A few weeks ago in the wee hours of the still, dark morning I heard the familiar two toned, almost mournful, sound ‘mo-poke…mo-poke…mo-poke’. It is the sound of Australia’s smallest owl. There has been one around our garden on and off for years. Last year about this time it would perch in a low branch of our lemon tree. We never saw it but we heard its distinctive two toned call in the night…and we saw the pile of excrement on the branch that accumulated over a couple of months’ regular use. I recognised it as the same substance our neighbours had decorating the corner of their house when the owl tried to take up residence there for a while. The lemon tree was a better place anyway. The owl is properly named the Southern Boobook but is colloquially called a ‘mo-poke’ due to its distinctive call. It is only found on a couple of other nearby islands.

That may be one of the last times I hear that familiar call. I’m preparing myself by taking lots of photos, listening to the birds when I walk, instead of music or podcasts, and trying to soak up what has been our life in a very special place for the last 33 years. In about 6 months we will be leaving, and 6 or so weeks after that we are told we should be able to move into the apartment—not to another neighbourhood in Alice, but 1500 kilometres south to the city of Adelaide. We have made this decision together as best we can, based on social changes, medical needs and age related needs. As much as possible, we are ready for the change and the challenges it will bring.

I will try to write more regularly for these next months, to document the discussions and considerations as well as the development of the building of our residence in Adelaide. This is a big move, both literally and …literally! Ha. No doubt about it. But we have both had big moves before and are ready for the adventure of living 33 floors high in an apartment in the city….

Let me start at the beginning…April 2023. I was in Adelaide staying at our daughter’s townhouse, recovering from surgery on both feet. She and Don decided to investigate a couple of two bedroom apartments that were for sale. We were already mulling over the possible need to move, and this was only weeks before Don’s cancer diagnosis. Neither apartment was exactly what we had hoped for in the location we wanted. After two weeks when I was allowed to be on my feet again, Don and I called an Uber for a ride into the city to eat at our favourite cafe. After eating I decided I could walk around the block for a stretch. Only a 5 minute walk from the cafe, we saw groundwork being started on Grote Street. Curious, we crossed the street to investigate. The activity was directly across the street from from the Victoria Markets, a favourite haunt of ours, and a half a block from tram and bus stops, walking distance to at least 20 restaurants, and a 15 minute walk to the main city shopping mall. Location box ticked! We walked passed the street front of a nearby building that had a holder of brochures hanging off a post and showing a display model apartment. Don picked one up and we looked at it. Favourable grunts from both of us. As he placed the brochure back in its holder and we turned to go, a man holding his morning coffee looked at us and smiled and asked “Would you like to have a look?”. I quickly replied “Yes!” Don didn’t have a chance to say otherwise!

The viewing and subsequent talk went well. We liked the modern finishes of the model apartment and the aspect with many windows. They sent us away with a floor plan and price for a two bedroom, two bath apartment and within a couple of weeks we had paid the deposit for an apartment on floor 33 of the 37 floor tower. We have been to Adelaide numerous times since that fortuitous day and we are still glad about our decision. We know it will be a big transition but it will also be an adventure! To be in our 70’s and anticipate a new chapter feels a much better option for us, than languishing in a situation that no longer seems to suit our needs. Part of our hearts will always be here in the Northern Territory, on the frontier of Australia, but we have miles to go before we sleep…and perhaps another sleep punctuated by the mournful tones of a Mo-Poke.