LAURA INDER AT TASMAZIA. PICTURE: DAVID BELLAMY
said to my mum ‘he could be the one, but how can he be the one? He’s nearly 70!’ There was 25 years between us, Brian and myself, but we never really saw that.” The spark was unmistakable. And, like the backdrop of so many romantic stories, it was the City of Love where Laura knew it was more than a fleeting tour connection. “We were walking along a side street or a canal in Paris, and he touched my hand and I felt this electric bolt go right up through my hand, across my shoulders, down the other side. And I just thought, ‘I think I’m supposed to pay attention here’. So that’s what started it for me.” Brian and Laura returned home – one to Tasmania, one to America – but distance wasn’t enough to extinguish the connection. After months of letters and calls, Laura was persuaded to jump back on a plane and head down under. The initial plan was a short trip around the Apple Isle before some sightseeing on mainland Australia. Instead, two weeks after arriving, Laura knew her life was changing course.
“I thought I’d come and do a three-week tour around Tasmania, because it’s about a third of the size of Montana, so I figured three weeks would be plenty here in Tassie, and then I would do a five month look around the mainland, and then go back to Montana,” Laura says. “But once I got here, I just thought this is where I am meant to be. I didn’t make it to the mainland after that.” Two months later – approaching Christmas in 1985 – the pair married. “On hopped this person that had a little tweed jacket... I thought ‘he looks interesting I have to get to know him’.” - Laura Inder on seeing Brian for the first time When Laura first arrived in Lower Barrington, Tasmazia was still a seedling dream. Brian already had the big maze planted prior to his European adventure and was just waiting for the shrubs to grow. At the same time as the hedges were taking shape, the townsfolk of Sheffield were having a public meeting about what else they could do to
20
Tasmanian Hospitality Review December/January Edition
Made with FlippingBook - PDF hosting