are all happy ones. She was forever telling me stories about Australia when I was a kid . . . She was absolutely addicted to Neighbours when that was on. When Scott and Charlene got married, she could hardly speak for a week, she was so swept up in the emotion of it all. But Britain was home.’

We talked for a while longer and eventually Ruby’s kids bounded back into the hotel, desperate to talk about Luna Park. Her husband let them race over to say hello. Rocco sat half-on and half-off his mum’s knee, and picked up one of the sugar packets, which he began sucking on. Stella’s main interest seemed to be playing with a long strand of hair.

I decided to call the interview to a close for that day. Ruby looked exhausted, so I asked if it would be okay if we re-convened the next day and she agreed – she was set to fly back to London the day after that.

I arrived at the Sir Stanford at around 11 a.m. the following day, and I was pretty relieved when Ruby told me she couldn’t face the dining hall again. She said, ‘I think I’ve got a touch of cabin fever. I’ve been holed up in the plane, and now in this hotel. Do you mind if we head out for a bit?’

We went into Market Street and down the road to the David Jones food hall. Not exactly the quietest place to talk but at least it gave Ruby a chance to stretch her legs.

Some bar stools at the Salad and Wine Bar became free so we grabbed them. The waiter took the linen napkins off our plates and said, ‘Will you be having wine?’ I looked at the two glasses already standing where we were sitting and I was about to say, ‘Not for me,’ when Ruby said, ‘That would actually be lovely.’ So I joined her, and we got talking about the love affair her mum had with her dad.

‘Practically the minute they found out Mum was pregnant with Steven, they flew home to England,’ Ruby said.

I said, ‘Excuse me, she flew home to England?’

Ruby looked surprised at my reaction – obviously it hadn’t occurred to her what a radical idea it would have been for a young couple to hop the Kangaroo Route then.