I am one of the few survivors of a team of Bowen Basin pioneers who started the systematic exploration of the Bowen Basin in 1961. Given this, I decided to record some of my experiences and knowledge before I forget them all.

I was born ‘Vivian Watt’ in 1939.

My mother died of TB soon after and I was adopted by the Forbes family who lived on a dairy farm in the aptly-named ‘Wheatvale’ on the Darling Downs, in Queensland, Australia.