Heavenly Beverley : A Magical Mystery Tour...

Michael and I really experienced the polar opposite of childhoods.

He was born and bred in suburban Perth, living in one of the newer mortgage belt areas - Innaloo, which was packed with young families, all chasing the Australian dream of home ownership. Sharing a bedroom with his brother, he was tossed into North Innaloo Primary School at the age of five, a noisy and confronting sea of over a thousand children.

Michael, a very outdoorsy boy, moved into his element when the family relocated to Glen Forrest, then a fledgling hills community on the outskirts of Perth. He was transported to a primary school with a total population of eighty students. The local environment was awash with gravel roads and tracks, old clay pits that doubled as swimming holes in summer, deserted brickworks and other empty echoes of buildings and plenty of undisturbed bush. On foot, bicycle, motorbike and ancient cars, he explored his surroundings on a daily basis. He would return home with various injuries or stray cats, both to his Mum's exasperation.

High school attendance was at Eastern Hills until the end of Year 10, still within the semi-suburban, semi-rural setting Michael loved, and then Down To The Plains for what was supposed to be another two years of Governor Stirling High School. Michael regarded the place as a prison, however, unlike Alcatraz, Michael escaped easily and often. Eventually, his Dad pulled him aside and told him to get a job.

Throughout his apprenticeship and beyond, the Hills held his heart, calling him back time and time again. However, in an act of supreme selflessness, he left his beloved Hills in his mid-thirties to become a Flatlander (his term) for twenty years.

As for me, I seemed to be a perpetual gypsy. Born in Melbourne, then eight years in Brisbane, five years in Sydney and my last year of school on the Gold Coast, I really didn't feel I belonged anywhere. Three kindergartens, two primary schools, three high schools did not add to my sense of being grounded with friends and a local community.

And I was lonely. I don't have old school buddies as I moved so often. I longed for a chance to put down some roots. Hence, the twenty years in Karrinyup were as close to a hometown as I could create.

Living so close to the ocean, I rarely ventured inland. When I did, the Perth Hills and beyond seemed hot and breathless and brown and brittle. This was because we only drove east during the heat of the summer holidays. I saw nothing beautiful in January's harsh blast away from the coast.

All has changed. Since starting my life with Michael, I have visited the Hills in all seasons and discovered its charm and beauty. I saw the house he'd built in Darlington and the other rented digs he'd lived in as a young man and a newly married husband and father.

And then, the Kids decided to get married last Saturday at Darlington Estate, smack bang in the middle of the Hills. Firstly, Michael drove on all the old familiar roads of his past in his pursuit of dress trousers last Wednesday. We stayed in the heart of Darlington itself for two nights and on the day after the Wedding of the Century, Michael took me to one of his favourite spots of all time.

En route, he drove me up hill and down dale through a lush green winter wonderland with glimpses of the first timid wildflowers. With my singular lack of direction, I had no idea where he was taking me.

The Swan View tunnel was constructed in 1895 to service the railway lines to the Hills and beyond to Kalgoorlie. Now a stunning open space with breathtaking views, beautiful bush surroundings, the roar of a very full and flowing Jane Brook and another piece of living history, I was entranced. I had known that there were railway lines going hither and yonder from Perth, but I had no idea that places like the Swan View Tunnel actually existed...

We walked the whole length of the tunnel. I was fascinated by the protective alcoves that provided a safe retreat for workers within the tunnel away from the danger of passing trains. I was concentrating on watching my steps so I wouldn't trip in the near blackness of the tunnel's middle when Michael noted a taller shadowy figure walking right next to me. I can only assume my guardian angel was looking after me as well.

We returned on the outside parallel walking track. Kids and adults on bikes whizzed passed us, joggers were pounding the paths in the pursuit of ultimate fitness, families, couples and singles all enjoying a wonderfully warming walk on a cool winter's day. Once again, Michael had introduced me to an Adventure in Our Own Backyard.

We retraced our steps to our digs in Darlington to watch the ultimate in Western Australian winter television sports event - the Western Derby. A few drinks and some Glen Forrest Indian takeaway wasn't the last hurrah of a fabulous day. Our host, Kirsty, joined us and we chatted until after midnight, well past my usual bedtime.

Perhaps, the joy of sharing the area Michael felt so at home and the abundant fresh air of the Swan View walk gave me a much-needed boost.