Home....

I've been to cities that never close down

From New York to Rio and old London town

But no matter how far

Or how wide I roam

I still call Australia home

I'm always travelin'

And I love bein' free

So I keep leavin' the sun and the sea

But my heart lies waiting over the foam

I still call Australia home

All the sons and daughters spinning 'round the world

Away from their families and friends

Ah, but as the world gets older and colder

It's good to know where your journey ends

And someday we'll all be together once more

When all the ships come back to the shore

Then I realize something I've always known

I still call Australia home

As a child, I used to sing this in school. Back then, I could never imagine leaving Australia, and living anywhere else. In fact, I didn't think I'd ever leave Tasmania. All through my university years, and years of work, I would watch my friends leave Tassie to go and explore the world. Instead, I went to the University of Tasmania, married (then divorced) and stayed in my safe little world.

In 2002 I decided to leave. I'd had enough of the insular little world I had created, of seeing ghosts around every corner, and I wanted to do, in my thirties, what I had never done in my twenties, and break out and see the world.

I chose Ramsbottom, and there I met my now husband Corey (on the bus, of all places!) When we married we felt that having babies would be very difficult (I'd had previous miscarriages and varying diagnoses of female problems), and we were stunned when we fell pregnant less than two months after our wedding!

When Joseph was 2 weeks old, and in ITU, looking teeny tiny, I rather bravely/stupidly, booked our holiday to Australia! I couldn't visualise what it would be like, what Joseph would be like.

So in early January, we flew to Australia (via Dubai!). Joseph was an absolute dream, he loved flying, he adored the attention, and he was fantastic everywhere we went. I took him home. To meet his Aussie grandparents for the first time, to spend time with his Auntie Penni, and his lovely cousins, Fred and Una.

There were some happy times, but when it came time to leave, my heart was heavy. My life is in England. Joseph has an English passport, and an English father. We own a home here.

When I win lottery, we will spend 6 months here, and 6 months in Australia. In this new global village I wish it were easier to split one's self between the two hemispheres more easily.

But until then, Wiggles videos, frequent phonecalls, and Vegemite on toast are our link to that other part of me, dwelling in Australia.