Thomas Petersen was on the Australis in October 1970 when the ship caught fire at 3 a.m. just off the coast of Fiji in the South Pacific. Below are a few newspaper clippings from the Fiji Times about the incident, which Thomas has kept since then.
I have converted the files below into Acrobat Reader PDF's so that they will not take too long to download with a decent internet connection. You will also be able to zoom in and out to make it easier to read the clippings. If you need to download the Adobe Acrobat Reader then please follow the instructions below.

*The links to the PDF files are just below the following instructions.*

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Welcome all visitors to the S.S. Australis Website, which has now been online since 1998! I will continue to update the site if I receive a new story, or if you have interesting photos taken on the ship during your voyage on either the southbound, northbound, or on one of the South Pacific cruises. We used to do those trips several times a year from Melbourne, Sydney and Auckland (New Zealand). I am deeply moved by the interest and wonderful contributions from the numerous passengers and crew over many years. You can send an e-mail to me on the link below: A HUGE THANK YOU Warm Regards Ken