LOCAL LIFE
‘ Never had time to argue ’: couple ’ s adventurous 60 years
by Maryann Callaghan
They finish each other ’ s sentences , laugh at one another ’ s jokes , lightheartedly tease and taunt – this South Windsor couple clearly still show just how fun-loving and inseparable they are .
Crisscrossing the continent and the world , Byron and Dianne Geake , both 80 , say their life continues to be one big adventure .
Fiercely proud of forging their own path and raising a family in the Hawkesbury , Byron and Dianne had plenty to reminisce on as they celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary on 1 February .
Their joy at being together for decades is obvious . Funnily enough though , this great love story had a bit of a false start .
“ I was stood up on the first blind date ,” Dianne teased , but luckily the second one “ went much better ” according to Byron , who made sure he secured transport to the second local dance .
“ I met this lovely young girl who grabbed me and wouldn ’ t let go ,” he said .
That was 10 September 1960 , when a 17-year-old Dianne and 16-years-11- months-young Byron fell hopelessly in love .
“ And the day I asked for Dianne ’ s hand in marriage from her father I was a trembling 19-year-old ,” Byron added .
The ever-practical couple started saving up , buying “ glory box ” items including a toaster , for their married life ahead .
Engaged on 20 December 1961 and married at St Matthews Church of England Windsor on 1 February 1964 , the couple immediately set about making a life for themselves , “ setting goals and working hard ”.
Early life in the Hawkesbury : Back in her maiden days , Dianne was a nurse in the old Hawkesbury Hospital . She left that job to help out her mother and sister on their 10,000-flock poultry farm , where she stayed until she married Byron .
Never idle , homemaker Dianne , fondly remembers her many jobs - knitting the “ 4-ply black woollen garments for David Jones … they were done so evenly and well they thought I ’ d used a knitting machine ”; being a part-time Avon lady for 22 years ; a creator of many first-placed Easter parade bonnets , as well as assisting with stagecraft and signage at South Windsor School ,
Byron - full name Maurice Byron Geake , named after his father - worked many self-taught jobs “ having not gone
So , what ’ s campdrafting ?
Campdrafting is a unique Australian sport which involves a horse and rider working cattle .
The riding style is Australian stock , somewhat akin to American Western riding , and the event is similar to the American stock horse events such as cutting , working cow-horse , team penning , and ranch sorting .
In a campdrafting competition , a rider on horseback must “ cut out ” one beast from the mob of cattle in the
Photo : Kathryn Johnston yard or the “ camp ” and block and turn the beast at least two or three times to prove to the judge that they have the beast under control .
The rider must then shepherd the animal out of the yard and through a course around pegs , involving right and left hand turns in a figure eight , before guiding it through two pegs known as “ the gate ”. The outside course must be completed in less than 40 seconds so there ’ s no rest for either rider or beast . to high school ”. These included an East Kurrajong orchard ; as a Windsor bread carter ; Colo farm hand ; ACI plastics factory ; BMC Spares ; Hawkesbury Valley Holden . He put himself through TAFE . At 21 , Byron joined Prospect County Council , working at their Windsor site the longest , “ for exactly 32 years to the very day ” he proudly recalled .
Married life : When asked the secret to their enduring relationship through the decades , Byron said there was no difference with age .
“ Older relationships are the same as young relationships . Marriage is about compromise , give and take ,” he said .
“ I worked ; Dianne raised the family . You made ends meet . Some people get it too easy today . We just didn ’ t have time to argue ,” with a laughing Dianne quickly adding “ we didn ’ t have enough energy to argue more like it !” And work they did . Their first home was “ The Pines ” a fibro and timber slab shed , with no running water , on East Kurrajong Road where a brown snake slithered across Dianne ’ s feet .
“ I just 21 , and very lucky … it came right over my big toe ! I froze . Byron was at work . I had no phone to call for help , no car , no neighbours nearby … boy have I got plenty more stories to tell you ,” Dianne , a self-confessed Jack-of-all-trades said .
After 18 months , they upgraded to an unlined , corrugated iron , half-cylinder military Nissen Hut in Londonderry , where they raised their boys , Maurice , born in 1967 , and Darren , born in 1969 . Here “ winters were below zero and summers above 115 degrees Fahrenheit … we never complained , just got on with it ,” Dianne said .
They moved into their current South Windsor brick home in 1969 .
Byron and Dianne were also involved in Scouts during their boys ’ younger years and enjoyed travelling together , across Australia and , to 13 countries and counting .
“ We mark our travels on the map . We ’ ve got a 1.2m x 1m map on the wall , pinned out with wool , of all the trips we ’ ve taken – one more strand of wool and I ’ ll have a cardigan ,” Byron joked .
Dianne especially loves researching their family tree “ I ’ ve written six volumes
We ’ ve been blessed with good health and still whooping it up at 80 - Byron and Dianne Geake declared on the eve of their 60th wedding anniversary . Photo : Kath Johnson .
on our ancestry and six volumes on the royal family … we have a royal bloodline that dates back to King Edward I ” and she plays around 400 songs on the piano .
Geakes Road , Freemans Reach , was named after their grandfather who originally owned property there .
They are both very organised too . “ We ’ ve even written our own death certificates , we ’ ve just left out the date and what we died of , so the family have all our records correct ,” Byron laughed , Dianne reaffirming nothing was being left to chance .
The couple celebrated their 60th at Richmond Club , the same venue where they had their wedding breakfast all those years ago .
Two grandsons , Declan , 29 , and Liam , 27 , and a granddaughter Montana , 16 , round out the next generation of Geakes . “ We ’ ve both lived two lives in one – that ’ s how much work we ’ ve done in our lifetime ,” Dianne said , with Byron adding “ age is only a number . Think young and enjoy your life , laughter is still the best medicine .”
After interviewing this couple , you get the feeling there ’ s definitely more adventures still ahead of them .
THE HAWKESBURY INDEPENDENT theindependentmagazine . com . au ISSUE 165 // FEBRUARY 2024 9