People & Places
The Littlewoods go to Wagin
Towards the end of last year, Debra, Wayne and Corey Littlewood from Staffordshire became the proprietors of a café in an old hotel in the small Western Australian town of Wagin
David Fuller caught up with Debra last month to see how the family's first few months in WA have been. "Without a doubt it's the best thing we've ever done." I have been on the phone to Debra Littlewood for little more than 30 seconds before she leaves me in no doubt as to her feelings about her family's new life in Wagin, Western Australia. "The town's lovely. It's just so laid-back and peaceful and everyone here is so helpful," Debra continues. "There's a real community spirit here and so much more freedom and space compared to what we had in the UK," she adds.
Debra, her husband Wayne and their son Corey, eight, have been living in Wagin since 28th November 2005, having arrived in the small town in Western Australia's Wheatbelt region almost by fate. While searching the Internet one day, idly looking at various Australian properties, Debra came across an advert for a 100-year-old heritage-listed Australian hotel, and immediately felt herself being drawn towards it. "To this day I don't know what Internet site I was looking at or why I was looking at it," Debra tells me. "Although Wayne and I had briefly talked about the chances of one day living in Australia we had never made any real plans."
However, there was something about Mitchell House – the name of the hotel – that immediately struck a chord with Debra and prompted her to email its owner and chairperson of the British Chamber of Commerce, Melva Stone, to enquire for more information about it. Much to Debra's surprise she soon received a reply from Melva, who was keen to speak with the Littlewoods about their ideas and vision for Mitchell House. And so began what turned out to become a long and drawn out process to acquire the permanent resident visas which would enable them to take over the running of, first the hotel's cafe, then the hotel itself, before one day buying Mitchell House for themselves. "We applied through the Skilled category as I am a chef," Debra explains. "However, the process was a nightmare, largely it has to be said, due to our migration agents who weren't as helpful as we thought they could and should have been. In the end it took us 18 months to get our visas – we had originally expected it to be closer to three. "There were so many times I wanted to pull out of the process, but we persevered and were eventually rewarded with our visas. If I ever had to go through a similar process again I think I will definitely try to do the whole thing for myself."
While waiting for their visas to be processed the Littlewoods visited Wagin for the first time in June 2004. Fortunately, the visit further fuelled Debra's desire to emigrate and set her mind at ease that they were doing the right thing. Of her visit she recalls just how quiet Wagin was, particularly the local school. "When we went to have a look around what would become Corey's new school – we thought it was shut," she remembers. "All the pupils were so quiet and there was none of the screaming and noise that you hear the second you walk into a school in Britain."
Open for business
Now, having been happily settled in Wagin for just over two months, Debra admits that, although at the time the whole emigration process was extremely frustrating and stressful, ultimately it has been well worth it. On 9th December Debra and Wayne opened up the doors to the 'Old Bar Cafe' in Mitchell House – the first time in two years the hotel's café had been open. "Business is going really well at the moment," says a clearly pleased Debra. "Everyone around Wagin has gone out of their way to make us feel welcome and to help out in any way they can. In fact, it's been going so well that in late January we began to open the restaurant for three evenings a week and this too has gone down really well so far." Running the café has also prompted Wayne, a ceramic tiler by trade, to pursue a career change. "Wayne's still been doing a little bit of tiling here and there but mostly he's been helping out around the cafe and now he's decided he wants to be a chef," laughs Debra. "In fact he thinks he already is one, after just six-weeks! It took me three-years to qualify," she says laughing further still.
Later this month the Littlewoods will take over the lease of the 26-room Mitchell House and begin to run the whole hotel themselves. "It's a really lovely building but it probably does need a little bit of work doing to it at the moment," Debra says of the hotel. "We're looking at taking the lease over just after Woolorama [the largest rural show in Western Australia held in the town every year, featuring the best in rural and regional produce, stock, art and craft and entertainment] which takes place on 10th–11th March. "After we've redecorated the hotel and then started to advertise it we're confident that we can make a success of this venture. Wagin is located on the road between Perth and Albany so does already get quite a few tourists passing through it. All we have to do now is encourage them to stay in the hotel."
Family matters
While, on the whole, things have been going very well for the Littlewoods, and Debra is genuinely enthusiastic about the future, there is still one thing that she is missing more than anything – her two daughters and one son who still live in the UK. "I miss the kids like mad," she says, before quickly adding, "it's honestly the only thing about the UK I do miss though. "My son Craig will be coming over to visit us in the near future as he has to validate his visa. He was actually included on our visa application but stayed in the UK in order to finish his school exams. Whether he'll stay here or not I don't know. "My two daughters are a little bit older and definitely won't be coming out here to live. I have told them that they're not allowed to get married for a while though as I don't want to have to go back to the UK too soon," she jokes. "And if they do decide they want to get married then they'll have to come and do it out here."
Corey, meanwhile, has quickly settled into his new life in Australia. Although he desperately misses his beloved Derby County FC – although given the side's recent form I'm sure he's not too disappointed about being so far away from them – and gets slightly annoyed with having to explain to all and sundry that the name of the sport is 'football' not 'soccer', Debra says he has adapted very quickly to his new surroundings. "It's like Corey's lived here all his life," Debra informs me. "We'll be walking down the street and old ladies on the other side of the road will be shouting hello to him, and he'll know them by name. It's strange how you can live next door to someone in England for years and hardly know them at all, yet we've lived here for five minutes and people already seem to know who we are. "It seems like almost everybody in the town has pulled together in order to make us feel welcome.
Aside from from the friendliness of the locals, not to mention the increased freedom and space that the family now enjoy, Debra admits that the fact the usually stifling Western Australian summer has been kind to them has also helped them settle. "Apparently the summer out here hasn't been as hot as it usually is – we must have brought the Pommie weather with us," she quips. "That said it certainly hasn't been cold to us. Most days are still around 25oC, easily hot enough for us to walk around in t-shirt and shorts, although many of the Australians will still be wearing jackets. "On the days it has been really hot it's tended to be very humid and sticky and I haven't really enjoyed that much, but overall it's been absolutely fine," Debra continues. "Christmas was strange, though, as I couldn't get around the fact that we were celebrating it in the sun, but in a way that probably stopped me from getting too upset and thinking too much about the kids back in the UK as it didn't really feel like Christmas. We have a great lifestyle out here. Don't get me wrong, we do work hard, but not as hard as what we did in the UK, and more importantly we enjoy what we're doing for a living. We definitely also spend more time together as a family, which is equally important." And just to make sure I realise just how much Debra and her family are enjoying life in Australia she ends our conversation in pretty much the same vain she started it. "I can't ever see us living in the UK again. I just love it here too much."
Facts about Wagin
Wagin is located about 230 kilometres (about a two-and-a-half hour drive) south-east of Perth in Western Australia's Wheatbelt region. Therefore, it is classed as a regional area for Skilled-Independent Regional (SIR) visa purposes.
The population of Wagin is currently 1,845; for the whole of the Wheatbelt region it is 72,282.
The total land area of the Shire of Wagin is approximately 1,950 square kilometres.
The main local industries in Wagin include: wool production, grain, engineering, manufacturing, seed working and pet food production.
Wagin is an Aboriginal word which actually means 'the place where emus watered'.
Aside from Woolorama, the town is also famous for its 'Big Ram' statue. The statue stands seven metres tall and 15 metres long.
The town has existed since 1889, when the construction of the Great Southern Railway was completed.
The first European settler arrived in what is today known as Wagin in 1835.
Twelve per cent of the people who live in the Wheatbelt region were born overseas.
Read other articles about Western Australia:
Skilled migration to WA
Property prices in WA
Search EmiLinks for other Western Australia towns
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