Upclose: Making the T-change

The Tenterfield Star continues our sneak peek Into the lives of people who have made the T change and swapped their lives for a fresh start in Tenterfield.

Suzanne Gulikers and Tim Powe

T CHANGE, tree change, a move by any other name, brought my husband and me to Tenterfield.

After a lifetime of cities, noise, traffic, commuting, racing children to ballet, cricket, soccer, cello and a myriad of other essentials, we found ourselves on our own in the big smoke and not loving it.

For years we had dreamt of relocating to the country, had driven through Tenterfield on our way to and from other destinations, and had wondered, could it be for us? Right size, right place, perfect climate (I hear locals snigger but as a refugee from Brisbane’s summer inferno, I stick to my claim) but obligations delayed us, until recently.

Technology was the key! Who knew? The wonder of the world wide web produced “tele-commuting” with our home offices becoming e-workplace satellites attached to head office through the magic of copper and fibre optic cables.

We sit in our Tenterfield idyll and send the fruit of our intellectual labours all around the country. And, we’re not alone in this.

A number of other blow-ins from the Big Smoke are doing exactly the same thing. (I pause to acknowledge eternal gratitude to the inventive genius of Tim Berners-Lee who thought www would be wonderful, wonderful, wonderful – he was right.)

So why choose Tenterfield, home of the effervescent Peter Allen and federation? Besides the obvious charms of this historic region and its proximity to services (not to mention lovely boutiques and great coffee – bring on the bypass), we simply fell in love with the landscape. The rugged, boulder-strewn hillsides claimed our hearts and we instantly felt at home.

Belonging, being connected to somewhere is important to most of us. Experiencing a sense of connectedness and community makes us happy. Research shows that 75 per cent of Australians rate “being able to spend more time with your family and friends” as more important to quality of life than having more money. Connecting to a physical landscape and finding a sense of place, takes this a step further.

It may not be logical to feel at home in an unfamiliar place, but, so what? Life is too short to wonder “what if?” or even worse, “if only”.

So if our T change is an illogical mid-life crisis – bring it on. Every time I gaze at the impossibly blue expanse of sky, breathe the fresh air, marvel at the quiet, or wave to my delightfully friendly neighbours, I can almost feel the Boy from Oz penning a tune.

Calling Australia home is one thing, calling Tenterfield home is one step better.

Ben and Jess Silver

THERE were a number of reasons why we moved from Brisbane to Tenterfield.

It all started when we found ourselves growing weary of the usual city grind of terrible traffic, poor public transport and the thought of heavily mortgaging ourselves to live on a block the size of a postage stamp.

With me growing up in Broken Hill and Ben being a county boy at heart, we decided we wanted to move away from the rat race and find our own piece of paradise.

Ben travelled through the New England when he was a child on his family’s driving holidays and always remembered the cool fresh air and the poplars.

This started us looking around the Tenterfield area. We decided that Tenterfield had a lovely feel about the town and the people were always friendly so we thought, why not!

After purchasing a property at Tarban in August 2009 and with a rough idea of moving in five years or so, we found ourselves packing up and heading south just 14 short months later.

We have been in town for over 12 months now and love it. It is exactly the lifestyle change we were hoping it would be.

We have found getting involved in local sport to be the best way of meeting people and have made some wonderful friends since arriving in town.

We have also found that our family and friends enjoy visiting Tenterfield as much as we enjoy it here as it is a lovely break from city life.