In the waiting room of a Mackay doctor’s surgery in the early 1990s, a GP called the name of his next patient, Bente, pronounced “Benta”.
When two women who shared the name responded, a decades-long friendship began.
The women, Bente McDonald and Bente Christensen, spent the next few minutes conversing in their native Danish, much to the amusement of the waiting doctor.
They discoverIn the waiting room of a Mackay doctor’s surgery in the early 1990s, a GP called the name of his next patient, Bente, pronounced “Benta”.
When two women who shared the name responded, a decades-long friendship began.
The women, Bente McDonald and Bente Christensen, spent the next few minutes conversing in their native Danish, much to the amusement of the waiting doctor.
They discovered that they were both born four months apart and, as children, lived in the same town of Hareskov, on the outskirts of Copenhagen, Denmark.
It wasn’t until that chance meeting on the other side of the world that the beautiful friendship flourished, with the pair agreeing that they were commonly confused for one another.
Bente McDonald’s family migrated from Denmark to Mackay when she was 12 years old.
She now lives in Walkerston, where she worked as Walkerston Library Coordinator for 32 years before retiring in 2017, the year both women celebrated their 70th birthdays.
Ms McDonald’s passion for literature continues to this day through her involvement in Walkerston Rotary's Little Libraries, erecting ten little libraries in the beautiful front gardens of Walkerston and surrounds over the past four years.
Bente Christensen came to the area later, migrating to Australia in 1972 with her husband at the time.
After living in Ipswich and Glenden, they moved to the Mackay region in 1991 as Ms Christensen wanted to concentrate on her ceramics and establish a gallery in Mackay.
They moved into the old general store in North Eton where Ms Christensen opened the North Eton Pottery Store and Gallery, the chance for a coffee and chat just as alluring to friends and customers as her bright, practical pottery.
The North Eton store was the first property Ms Christensen inspected, saying she fell in love with the area on sight.
“The valley quite reminds me of Denmark in one sense,” Ms Christensen said in 1993.
“You go a little way and there’s one little town, go again and there’s another town and, if you visualise the cane as wheat, it’s very similar.”
Ms Christensen sold the store around 20 years ago, moving to Mackay and continuing her creative pursuits in the way of silk screening projects and photography.
Sadly, Ms Christensen passed away in November 2022.
Ms McDonald was in Denmark at the time, where she regularly visits her two children and grandchildren who now live there.
She joined the funeral via a live stream and returned for a moving Scattering of the Ashes Ceremony held at a later date.
“I don't think my brain has, even now, caught up with the fact that Bente is no longer here to get together with and have a good old conversation with, in both of our languages,” said Ms McDonald.
“It is immensely sad not to have my funny, crazy, very clever friend, and namesake, around anymore.
“I am sure the lovely Bente Christensen would also have had a big smile, wherever in the universe she may be.”
