Trip Down Memory Lane

[Jerry_Atrick]

One of the great things about the internet is the wealth of information available, and of course google maps and street view. So last night, I decided to look at all the places I have lived in (defined as > 3 months continuously - i.e. no returning home - well - except for one - but I was there for 3 years and home on the weekends).

 

So, here they are

Very first house in Avondale Heights. The only things that in that house that have changed on the outside is the addition of the wrought iron fence, the roof over the patio and an updated side gate. I really loved living there and remember my toy crane vividly.. and the trouble mum had weaning me off my bottle - I loved that thing (still have it somewhere).

 

 

House #2: We moved from Avondale Heights to East Kew  - at this address.. but not the same house. The previous house was a rendered art-deco-ishs style split-level house The back garden was steep, be in levels, and it ran down to a disused rail-line that had beeen converted into a part (not with playground equipment). It was the happiest year of my life - great school, great friends - right up until my parents split up.

 

 

House #3 - Glenroy aarea. Almost exaclty the same as when I left in '79.  Mum moved in with who was to become my stepfather. He was a handyman - I remember him putting up those sun-blinds. I remember my mother planting those bushes.. The only things that have changed is a new roof, evaporative cooling (f! that house got hot in summer), and the garage doors (I backed into the old wooden ones once... never heard the end of it). Lasted there three years before I moved out and lived with my father. The one great memory I have here is developing a love of aircraft - I joined the Aussie Air League and even one best cadet one year.

 

 

House (well flat) #4: I am about 12 I guess and my father lives in this block of flats in St. Kilda East as they were cheap (and looked a lot rougher then). We lived on the top floor behind the left hand street facing flat. My father slaved to put me into Caulfield Grammar (as I was going slightly awry), and, although I didn't finish secondary school there (it was too financially onerous), it had a big impact on me. There was a young couple in the ground floor read flat and I sort of hung out with them a lot - and from them I picked up an affinity for CB radio (he had a valiant station wagon and when they weren't there, I would break into it and sit on the CB radio all day.. when they were there, he would let me sit on the CB radio all day). Also, on one of those hard rubbish collection days, I peeked into a suitcase from the neighbouring block of flats.. It was full of playboys and the ilk.. I recovered them and sold them from a pretty penny at school.. But my father found out and confiscated the money (he did give it back to me a couple of years later).

 

Home #5 in Ormond. My father met a lady and they purchased the left read unit. It looks a lot better than when we lived there, with the shutters, neat gardens, etc. Shortly after I ended up at McKinnion High Scool (as it was known then), using an uncle's address who was in the catchment area for the school, I stayed here until I was 19, developed a love for fishing. A mate and I were out every weekend to Mordialloc renting a boat and into the bay. Mainly caught flatties, gar and snapper. Once got an octopus. Also used to rent at Beaumaris where the reefs had great returns.

 

House #6 First house I lived in after moving out - in Brunswick.. Lived with my girlfriend at the time. Was a cheap rental then and around the corner from the Neff factory as well as the factory where she worked. She loved animals and it was a vertiable zoo in the end. Had some great times there. Had a TA22 Celica there, and hardly used it as the city was a relatively short (although in peak hour, time-expensive) journey. Purchased an ex-PMG combi to do a bit of travelling - one of the many dumbest idea I had.. stoopid thing blew up in about 3 months...

 

 

Home #7: Melton. Things were looking good between us and we decided we were going to take the plunge; Melton was sort of established and this house came on the market and there was some scheme that we could rent to buy. It was cheaper than Brunswick, but fuel sort of evened it out. Much more room and space, less traffic and noise (except I am not sure the bypass was built then). But, in the end, we decided to part ways and had to exit the rent to purchase agreement.. which was financially difficult. Did manage to get into gliding at Bacchus Marsh airfield with Geelong Gliding Club.

 

 

House (well unit) #8. Back right hand unit in Glenhuntly - rented of a lovely couple. There for about a year and the girl who was to become my fiancee moved in afterwards. Not really too much to speak of.. Much the same looking now as then. I befriended an ex-RAF pilot who was a retired instructor at Moorrabbin. With the financial liberation of being outside of that rent to buy agreement, I started flying - much to the chagrin of my girlfriend who hated flying (in fact all of my whole 3 long term partners hate flying). When we got engaged she complained that my flying was stopping us buying a house (which it was). So I paused it. We almost bought a derelict house nearby )only one we could afford), but when it went to auction, she was insistent we weren't going to bid. We then decided to try our luck in Brisbane.

 

House (villa) #9: Carina in Brisbane. In all honesty I think we were the back right unit. but could be the middle right unit. We used to alternate going to the sunshine and gold coast in the winter for some excellent fishing - bream, dart, winter whiting... At the time, Peregian Beach was hardly developed and an overnight motel for $30 made it a bit sweeter - and into Noosa for the best Pizza in south Queensland (the Sheraton I think had a Victorian chef).  On the goldcoast we would find a cheapie motel south of Surfers Paradise and fished the beaches or the Nerang river.. .Would finish with seafood at Grumpies Wharf. Unf, fiancee didn't really get herself work or any meaningful activity despite me trying to help her.. We returned to Melbourne after which we shortly broke up.

 

House (Villa #10): Traralgon. In order to escape ex-fiancee (wasn't quite stalking, but jeez...) I took a contract in the Latrobe valley. I was staying in motels for a bit and going back to Melbourne during the weekends, but decided a villa was the go. I think the original ones have been replaced (or maybe  have the wrong ones, but google tells me this is the address). Was in the villa for 6 months - in total in Traralgon 12 months. In the end, I was still being relied upon by ec-fiancee so decided overseas was the only way to go. We were putting in a software company's system into Morwell and Hazelwood power station and the vendor had just opened up their London office. It was time for me to go.. That was 1996.

 

House (Flat) # 11: What a find!!! When I cam to London at 30 years of age, I was expecting to have to share a place with strangers for the first time in my life, but before I could find a place, I was shipped to Bismarck, North Dakota for 6 months. On my return, some other expats found an art dealer who rented out flats to companies in Richmond for the same price as sharing with plebs would be. So I managed to get the company to take the lease out on my behalf (there is no out clauses for corporate leases) as I was on an employer sponsored work permit. They reluctantly did and I had the first floor one bedroom flat (right hand side of the building) on Richmond Hill, around the corner from where celebs like Jerry Hall and Mick Jagger, lots of actors/actresses, ,etc lived. However, because of my work (I was really lucky as a single bloke - they sent me to the US, Canada, and Europe for long term client assignments; also had two weeks in Abu Dhabi and 4 days in Kuwait - both of which I would prefer to forget, especially Abu Dhabi), I found my mates coming out from Aus were using , while I hardly saw it.  I met a girl from the worlds largest dating agency - work - and after a while she moved in which stopped the hotel suite.. We are still together.

 

 

House (Motel) # 12: Actually, it should be 11 and the one above should be 12, but I can't be bothered changing it. After going to London on December 15, 1996, there was a delay in the issue of the work permit so, I decided to return to Aus for my niece's first birthday (early Jan). While I was in Aus, and still not yet officially employed by the company, they sent me to Bismarck, ND, and this was my home for the next 6.5 months to be accurate. It was reasonably good for a motel (at the time, it did call itself a hotel). I had a great time there; as the only Aussie most of the population had seen and riding the tail end of Paul Hogan's Croc Dundee popularity, I was often asked if I was the Aussie  (Ossie) in town. I made some great lifelong friends there that I keep in touch with today.

 

 

House (Serviced Suite) #13. OK - I have my pad in London.. I had a return trip to Bismarck for a couple of weeks to tidy something up for the client. As I am leaving the client's office to head for the airport the phone rings and the client's employee motions me to the phone. Our Ops director say I am not going back to London, but there is a ticket for me at the airport to go to Philadelphia - for 6 months! OK, I had the flat in London, and I did go back to London to renew my US visa waiver, but I was in the Embassy Suite's Benjamin Franklin Boulevard serviced rooms for 6 months to the day. I didn't care too much for Philly, but the arts centre wasn't too far away and I ran up the steps after my run and did the rocky thing... then rationality sunk in and I bolted down - there were probably guns trained on me. In all the travels I have done in the US, the big cities have clearly delineated safe and dangerous areas - all of Philly is dangerous.

 

House (Flat) #14: Lower slopes of Richmond: Have purchased the top floor flat. Itis 2 bedrooms, has a lovely roof top terrace out the back and a big loft. The bad thing about it was it is next to a probation hostel that was poorly supervised. Fortunately, I was studying law at the time and was able to make use of resources to work out the best way to pursuade the housing authority responsible for it upping their game. We had a great time here.. lots of pubs with live music - real hole in the wall restaurants, etc. I was still travelling a lot, but mainly within the country and after a while, I leave that job for a job in San Francsico with a dot bomb company. But not before I spend 3 months with my employer in San Francsico.

 

House (Hotel) #15: Then called the Hyatt Embardadero, I was here for a little over 3 months solid; our head office was less than a block away and  as the client was paying, I had a decent expense account. Still, at this stage, I am tiring of hotels quickly, and I am eligible for permanent residency, so not too long after I returned, it was time to seek better pastures.. and an ex colleague from this company provided me an opportunity...

 

 

 

House (apartment) #16: Taylor street an Francisco. I am recruited by a dot bomb and they quickly realise it is cheaper to put me in an apartment than a hotel.. And they find me a beauty right on the border of north beach and the centre district (of which the name eludes me). Along Vallejo and Christopher Columbus drive, there are great bars and restaurants. I am a 20  minute walk to the office. Co-incidentally, my partner had lef our company earlier than me and took a job with a tech start up based in Pleasanton, and she had to go out  once a month for a week. so we caught up with each other a lot, actually. Sadly, both startups failed... so that and an ailing father, it was time for me to go back to Aus.

 

House #17: We decide we are going to try livingin a country town - partner is from a village and I like the idea, so we lob up here in Flora Hill, Bendigo. We live in the unit at the rear and we now have a 9 month old son. Although it was a great lifestyle with me, with all the mothers' services over-suscribed, it was hell for my partner - so we are only there 6 months and back to Melbourne.  (Note, we managed to rent out out flat in London to a large multi-national who paid us a year in advance rent - sweet!)

 

House #18: South Yarra (near Commercial Road).. 3 large bedrooms, family room, dining room/kitchen in excellent, if a little dated decor. And with a nice inground pool with the latest salt-chlorination (or cleaning as there is no chlorine) system. What a find. The landlord had an open for inspection for 1/2 hour; it was out of our price range, but I say to partner let's have a look anyway. We are the only ones there, so I offer him 2/3 of what he wants (top of our range) and he accepts. With family, footy, and accessible (if expensive) mums' services, we did have a good time there. I was contracting in Melbourne and scored a contract that I loved. The management wanted me to become permanent, however, my partner was too homesick and, well, happy wife, happy life. And, despite being on a very good rate, we were both finding living in Melbourne (and Bendigo) very expensive, so we returned to the flat in London with a bun in the oven; I take a lower paid contract to keep the money flowing in the door, but it was like a financial weight was lifted from my shoulders (my partner does like eating out).

 

House #19 - Semi-detached in Richmond - right on the border of East Sheen. On returning from Australia, with the new bub and a toddler in toe, a small 2br flat up three flights of stairs was too much. Partner wanted to stay in the Richmond precinct, which is a tall ask on a now single income. So I find this house as a rental that is affordable; we rent out our flat and take the leased keys to this dilapidated wreck. After 3 months, we decide if the landlord wants to sell, we will buy it (would have been the only house of that size in Richmond we could afford - thanks to its complete dilapidation). Fortuitously, the next month, while we are working out how to get the finances to make an unsolicited offer to the landlord, we get a letter from the agent giving us 2 months notice to vacate (legal to do this in the UK) as they want to sell. What a coincidence? The lease agreements have the landlord's contact details, so I email him and suggest let's cut out the middle man - he do his research and as long as we agree on the price, let's split the difference of what the real estate agent would get - he gets a bit more and I pay a bit less - win win. Well, he declines as he wants to put it in his agent's hand, who is a mate. So they agent comes around and values the house and are passed the vendor's asking price.. My partner can't believe it and wants me to accept straight away.. I didn't want to give the game away, so took about an hour or so to get back and offer £10K less, to not give away their valuation was about, in our mind, £70K less than market - or at least what we were prepared to pay. Vendor accepts. It was stretching us, and he did have a hiccup finalising the loan, so to sweeten the vendor with the delay, we added the £10K back to the price.

 

We had to sell our flat (took a day to get 15% above asking) and the agent who sold our flat asked what we were paying for the house. When he heard, he said he could probably turn a £120K profit the next day. The agent the vendor used was based a couple of suburbs away in lower area of affluence.. I think he worked out the price by valuing it on the properties in his area and adding a premium. Some mate! It was a large 3br property, but we added 50CuMetres to it by extending the loft (Velux Windows) and then extended the rear to a big open plan kitchen; and completely gutted and refurbed it.  We cheesed off our rear neighbours as there was bamboo and other rubbish growing wildly at the back of the garden. We pulled it all out and re-landscaped the garden; the problem for the rear neighbours is they landscaped their garden based on that overgrown mess...

 

We stayed in the house all up for about 7 years, which by this time, our son had finished year 6 and our daughter year 3. We had a lot of good memories, including the birth of our daughter in the house. The one pain about the house was it was right under the final approach on 27L into Heathrow... and they cam in at 45 second intervals when coming in on it.

 

 

House #20: Wellington, Somerset. We rented this house while looking for our dream house in the South West. It was a 4br house, where the largest could barely fit a cat. However, after getting to speak to a few families who had made similar moves from London but rented more comfy properties, I wanted to make sure we kept keen to find our dream house, as some of them had been renting for 5 years while searching. The good thing is Wellington is quite a nice little town - with various amenities and a good selection of quality food shops. The kids liked it, and the house was about a 10 minute walk into the centre of town.. if that.

 

Actually I didn't mind it, except for the small rooms.

 

 

 

 

House (small holding) #21: A small holding between two villages just outside Taunton. It used to be the area's main apple farm but those days were long gone. The house was almost a long Devon house, but was large but had dated decor. The building on the right was the old storage fridgle, and there were a few outbuildings and barns, as well as a detached studio apartment converted from a hatchery. There were about 11 acres of fields, some of which had apples, plums and pears and others were used to run sheep (by another farmer; the rent being a lamb carcass twice yearly). Someone else used to pick the fruit and pay us about £20/ton; so we did well. We also ran a small poultry enclosure but didn't try and make money out of it (fresh eggs ar the best). It came with a David Brown vintage tractor, slasher, and from hydraulic ram/forklift, which made work much lighter. However, as I was still in London, the novelty wore off the rest of the family in our first spring, where every grows in front of your eyes, and it is a death valley (in terms of the non-farm animals and predators). So, while i revelled in it during the weekend, my family quickly wore. We decided to sell and accept, as the property market had crashed in the South West, decided to sell and accept our losses (hoping the next property would also sell at a depressed price). However, my partner is very artistic (I am more autistic when it comes to Art), she did a few quick transformations, and we actually made money (but I had to include the tractor in the sale, which I was most upset about).

 

House (Flat) #22: This one doesn't technicaslly meet the definition as this is the flat I stayed in while working in London when living in the South West. I stayed on the first floor, and the lady who rented the flat, stayed on the top floor (we shared the kitchen, but as my room had an ensuite and desk, I rarely went into the living room. Had a great time as I could come and go as I pleased, this was in Barnes which is a very affluent area in London, but she was asking not much money (or benefits in kind) so it worked well. Once,I ame home from a night out with the boys - say about 2am... and was very careful to be quiet and not wake her up through clanging and banging. The next morning when I emerged, she thanked me for not wakign her up and managing to get the door locked, also without making a noise. But she asked me to next time, actually close the bloody door! One entered the flat from behind the shops and there was a secure tall gate to stairs up to the first floorflanked by tall brick walls, so it was hard to get in through that anyway, but she made her point.

 

Towards the end of my time there, I had settled down a bit, and learned to enjoy weeknights with a good bottle of Aussie red from the local off licence (milk bar that also sells booze). That chain of "offies", Londis, just sold very average booze and groceries - much like Aussie milk bars (that I understand are a dying breed now). However, in Barnes, I could get Grange from there if I could afford to. Instead, Yering Station and a Grant Burge were the offerings (no Wolfie there;  had to go to the local supermarket to get Wolfie).

 

And, last but not least:

House #23: From street view, what you see is a now converted barn (that is a very old photo as the driveway has been re-laid and the cottage was refurbished years ago, and  we have now been in here 2.75 years). What you see is originally a barn that was converted to a school, and then a meeting house for local and visiting dignitaries, and then a cottage. It is currently rented out and up the drive, you can see the flank wall to the main house, an old rectory. The kids and the now departed dog love it so much more than the small holding. It needs a lot of work, but with fairly non contentious planning application submitted (it is a listed property), we are already starting the refurb proper. The now older kids enjoy it and my partner has almost got into gardening. She is looking to finally monetise her artistic talents (she can make way more money than me if she wanted to). It's hot today, but I get to ride my mower, operate power tools to my liking, go to the community owned pub (of which we have a share each - no matter how much you put in, one investor = 1 share - each share value is different). The local airfield is about 30 mins away, but as my income has been smashed, flying is on hold at the moment. Son has finished secondary school wth reasonable grades, but is embarking on a similar route to Octave's son.. Daughter is still at the local private school and largely enjoying it..

Lots of memories.. most good, some not so.. However, getting itchy feet now and looking forward to the next part of the journey.

Edited July 17, 2021 by Jerry_Atrick

[Old Koreelah]

So that’s where all the bodies are buried.

[red750]

On 17/07/2021 at 11:45 PM, Jerry_Atrick said:

So last night, I decided to look at all the places I have lived

I have done the same, Jerry, but you had more luck than I did.

 

I lived on a farm until I was in Grade 3, firstly in a house my parents shared with my grandparents. When our family had grown to four kids, Dad built another house on the farm. We moved out when the government bought the property to build a reservoir.

 

 

We moved into the nearest town where I completed a lot of my schooling.

 

This is where our house was located.

 

 

One hundred yards down the road, I got my first job detailing cars at a Ford dealership located here.

 

 

So much for memories!

[spacesailor]

I don,t expect that those houses l lived in exist anymore.

All but one have been demolished in the name of progress.

The only one standing is one my Grandfather owned.

spacesailor

[pmccarthy]

Some of my relatives are buried under a reservoir. The headstones pop out during droughts.

[Jerry_Atrick]

If only there was a "surprised" reaction to click

Edited July 19, 2021 by Jerry_Atrick

[onetrack]

PMC - Would that be Keepit Dam?

 

I'm like Red750. Nearly everything I've ever lived in, or gone to school in, has gone. There's only one house I've lived in, that has survived in liveable shape. We moved into this house in late 1961, and moved out in mid 1964.

It was a bit of a dump back then - but amazingly, it has survived in good shape, and some owners since our time, have spent a huge sum of money on it. I can't believe it's the same house, but the daggy old backyard shed is still there!

 

https://www.realestate.com.au/property/55-kathleen-st-bassendean-wa-6054

 

Hang on - no, I lie. A farmhouse the brother and I rented between 1965 and 1972 appears to be still there. It was a nice house to live in, it was built in the late 1940's, and it was HUGE!

Big wide verandahs all round, massive rooms, I think the lounge room was about 10M x 8M, and the 3 bedrooms were about 6M x 5M. The house was built of concrete blocks formed in a hand-operated press.

The roof was corrugated aluminium sheeting - apparently aluminium was in oversupply after WW2, and they tried to compete with CGI as a roofing alternative - but it soon became too costly again.

 

https://www.google.com/maps/place/32°48'06.1"S+117°39'20.1"E

 

Edited July 19, 2021 by onetrack

[red750]

Actually, I was pulling Jerry's leg a bit. During the period we lived in the house where the parking lot now is in Warragul, Vic, we moved to Deniliquin for four years and my Aunt and Uncle lived in the house. Dad suffered from bronchitis, and we moved north for a better climate. In Deni, we lived in this house, which looks pretty much like we left it at the end of 1959.

 

We then moved back to the house in Warragul. I finished one more year of high school, working at the Ford dealership for a few months till I got a job with the Commercial Bank and had to move to Melbourne. I boarded at a number of places including the YMCA on Southbank, where the Hamer Hall is now located. Dad was driving a delivery truck in Melbourne so decided to bring the family to town. We rented a house in Malvern for a few months, then Dad bought a milk bar in Pascoe Vale, which is now this fish and chip shop. The residence is behind the shop, and my brother and I shared a bungalow out the back.

 

 

Dad sold the shop and we moved again to rented homes, first in West Preston, then Heidelberg. It was at this  time that I met the wife. When we got married we moved into the rear flat in this block in Reservoir.

 

 

At the time I was working in the computer department of the bank learning to operate the computer which was going to run the satellite centres in Adelaide and Sydney. We lived in this flat for a few months before we went with another guy and his wife to set up the Adelaide Centre. While we were there for 3 months, we rented the middle flat on the ground floor of this block just off the Anzac Highway in Plympton.

 

 

The three months in Adelaide were a training period for me, as I then moved to Sydney and set up the Sydney Centre where I remained as manager for five years. Sydney is where we bought our first home. It was located where the two storey house is, in Greystanes, but our house looked much more like the red brick one next door.

 

 

After five years, the bank moved me back to headquarters where i became a systems analyst. We bought this house in Vermont, where we have lived since January 1980.

 

 

Now you know the full story.

 

 

[pmccarthy]

PMC - Would that be Keepit Dam?

 

no it was Dasey Town, now under the Copeton Dam. The settlement was named Boggy Creek  but renamed after my ancestors the Dasey family.

Edited July 19, 2021 by pmccarthy

[Jerry_Atrick]

5 hours ago, red750 said:

then Dad bought a milk bar

You are so lucky.. I desperately wanted one of my parents to buy a milk bar - the allure of all those chocolates and chips... Yummo!!

 

(I know in real life it wouldn't happen - but it was a nice dream)..

[nomadpete]

This memory lane stuff is interesting.

When I was 14 my parents bought a quaint brick Federation house. The whole family got into the massive renovation that changed it from a unlivable dump into a nice home.

It has been demolished and replaced by a modern two story McMansion.

 

Little wonder I didn't recognise it from Google street view!

[Jerry_Atrick]

Defo.. Unfortunately, replacing old with new isn't always the best.. When I lived in Carina, those modern built houses were awful in summer... I went to an Aunt's place in Keperra whose house was on stilts and, I guess an early 70's build and it was miles better. Went t a mates house which was a wooden Queenslander and it was even better - except he didn't have flyscreens on those slatted windows - didn't care too much for the bug gazpacho.

 

 

[pmccarthy]

Growing up in Broken Hill pre air conditioning, we lived in a cement brick house and sweltered all night. Later I lived in a corrugated metal house and it cooled off as soon as the sun went down.