Inverloch is special for me. It featured in the Bad Eighties Diaries a lot, long-term readers will remember.
My dad had a house down there, a fibro shack only a block from the inlet in what they now call 'Old Inverloch' - ie the best spot.
Last night I got on google for the first time and looked at what became of his block. We knew when he'd sold that someone had subdivided and put up two townhouses. They are predictably revolting. But getting on google and virtually walking the streets of Inverloch made me homesicky and nostalgic. Partly because it features in a chapter in my book; partly because I wish dad still had that place. I wish there was somewhere in our family that we still had. Everything is gone. Every house and therefore every home. Our family home - gone. Sold, knocked down and now with two fucking Georgian townhouses. Inverloch, gone. Barwon Heads, gone too.
I would LOVE to have my own beach shack one day. After selling the flat last year, the money sits safe in the bank. Last night I looked at real estate, and I could buy outright a place somewhere down that way, near the beach. I've looked in Castlemaine, Ballarat, Bendigo, all sorts of country areas. When P and I were driving back from Byron last year I made her take notes of the places we passed through, so I could look them up on google.
Last night, I found this place in Castlemaine. I'm not giving you the address cause then you'll go and buy it (I can't afford this one so I'm hoping it stays unsold until something magic happens and I can buy it):
This one is more in my price range, and I love it no less than the grand Castlemaine one:
Off down there now. Should I take my cheque book? I'll probably be disappointed because if it's changed and is different, it won't fit my memories.
3 comments:
Hmmm Castlemaine... lovely house, sadly it's a little too off the beaten track for two people still working full time in the City.
Our family had a beach shack as well, in Margaret River. My father and his siblings and friends built it themselves... mostly from asbestos, which I suspect is the reason why it is still there, much as it always was. It was sold out of the family about 20 years ago. It could be bought back, but no-one can afford it now! Like you, I yearn for the beach shack, but I suspect a lot of that is nostalgia for the freedom and the simple way things were for us back then.
That stunning Castlemaine property was recently featured on an interiors blog - Desire to Inspire if I recall correctly. They have a section called Real Estate stalking ;-)
Your more affordable option looks like it has oodles of potential! Looks spacious - has high ceilings and lovely floorboards. I'm sure they're there under that nasty lino in the kitchen too.
Hi Suze you're probably right about the nostalgia, for me also it's about having something that the family has, a place to go. My in-laws have something, but that's not ours. My sister's in-laws have something too, but that's not hers. If it was mine, true, it wouldn't be hers but some holiday place owned by me or one of my siblings would just be fab.
Esz - how nice to see you still read occasionally. I looked at your blog, you are so clever with your clothes making, and I love the retro styles!
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