Lisa Wilkinson

They were both told that they had the gig.

But shortly before the Titanic sailed, William was instead told, look, scheduling issues are getting in the way and we need to put you on the Macedonia, which as it happened, was sailing to Sydney.

And so Evelyn sailed alone.

And they've got, bizarrely, this ship of the desert camel that you can ride.

A mechanical camel.

A mechanical camel.

I mean, you can just imagine...

Everything had to be bigger and in many ways more ludicrous than anyone had ever seen before because what that signified was enormous expense.

And in fact, in the initial planning stages of the Titanic, J. Bruce Ismay and the original designer, Alexander Carlyle, and then after that, Thomas Andrews,

talk for hours and hours and hours about just how luxurious the carpet is going to be that lines the corridors in first class of the Titanic.

And they spent a total of 15 minutes talking about the lifeboats.

Evelyn, being a first-class stewardess, is sharing just with one other.

And the White Star have, to a large degree, really upped the volume on how they look after their crew because...

Jay Bruce Ismay does think if we can have a largely happy crew, most particularly the ones that are engaging with the people in first and, to a lesser extent, second class, then the passengers that they're desperate to impress will keep coming back for more.

And so Evelyn, along with her fellow stewardess, who she shares with Mary Sloan,

are thrilled when they get to their accommodation and they've got a bathroom they can use and there's just the two of them.

But every day, Evelyn is counting down the days until she will see William again.

Well, Evelyn was one of those chosen to look after John Jacob Astor, who was one of the richest men in America.

If anyone listening knows the Waldorf Astoria, that is the Astor family.

And he had created quite a bit of...