The moving blog 2021.

The moving blog. On buying a Bank!
It was 3 years ago when I spotted a Bank for sale. Going cheap. It wasn’t the time. Too early and someone else grabbed it out from under me. Quite a lot of work required to bring it up to its 1800’s splendour. We moved the search on to other areas. So many to search for but where was the right one?


Then a year ago, the real estate market went covid crazy. All the beautiful houses, with the palm trees, grottos, pools, huge decks and entertainment spaces were suddenly out of our reach, prices grossly inflated. The city dwellers bought up to move to the regions. There was simply nothing left. Once advertised, they were gone. Even…horror of horrors…bought remotely, sight unseen. It was like the panic buying of toilet paper! Nothing left on the shelf. We did frequent road trips, even interstate. Nothing. This search was interrupted by borders slamming shut. We continued to scroll the internet, endless mind boggling hours.



On buying a Bank. Part 2.
If you believe in the Universal Law of attraction, then it seemed only natural that another Bank would somehow materialise! Totally out of the blue, word of mouth only. Not advertised. A fluke. A mad dash to see it followed. A trip of some 3 and a half hours. Yes we could see ourselves living there. Corridors and secret rooms. Endless possibilities.


Former Banks have ambience, character, some have sweeping staircases, exotic gardens, old fireplaces, windows with lacework and frontages right on the street to emphasise their historic past importance in the town.
We stopped looking for a house. This was the one.
Alas, with time running fast towards our own settlement date, the owners found themselves in a similar situation. No stock! Nothing. Zilch. Everything sold before you even see it! This was not going to work. I so wanted to be Mistress of the Banking chamber!
Disappointed, we started the by now non-enjoyable task of looking once again for a house.

“On finding a house, timing and looking for accommodation or we could end up homeless.”
Disappointedly we moved away from owning a second Bank but it was never far from mind. With time fast approaching moving day, our attention turned to..well..finding a roof over our head while we weathered the storm of crazy real estate.
Basically, there are no homes for sale – anywhere. We have googled the east coast of Australia, as far as Bribie Island, south Queensland. down the coast into NSW, coastal centres such as Nambucca Heads, with one road in and one road out.
We road tripped to the south coast of New South Wales, looking closely at more beach communities, then inland to out of the way acreages, distant from anywhere, on vast tracts of open land, including one with a staring cow and an alpaca standing beside a dam!. Back into Victoria, stopping in the heat of Cann River and onto Lakes Entrance which was nice but the high prices and unavailability drove us ever onwards, with our high hopes being dashed by the minute.
We were looking down the lens of being homeless as we waited for a property to manifest. The options? Well EQUADOR looked promising! Coastal South America? Who are we kidding? The options?


A shack on someone’s farm, powered by a 12 volt battery and solar panels, with something described as a ” compostable toilet ” which ….turns your waste into a renewable source of energy.”!! A steal at $74 a night. I can still hear our footsteps running away from that! Me screaming as I imagined the Audi parked down the back of a muddy, freezing hut, with us huddling inside trying to keep our core temperatures somewhere around normal!
The alternatives? A local Motel who would kindly do us a deal for $500 per week or other upmarket locations starting from $2,000 per month up to $5,000. EEK!
Finding a house was now crucial.

I will miss this view, those sunsets, birds perched on poles. The sky looking like a firestorm as it sets over the water. Incoming lightning storms on the horizon. My first sunrise or sunset from another house will be interesting if as yet unknown.

Pauline Campbell

I am a former Australian domestic Airline employee of 15 years to Professional Tour Guide. Recently moved from coast to country. I prefer the quiet peace and beauty of where I live currently but there is a little Gypsy in me. Travel has been my thing. Now there is writing, blogging and meditation.

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