Maitland may not quite have been what Virginie Fauque had pictured when she thought about Australia from her former home.
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But Ms Fauque, her husband Christophe Perney and their daughters Shannon, 18, and Claudia, 13, officially became Australian citizens yesterday during the Australia Day ceremony at Maitland Park.
The family moved to England from their home country of France more than two decades ago. They lived there until a work opportunity for Mr Perney, a chef, brought them to the Hunter about four years ago.
Ms Fauque said her family had become hooked on Aussie soap operas Neighbours and Home and Away while they lived in England and they began looking for a chance to visit Australia.
When they arrived in East Maitland, where they now live, they were surprised to find that it showed little resemblance to the fictional towns of Erinsborough and Summer Bay. But they liked it.
“I always wanted to come to Australia for a holiday and suddenly we saw this job ad and said ‘let’s try for the visa’ and here we are,” Ms Fauque said.
Claudia attends school at Maitland Grossmann High and Shannon is about to begin studying at the University of Newcastle.
Mr Perney is the head chef at Wests Mayfield.
“When I saw the advert on the internet I just applied for the head chef job,” he said.
“I saw the job and it was a new opportunity for a new life.”
