The Other End of the World

By Ellin Irwin

Whether 25 miles or 25,000 miles, it is still a daring adventure when a family decides to move away from their birthplace.

Many factors are normally considered, with great debates taking place prior to a decision being made.

Before we decided to leave Scotland and come to Australia, other countries were considered.

At the end of the day we opted to travel the 25,000 miles and make our new home in this country.

The lead up to leaving family and friends was probably the worst part of it.

Anyone asking the children – then aged six and eight – if they were looking forward to the adventure, did not always receive the expected reply.

My eight-year-old son in particular showed his stubbornness by letting everyone know that he didn’t want to leave his home in Scotland.

‘I’ll have to leave my friends behind,’ he would tragically announce.

This soon became a tearjerker, especially for the grandparents.

My daughter had no trouble with the idea and went along happily with the plans that were being made.

She invited her friends and relations to visit us as soon as they could.

‘We get there on a Saturday,’ she’d say, ‘come on Sunday.’

Staying in our own home until the day we left, we slept on the mattresses that were the only thing that wasn’t shipped on ahead; we ate at our parents’ houses every day.

My father had arranged to pick up the mattresses after we left, and discard them.

As it turned out he felt he could not enter the home without us there, so it was my brother who did what was necessary.

Arriving in Australia was exciting and from that moment on everyone we spoke to was a stranger. That is a very odd feeling!

I often wondered what it must be like for people who don’t speak English. Mind you, our Scottish brogue did pose a few problems until we learnt to slow down our speech.

My first neighbour here in Australia thought we were brave to travel so far to settle.

My husband had lost his job of 20 years, and the area we lived in already had a high percentage of unemployed, so it was not hard to consider the move.

He found work immediately and we bought our first home in Australia.

The children started school. My daughter settled in right away but my son experienced problems because of his Scottish accent.

He was determined not to change it for anyone, which said a lot about his personality; even as an eight-year-old.

Things worked out fine, as they usually do, and I surprised myself with no feeling of homesickness.

Numerous friends suffered this for many years after settling in Australia.

There is no great difference between living in Australia and Scotland. The main one is the weather, which allows many outdoor activities to be enjoyed that could not be dreamed of in Scotland.

The multi-cultural population is a unique introduction to other cultures. This has to help with understanding one another. Australia—a great country.