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Perth, n, founded in 1829, it grew rapidly...

Just meandered into thinking about how attached I've grown to this great, flat city. I know people from Mandurah (inclusive) to Brighton (inclusive), from Fremantle (inclusive) to Chidlow (hi, Greg & Linda!), a span of about 120km x 60km.

Drop me anywhere in the city & I wouldn’t be more than about 15 minutes’ walk from the home of someone I know. Greenwood? Kardinya? Rockingham? Claremont? Armadale? Guildford? Bickley? Bullsbrook? Wanneroo? Whitfords? All covered, & more besides.

OK, so what kinds of people?

8 weeks to 88 years (inclusive). Men, women, children. Married, single, unsure. Hard workers & slackers. Techies, sportsmen, beauty queens (hi, Mon!), salesmen, drivers, teachers, nurses, doctors, shrinks, musicians, ambulance drivers (hi, Greville & Allana!), photographers, vets, well... the list goes on.

In have “pet” shops for everything under the sun, many of them quite conveniently located. I can get advice on everything from building or flying aircraft (hi, Kyle!) to downsizing one’s life or starting an organic farm (with solar panels & a wind turbine). From “mundane” stuff like running a household (hi, Kimberley!) to advanced crystal physics.

The point?

Well, if I want to have the hope of my kids ever getting to see me again, it looks like I’ll be moving back to Tasmania.

Now, don’t take this the wrong way, as Tas is an excellent place, with stunning countryside & some magnificent people — & this time the move will be at least a little bit planned.

However, the north-west (while splendid in its own right) doesn’t exactly have a burgeoning computer industry, which is my work. This time, I suspect that I’ll be near a decently-sized town or two, but that still doesn’t cut it.

Launceston has a decently-named airport & the monkey park & maybe a decent Tupperware dealer, but after that it’s one-way streets & chaos.

Hobart is, well, just Hobart. It has a cute mountain & a chocolate factory & even a decent Botanical Garden but after that it’s a not-fabulously-well equipped chunk of suburbia.

The south-west... well, unless you’re Edmund Hillary, you probably don’t want to know about it.

Perhaps while I’m over east, I can dredge up some writing work by visiting people in person?

We’ll see.

Comments

Leon RJ Brooks said…
In one of those it-will-never-happen events, just heard on the news that Edmund is kind of deceased. A pity, but OTOH he seems to have had a fairly good run.
Anonymous said…
Hi Leon, I couldn't find an email and I was just wondering if you can give some furniture removalist advise about moving from Vic to Tas. What is the best way to do it? Motorbikes, kayaks, and a bit of household stuff...
Thanks
Leon RJ Brooks said…
Seatainer worked fairly well for us, turned about $11,000 in prospecting moving costs from PER-Tas into about $4,000 for a short seatainer & about $2,500 in moving costs (moving should be much less from MEL since no trans-Nullarbor railway to factor in).

Note that those figures have an “about” prefix, as your real costs will be vastly different — these should be indicative only.

The seatainer will be useful as a shed when you arrive so you can unpack things in an order which practically suits the situation rather than packing it in a certain order & hoping a lot. (-:

If you’re header for Launceston or Hobart, you’ll have to figure out what to do with said seatainer afterwards; selling it again may turn out to be appropriate.

There are a father-&-son team living near Cradle Mountain in the (long) seatainers they moved with. There are people in little towns like Hellyer, Tullah or Waratah who are still using their seatainers as sheds.

A good email is forename bravo at CyberKnights company Australia.

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