By Alesha Capone
Point Cook’s James and Kate Widlake became Australian citizens last month. They chat with Alesha Capone.
Can you tell me a bit about yourselves?
Mr Widlake: I’m 32, nearly 33. I was born in Johannesburg, South Africa and moved to Australia in March 2015. I studied accounting at university, became a chartered accountant and worked for KPMG before moving to Deloitte Australia. I did my job interview around 4.30, 5am to match business hours in Australia, and they made it very easy for me to come across.
Mrs Widlake: I grew up in Johannesburg, James and I lived down the road from each other. I studied a BA of Production Management, which is audio-visual production. I worked at the South African equivalent of Foxtel, doing promotions and things like that. We married in South Africa before we came to Australia.
Mr Widlake: We also have two children, William who will be four in four months’ time and Abigail who will be two in March.
What made you want to live in Australia?
Mr Widlake: We were definitely planning to come to Australia before we got married. I think we started applying in September 2014.
Mrs Widlake: We came to Melbourne for the honeymoon and said, ‘We like it’. We are very grateful to Australia. It feels like South Africa, but safe. We said even from the day we arrived, ‘It’s hot and we can wind down the window to the car? That’s amazing’. It’s unsafe to that in South Africa.
What do you like about Point Cook?
Mrs Widlake: Quite a few things. High on the list is the Wyndham Little Buddies Toy Library. We were part of a toy library when we lived in Kensington, that was great. Then coming over here to Wyndham we thought Little Buddies was so big and so good. I haven’t brought the kids a new toy in about four years. I also run the Point Cook Nature Playgroup, we meet at Point Cook Coastal Park. William loves the outdoors, he loves climbing trees. Having all the space we do out here – compared to Kensington – we felt very lucky in COVID, the kids were able to go outside to play. The Sanctuary Lakes coastal area and bike paths are amazing, and up near the homestead. Also Werribee Zoo, we joke that if we move, we’re moving to the zoo.
Do you have a favourite place to eat in Wyndham?
Mr Widlake: In terms of a favourite meal, there are two places depending on what we feel like, Fresh Chilli in Laverton and Ohana Pizza in Werribee South.
Did you want to add anything else?
Mr Widlake: My great-grandmother was born here. She was the last person in my family to be an Australian citizen. She lived in Port Melbourne but went with her parents to South Africa. Who knows, I may have some long-lost relatives in Australia.
