Chef Terry Clark and his partner, Lucy Chambers, had battled through Melbourne's frequent lockdowns for more than a year when they got an offer from an old friend to run a restaurant on Western Australia's South West coast.
They are two of the thousands of Melbourne residents who've jumped ship to regional Australia in the past 18 months according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics.
They were captured by the tiny town of Augusta, known for its picturesque coast and boasting a population of around 1,500 people.
The frustrations of intermittent work, homeschooling their two young children, and being stuck in lockdown for long stretches made moving to WA an easy decision.
"[We were] just playing catch up continuously, trying to pay off old debt on top of old debt."
The well-being of their two children was ultimately the key to their choice to move to regional WA.
"We were trying to do the online learning, but I think they were seriously missing their classroom environment and their friends."
While the couple are busy preparing to open their restaurant, their two children have enrolled in a local primary school.
"There is the same amount of pupils in the entire school as there was in one of their years back in Melbourne."
East coast influx
Elders Real Estate state manager Drew Carey said there had been a significant increase in the number of young families from the east coast setting up shop in the South West of WA.
He said the increase had been driven by the high demand for employment in WA and the relative freedom from restrictions the state enjoyed.
"From the eastern states looking over the fence they're going, 'Well, I think I'd rather live in WA if I could'."
