NARRE Warren couple Bert and Beryl Austin will celebrate an enviable and remarkable milestone later this month.
On March 28, the pair will reflect on 60 years of marriage together.
They met in Essex, England when Beryl was 17, shortly after Bert had returned from the war.
At 22 years of age, Bert proposed nine months after the couple began dating, and they were married at St John’s Church in Laughton.
Their first child was born the following March, one year later.
Mrs Austin said marrying young was not uncommon.
“It was the fashion in those days,” she said.
After the couple settled into their new life they decided that Australia could provide a better future than England.
“We could see something for our life in Australia,” Mr Austin said.
With long-standing plans to move there, the newlywed didn’t envision he would have a wife accompanying him.
After they were married, Mrs Austin agreed to a short stay in Australia.
“I said I’d come for two years,” she said.
That turned into a lifetime.
Unbeknown to the couple, however, the six-week trip to Australia would be unforgettable for all the wrong reasons.
“It was the worst journey of my life,” Mrs Austin said.
Separated into different cabins, the young couple were faced with an entirely non-English speaking crew, plus constant bouts of sea-sickness.
Finally, the pair arrived in Australia in January 1961, but circumstances didn’t get much better.
Money was tight and they had a child on their hands.
Upon arriving in Victoria, the couple first lived in a hostel in Nunawading.
Although it was not the first home they envisioned in their new country, the couple spent two years there, saving money, before moving to Wantirna South.
Mr Austin worked in a plumbing firm for 30 years while his wife looked after their three children, and it was from this point the Austins’ hard work began to pay off.
The couple have since visited England, but the mother of three admits she doesn’t miss it.
“I don’t get homesick at all,” she said.
Now with 10 grandchildren and five great-grandchildren, the couple are proud to admit that sticking together and working hard has helped them achieve the successful marriage they can boast today.
“We started at the bottom of the ladder and we worked our way up together,” Mr Austin said.
Mrs Austin said the couple made aims and worked together to achieve these.
“We set goals to work to,” she said.
“If we wanted something we would save.”
