Is it worth changing the sea or changing the tree?

Living between the mountains and the sea has meant we’ve embraced a healthier outdoor lifestyle, which has seen me lose around 50kg and go from a size 22 to a size 12. Work has picked up too – I’m now working with The Country Woman » (a women’s access to services cooperative) that helps women living in rural and regional areas become digitally savvy.

Bush women are chronically underrepresented in Parliament, which is a real shame because there are so many visionary, fearless women entrepreneurs doing amazing things in this country, and their voices – their talents – need to be amplified.”

“Our family vacation year gave us the courage to take the leap.”

Tamara Scenna, 47, caravan park operator

“Our tree rotation began with a 12-month family break in Australia. Before we left Sydney’s inner west in our caravan at the start of 2019, life was a hustle and bustle. I worked in government service and left home at 7 am to avoid traffic jams that made my commute to work take over an hour.

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With the kids (now 16 and 13 respectively) in school, we often felt like we were all ships in the night, so we decided that a year of traveling and socializing before our eldest started high school would help us reset and It’s easy to go back to high school. city ​​life with a fresh mindset. Of course, we all realized then that there is so much more to life than what Sydney has to offer; During our journey, the seed was planted to try something else.

At first we tried to settle down in Sydney; we even got a new dog and cat, but when COVID-19 hit we started to think about buying a caravan park as a way to make a living outside the city. We looked at a few options in Queensland and then fell in love with what is now Daintree Siesta (in the far north of the state), which also had motel rooms and a restaurant.

Time is of the essence for school age children and we knew that if we wanted to change the tree it would be now or never. So, after serious discussions with our children, we sold out and – after a few complications with border closures – returned to a new life at the end of 2021.

Moving to a remote location, especially with teenagers, is not for everyone. Mossman is our closest town so our local supermarket and pharmacy are an hour’s drive away and Cairns is 2.5 hours away. My kids had always played soccer, so one of the non-negotiables of our move was that they would continue to do so. But for that to happen we have to take them to Mossman for training every week and to Cairns for games on Saturdays. Driving takes a lot of time, but we find someone to cover for us in the park and do it as a family, which gives us time to talk about important topics.

There were many advantages. The schools my children attend are much smaller than the ones they went to in Sydney – there are 20 children in my daughter’s primary school – so they often have one-on-one interactions with teachers. Our shared experiences brought our children closer together, and now, working after school in our restaurant and experiencing all sorts of interesting situations, they have grown into wonderful young adults. Of course, we understand that they will most likely be away at university, so it is important to enjoy this time together, living and working.”

“Shopping in Sydney didn’t make a lot of financial sense.e»

Talia Krinis, 40, public relations consultant

“I never realized how I felt during the whole Sydney thing until lockdown forced us to live at home for an extended period of time. Up until this point, life had felt like one social event after another. My husband Alex and I must have had dinner with friends at least three times a week, and there were endless work events throughout the day, as well as the occasional coffee and morning gym session.

Locking ourselves inside, we realized how much we liked not going out and living at a slower pace. As we started looking for a place to buy, it soon became obvious that we would either have to downsize to a shoebox apartment or look far outside the city for a place to live. Sydney has many great qualities, but accessibility is not one of them.

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The move to Wombarra (on the Illawarra coast south of Sydney) made sense from the start; I grew up in nearby Bulli so knew the area well, plus we needed a transfer site that was close enough to Sydney to make it easier for Alex to commute to the office at least three days a week. The house we bought was the first one we looked at and we couldn’t believe how big our budget would be when we left Sydney. Instead of a one-bedroom apartment in Potts Point, we now have a three-bedroom house with ocean views and a large backyard.

Since we moved in 2023, life has changed the way we planned. I work from home, so when the weather is warm I start my day with a swim at the beach. I always make time for things I forgot I always enjoyed, like sitting in the garden with a book and a cup of tea. Alex also enjoys commuting; he says that the long train ride twice a day gives him the opportunity to do any outstanding work, so that by the time he gets home his brain will be free of clutter.

Major changes aren’t just about moving, they’re also about changing aspects of your life—at least that’s what we found out pretty quickly. Here, we can no longer rely on ordering takeout, which made up most of our week in the city, and our suburb doesn’t even have a cafe or grocery store. However, over time we have realized how important it is to buy a quality coffee machine and plan your meals properly so that you don’t have to drive to the nearest store, but these are small changes in the grand scheme of things. We’re enjoying the peace and quiet so much – not to mention the space we suddenly have – that we haven’t even thought about Sydney!’

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