A COUPLE who have no regrets about emigrating to Australia 25 years ago are Bob and Elaine Allo.

Although Elaine, whose maiden name is Wait, thought she would only be staying for a few months, all these years later she admits that she is as smitten with the outdoor lifestyle, the weather and the opportunities to travel as her husband always was.

The couple spent nine months on an extended holiday travelling in south-east Asia and Australia before they made their decision to emigrate.

‘After arriving in Australia, we drove round in a van for six months – it was brilliant way to find out about the country. Australia offered a lot to us. We wanted to travel and see new things,’ said Bob, who had already travelled extensively, including living in London and in South Africa, before they settled in Sydney.

A part of their hearts will always remain in Jersey, of course, and frequent visits – and visits by their parents to their home in Sydney – have helped them to keep them in touch with ‘home’ and made the distance between them seem less vast.

They have also kept a wary eye on changes in the Island over the years, in particular the increasing development into the countryside – a matter of regret for both of them. They are ‘appalled’ at the over-development of some areas and loss of countryside, although they appreciate that homes are needed and that there are still some special places to be found in the Island.

Even their sons, James (13) and William (10), are familiar with the Island, enjoying fishing and water sports when they have spent family holidays in the Island, usually staying at Samarès Manor self-catering apartments. Their most recent visit was this summer after they had joined Bob’s parents, Maurice and Muriel, to celebrate their diamond wedding anniversary.

Bob and Elaine first met at school when the students of Victoria College joined those from Jersey College for Girls for Spanish lessons, but it was only some years later that romance blossomed. They went their separate ways, Elaine undertaking a secretarial course (she later worked as a bilingual secretary for two years in the UK) and Bob embarking on a career in business which began at the Overseas Trading Corporation, leading him to South Africa (partly because of the surf) and eventually to Australia, where he went into partnership with three others to buy an electronics and printing firm they worked for and form their own company.

Bob’s business serviced large corporates and the government, who would outsource the printing and mailing of their statements, invoices and customer communications, either by post or via the internet. The company was so successful that a staff of 16 in 1988 had grown to around 500 some 20 years later, when the company was floated on the stock exchange and Bob was able to exit early from the corporate world to enjoy some of the hard-earned proceeds.

It did involve long and hard-working hours – the business was open 24 hours a day, seven days a week – but having his own company was always a means to an end for Bob and he has always had a very active lifestyle outside work, while still managing what in the end became a huge company.

He and Elaine have also taken the opportunity to see as much of Australia as possible. This included a year-long trip with their children in a four-wheel-drive vehicle to experience the differences in climates and scenery in the other states, particularly western Australia. They drove vast distances around the coast, within the Outback and up to the Barrier Reef, and overall enjoyed an experience of a lifetime.

‘It was an amazing trip,’ said Elaine, who remarked that snorkelling within about three metres of whale sharks off Ningaloo Reef was just one of many highlights. ‘We even bumped into a Jersey couple on the same dive boat,’ she added.

Now that Bob has left the corporate life behind, he is travelling even more with the family, planning adventure trips for every school holidays as well as doing more voluntary and charity work – he has organised two charity surfing competition events in aid of a children’s hospice, the latest of which can be viewed at www.lvssurfcomp.com.

Wherever they go and whatever they do, the family appreciate their returns to Jersey, where, despite the increasing development, they still find some country lanes just as they always were – and, of course, there are always the waves at St Ouen’s Bay. While family and work have always been priorities for Bob, so too has the proximity of the sea and, in particular, good surf. Keeping a board at a friend’s house in Jersey gives him an added link with ‘home’ and makes it easier when he returns.

On their recent visit the family also took the opportunity to visit Mont Orgueil and came away hugely impressed at what Jersey Heritage had achieved there. ‘Gorey Castle is mind-blowing. It’s absolutely fantastic what they done – a wonderful job,’ said Elaine. ‘It doesn’t matter where we go, we know we are lucky to come from a place like Jersey,’ added Bob. ‘It still has world-class scenery and a brilliant environment.’

• Picture above: Elaine, James, William and Bob Allo relax on a visit back to the Island. Picture by David Ferguson (00572104)