Leaving WA :(

So we are moving to the country. This has prompted me to write about the things I will miss about Perth and in particular my home suburb.

We have been here almost 11 years. In this time I have made some unbelievable friends and had most of the best moments of my life. Not surprising really when you consider I was only 20 when we crossed the Nullabor from Victoria. I basically did all my real growing up here.

When we first got here we lived in Fremantle. Freo is great for tourists, but not so good for residents, in my opinion. It’s kinda sucky when there are 7000 people at your local shop buying film, batteries and souvenir t-shirts when you just want a loaf of bread. Also kinda sucky to work in Freo .. quite a bit of trouble went on downtown and I hated working late nights because the walk back to my car was always fraught with danger! I saw many interesting things out the front of the shop I worked in back then. I saw a guy stop his car and chuck his girlfriend and baby out onto the pavement then speed off while she yelled obscenities at him whilst her poor little girl sat in the middle of the road screaming. I saw teenage girls wondering around endlessly covered in silver paint high as kites with nothing else to do than beg for money to buy more paint to sniff. Saw countless homeless people asleep in the middle of the path. People getting beaten up. I was constantly hounded for cigarettes. I was so happy the day I finished working down there in Freo.

Then I moved on to work with hubby in Cottesloe. Much nicer area to work in I can tell you. It’s beachside locale made it a mecca for the rich and good looking which meant come summer time it turned into a major perv fest! The car park was always full of Mercs and BMWs, Porches, Jags and Astons. On a Sunday the odd Ferrari or Lambo would be out for its weekly airing. Of course, a helluva lot of rich people are just plain assholes, so I dealt with all that shit too.

In 2005 we moved from Freo to Claremont. I have to say that that was a fantastic move. Claremont is literally minutes from everything. Five minutes from the beach. Two minutes from the river. About seven minutes from Subiaco. Ten minutes from the CBD. We moved into a house here and have loved the area ever since.

Here’s what I love the most about Claremont:

David Jones is a ten minute walk away. As is Mecca Cosmetica. As is Country Road. And my favourite shop for bags, Morrison. The eyebrow king Matt Yuko is there. And a myriad of other shops I frequent regularly.

Cottesloe is a 5 minute drive away (30 in school traffic though!!!). And in Cottesloe there is Hobbs (for shoes), Stiller (clothes) and Leaf (for their Iced Moroccan Mint Tea). Summaglo for their unbelievable spray tan. Viddlers (which is a different name now, methinks) for Havaianas and Rip Curl, Quiksilver and Billabong.

For the kids, Claremont and Cottesloe both have Oblong, a long time favourite of mine. Plus in Claremont, the Early Learning Centre and in Cottesloe, Windmill.

Don’t even get me started on Subiaco, which is five minutes in the other direction! There is another Hobbs ... and Lisa Ho ... BellaBeWear and Hidden Lace (for lingerie). Linneys (jewellery) and my tattoo parlour and Strip Waxing.

As you can see, I am fully catered for in a five minute radius.

When we move to the country I will have nothing like this within this distance. Fortunately Melbourne is only an hour and a half away, so I will be able to frequent it enough to satisfy my shopping addiction. But in my new hometown itself? Let me enlighten you. There is a Target Country. And I think a surf shop (no idea why, the closest surf is 2 hours away!). My best friend owns a clothing shop (clothes too ‘old’ for me but). I believe there is a funkier clothes shop up one end of town but outrageously pricey! There’s a day spa kinda place run by a girl who was about 4 when I was in high school. And not much else worth mentioning ...

Now as you can see (!!), I am going to suffer dramatically in that department!

On a more personal note, in our 11 years as residents of WA, I have made some of the best friends of my entire life. Girls that I have shared so much with. My fellow MILFs (which is how I like to refer to ourselves!). There is a group of us who met after the birth of our first children almost 4 years ago. There are nine of us in this group, and we still meet every week for a catch up. Three of these girls have become a massive part of my life. Such a big part that I don’t like to talk about leaving WA too much as it makes me too upset. These girls have been there for me through so much. We have all cried together, laughed together and had second children together. I had my third bub, and one of the girls is pregnant with her third, who I will miss the birth of as I will have moved east prior to it’s arrival. This is truly disappointing, however I am already planning a trip back to Perth so I can meet her new arrival!

WA is such a special place to me also because our 3 children were born here. They are little West Aussies and always will be. Perth is where I basically grew up. Where I ‘evolved’. I consider myself more West Australian than Victorian (though the hardcore Westies will dispute this!!) and I consider this proudly! WA is where we became successful . WA is home to the most perfect weather. WA is home to Broome, one of my all time favourite places to be. In fact, Cable Beach is my favourite beach ever!! The red sand of far north WA is so beautiful and so etched into my memory.

On the flip side however, Victoria is home to our best friends. Our children’s god(less) parents (godless as neither of us believe in god and guardian sounds so ... erg) live there and our god(less) kids are there. My best friend from high school and her family (twin boys!!) live there. Hubby’s other best mate is there. Plus there are a heap of other friends we grew up with all around the corner. We have bought a great house on a massive block of land in the best street in town. We have the means to renovate this house to be THE house of our dreams. We have 2.5 acres of land with 200 vines (hooo! grapes for vino!!). When we have finished with our renovations it will be one of the best looking houses ever! And I am so excited by this. To get the same thing here in Perth, in the best street in town, would have set us back MILLIONS of dollars! This way, in Central Vic, we can have the land, the house of our dreams, and the Porsche we have always wanted!! :D

So it’s a tough moment in my life. On the one hand so excited to be going back to my roots and bringing my kids up safely in the country with beautiful clean air, and close friends and family nearby. On the other hand, I am giving away the city of my dreams, with some of the best girls I have ever had the extreme good fortune to meet, not to mention the easily accessible amenities ...

There are gonna be tears shed soon ... many many tears. Of sadness and of joy.