THE LAST WEEK IN MELBOURNE (FOR THE MOMENT)

The logistical challenges of moving state continued long after the house auction. It wasn't just a matter of buying plane tickets but of moving two cars and a cat - and more importantly, arranging our last haircut.

Susan, Ann & Ivan
Susan and I were introduced to Ivan Constable by John Jackson (whom some readers may remember) when we first moved to Melbourne i.e. the mid-1990s. He's moved salons over time but we have followed him religiously. He was the person that was brave enough to tell me that there was no point in dying my hair anymore - the grey had taken over. I still bear the scars of trying to find a replacement hairdresser in 2019 when I was working in Adelaide so I wasn't looking forward to saying farewell to Ivan. Susan and I booked on the same day in our last week in Melbourne and invited Ivan to lunch post-cuts. We had a delightful meal at a nearby Italian restaurant which he insisted on paying for. As he said, we had been amongst his most loyal customers.  




It was also a week of saying goodbye to friends although as I kept insisting, it was only 'goodbye' until next time given that I already had four return visits to Melbourne booked in 2025.

On 8 January Susan flew to Perth and I had my last choc top at the Pentridge Cinema (admittedly watching a very dull film - Almodavar's The Room Next Door). On 9 January, Indigo flew to Perth. On 10 January my car started the journey (that took over a month) to Perth. On 11 January I flew to Perth but not before having my last Middle Eastern lunch on Sydney Rd with the Hambly/Rapsey team.


Kami, David, Glenda & Loretta

Ann at Tullamarine airport

PS I have to confess that the haircut on 7 January isn't going to be the last one with Ivan. Susan & I are back in Melbourne in March and have made another appointment - and again in May. Anything to put off the challenge of trying to find a new hairdresser in Perth.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

FARWELL TO THE PINK HOUSE

Image
Susan and I decided to say 'goodbye' to 14 Ward Grove, Pascoe Vale South by sharing the moment with friends. Although the house was full of packed boxes, we invited people over to say farewell...and take a momento. We both made bold decisions about art and craft that had been part of our lives for years. For example, I'd had a Gustav Klimt print hanging on various bedroom walls since the 1970s. A tea pot I'd bought from a ceramist in Canberra last century. A Boda vase that I'd been given. There were smaller pieces from ceramic pots to glassware, vases, both antique and modern, knick knacks from all over the world, and even hats. And in contemplating a new home, we needed to leave some space for new acquisitions. This was a clean out where we knew each piece was going to bring pleasure to someone else and so it was much easier to let it go. Debora, Glenda, Jesse, Murray & Loretta Kath, Susan & Julie Gemma, Pam, Dale & David
Read more

PACKING UP

Image
How do you sort out a house you've been in for 24 years? I should confess upfront that Susan and I are not Kondo afficiondos nor did we watch all the episodes of Swedish Death Cleaning series so we had a lot of stuff to sort through. For what seemed like months, I was making twice weekly visits to St Vinnies to drop off everything from clothes to kitchenware. We hired a 12 metre skip and recruited our wonderful neighbour Mike to smash up furntiture that was no good to anyone.  I even threw out Livia, the polystyrene statue that had starred in a production of "Women Beware Women" back in the 1980s. Poor thing. Her head had falled off a number of times only be stuck back on with jewel encrusted gaffer tape.But being outside for nearly twenty years meant that she had lost her charm.  Mike, our helpful neighbour Goodbye to Livia Another cultural challenge was books. Susan is a re-reader of books and I always claim that I'm going to so between us, we had 16 or was it 17 fu...
Read more

CHECKING THE IDEA

Image
In July 2024, on my return from a (wonderful) couple of months in Europe, I called into Perth to check the validity of my spreadsheets. Was it possible to buy a home with all the requirements that Susan and I needed for a home: - a pool - 3 to 4 bedrooms (so Sebastian & our Eastern States friends could come to visit)  - 2 living areas (because we have such different tastes in television) - single story (Susan in particular is over stairs) - close to a good beach...and to Perth friends. I enlisted my real estate researcher friend Stephanie and we drove all over the city looking at suburbs - north as far as Gwelup and south as far as Hamilton Hill. What had looked good on paper was starting to look dodgy because the Perth real estate market took off in 2024. By the end of the year prices had increased by 25% while the Melbourne market had sunk by 5%. What we could afford was looking further and further away from ideal locations. However, traipsing around the town with Stephanie w...
Read more