I left Italy by plane on the 21st of April 1962 and arrived in Melbourne Australia on the 23rd of April.
I stayed with my aunty at 38 Campbell Street in East Coburg, for 5 months before I got married on the 22nd of September the same year. We had our honeymoon in Sydney for two weeks, then we came back to our residence at 18 Ankertell Street in West Coburg.
There I met a big community of Italians, except my direct neighbour who was Russian and a non English speaker like me. She played the piano every day and I really enjoyed listening to it.
To my surprise, one day I went to open the door and there was this lady with a platter of fresh fruits from the garden and a big smile on her face. She introduced herself as “Helen the neighbour “and she had come to meet me. She was Russian and I was Italian, neither of us spoke English, but we communicated with hand gestures. She passed away after two years from cancer.
While we lived in Coburg we had our first child Doriano on the 26th of June 1964 and we have seen a few changes there as well.
I remember at the corner of Sydney Rd. And Harding Street, there was a milk bar and later they built a complex of shops and offices there.
At the opposite corner of Sydney Rd. And Munro St. was a petrol station and garage, which later became a souvlaki and Hamburger shop.
Near the Coburg train station was a Woolworths, now a Safeway. The Employment Office became units and Centrelink moved further up. I have seen many other changes to the Sydney Rd. Shopping Centre. Coles from the front to the back, a new library and arcade have been added.
In 1965 we moved to 135 Henty St. Reservoir and on the 15th of May 1966 our second child Claudio was born. The house was big and the neighbours were wonderful people. Unfortunately later in the same year my husband got sick and i blamed the house, because it was too big and cold. So we decided to move back to Coburg for Christmas 1967. However my husband wanted a big block of land and on the 3rd of June 1973 we moved back to Reservoir at 135 Wilson Boulevard and we are still here today.
Reservoir is a very quiet place to live. We are very close to the Edwards lake Park. Every day I have my walk through the wetlands.
It’s wonderful to hear the birds singing.
Over the years we have seen many changes in Reservoir North. Close by, has been built a wonderful new church, St. Joseph the Worker and school.
A new project of $250,000 has upgraded the lake with a new shape and new wetlands habitat. New lighting has been installed along the thoroughfares and recreation areas in the park.
We had a new library, Coles New Wold, Reservoir Leisure Centre, the Maternal and child Health Centre, the Reservoir Recovery Centre, a New Police Station and Civic Community Centre.
In Edwards Street the old Maternal Child Centre has been pulled down and a big complex of town houses built. In our area there were few houses, now it is full of houses.
Merrilands Technical School was pulled down and beautiful homes have been built over that land. Where the Technical school was, the beautiful Merrilands Community Centre has been built, where I am currently studying English and computers and meeting lots of lovely people from all over the World.
NICOLETTA DI VINCENZO, July 2009
