Every spring, daylight saving asks us to move the clocks forward an hour. When I was ten, my family forgot—and we discovered that being late for church had its advantages.
As a child, I didn’t like daylight savings. Not one little bit. We had to go to bed while the sun was still up. To a ten-year-old, that seemed deeply unfair. If it was light enough to play outside, surely it was too early for bed.
The History of Tasmanian Daylight Savings in a Nutshell
We lived on a pig farm in Tasmania, where early mornings were part of life anyway. Then, in 1967, Tasmania brought back daylight savings during a drought, becoming the first Australian state to adopt it in the years after the Second World War. Earlier wartime trials had come and gone; this was the beginning of the daylight-saving era. The clocks moved forward, but bedtime, to my mind, moved in entirely the wrong direction. (University of Tasmania)
Sundays were for Church
Sundays meant church. Five kids all piled into the back of Dad’s precious Chevrolet. It was a huge car, and Dad had painted it bright yellow. As a child who never wanted to be noticed, I couldn’t have imagined a worse way to arrive anywhere. People saw that car coming. People talked about it. There was no slipping quietly into church when your family travelled in something that looked like a giant yellow announcement.
One Sunday, we set off as usual. On the way, we noticed cars belonging to other church families coming towards us. Then another. And another. They were all driving home.
Everyone else had put their clocks forward an hour. We hadn’t. By the time our yellow Chevrolet was approaching the church, the service was over.
It was Mum’s Fault
Once Mum and Dad worked out what had happened, Dad decided it was time to turn around and head home. Naturally, Mum got the blame for forgetting to change the clocks. If Mum thought that was unfair, I can’t remember her saying anything. As for the five kids in the back seat, we were tickled pink. We had missed church, and nobody would be watching us climb out of that enormous yellow car.
As I got older, daylight savings began to make more sense. As a teenager, I was quite happy to have more light for an afternoon at the beach. Other parts of Australia took it up too, although the country still hasn’t agreed on it: Queensland, Western Australia and the Northern Territory do not observe daylight saving.
Clocks with Hands
These days, my phone and laptop usually change the time without any help from me. I still have to check the occasional clock with hands on it—assuming the younger generation knows what one of those is.
But every spring, when the clocks go forward, I remember that Sunday drive. The rest of Tasmania had moved an hour ahead. Our family was still on farm time, travelling in a bright yellow Chevrolet, and—for once—I was very glad we were late.
Websites used:
- University of Tasmania – Daylight Saving Time for Tasmania’s daylight saving history, including its return in 1967 during the drought.
- Fair Work Ombudsman – Daylight saving time for the current list of Australian states and territories that do and do not observe it.
Featured Image:
Andrej Lišakov from Unsplash. Thankyou Andrej.
