By Mikayla van Loon
At 100 years old, Eleanor Fitzsimmons doesn’t show many signs of slowing down but even to her a century is “a lot of years”, one she filled with endless amounts of travel.
The Mercy Place Montrose resident celebrated her 100th birthday with a week of events leading up to the actual day on Friday 14 July but couldn’t quite believe she’d reached the milestone.
“It is a lot when you think of it, I’m amazed really that I’ve got to that age,” she said.
Born in 1923 as the third child behind two older brothers, Eleanor said it “really has been an interesting life” beginning her travelling at just 18-years-old as part of a Girl Guides camp.
“I started travelling when I was about 18. They came to me and said we’ve had a letter from England saying they’re going to have a camp in the forest area of England and you’re invited to come,” Eleanor said.
“The lady who was the captain said she was invited to go too so she took me off and we went together.”
Having helped initiate the Girl Guiding group in her town, Eleanor soon escalated to a group leader and then also moved further up the chain.
From England, Eleanor toured around the UK mostly, finding a love for the landscapes and history through Scotland, Ireland and Wales.
“I discovered that my family came from Ireland so I went back to Ireland and got the family history,” she said.
Although having travelled across France and Germany, Eleanor said of all the places that stick in her mind, Rome has to be at the top of the list.
“There’s lots to remember about Rome, more than there is about other countries,” she said.
“Rome is a most interesting place, there’s so much to see in the city and I saw everything I could possibly see.
“Then we went out to the mountain that blew its top over the village, Pompeii. Years later on TV I see the village being recovered which was very interesting having been and only seeing a small part of the village.”
Making the long trip back to Australia via ship, Eleanor said the boat docked at Perth before heading to Adelaide and Melbourne.
“I had never been to Perth before and someone talked about one of their paddocks in the country area where, I’m not sure what flower it is but it comes out in springtime and it was absolutely covered with flowers in that area.
“So we went up to see it and it was just beautiful.”
Despite having had a boyfriend at the age of 16, Eleanor said “I never married. I wasn’t against it or anything. It just didn’t happen”.
Instead she found joy in learning about the world and people, which led her to travelling from place to place.
“Having travelling, when you grow up, you remember things, you remember places and experiences and what you’ve discovered and what country is like
“And you’re so thankful that you travelled to other places because otherwise you realise that if you were just in your own country, you don’t know anything.”
With family stretched across the country, they all came together for a birthday lunch on Eleanor’s birthday, with some of her oldest friends also joining the celebrations.
But in a very special visit from the Nido Early Learning Centre on Monday 10 July, Eleanor received gifts, cards and lots of hugs from the three and four-year-olds.
But perhaps one of the most impressionable was three-year-old Eleanor who was fascinated to learn she had the same name as someone older.
The pair sparked a friendship the first time the early learning centre paid a visit to the Mercy Place.
“She came across to me the first day and I said, ‘what’s your name?’ She said ‘Eleanor’, I said ‘so is mine’ she said ‘Oh’. When she gets here now she comes straight over to me.”
Looking back fondly on all the friendships and experiences she has made over 100 years, Eleanor said “that’s the thing to do, to enjoy one’s life. It’s what you make of your own life”.
