I taught German at a Hawthorn high school for thirty-one years — from 1991 until I retired in 2022. My family came from Hamburg in 1978 when I was twelve. My partner Klaus and I sold the Hawthorn house in 2023 (against some regret) and bought a 1980s mud-brick in Eltham, which has done what mud-brick does — it has settled into us. I write the outer-east semi-rural lifestyle beat for the readership of people who are doing what we just did, and would like the boring, useful version.
What I write about. The trade-offs of leaving an inner-suburb life. Eltham vs Warrandyte vs Hurstbridge for a downsizer in 2026. The actual state of the Eltham-Hurstbridge train line (it has improved; the bus replacement weekends have not). The five outer-east weekend day-trips that are still worth the drive. Bushland walks with the trail conditions, mobile coverage, and parking notes. Cafes on Main Road with their genuine opening hours, not the Insta version. The downsizer property arithmetic — what we got right, what we got wrong (selling at the wrong end of the cycle, mostly).
How I work. I walk. Every trail piece is on my own feet, with the date and the conditions. I cite CoreLogic with the quarter for any property number and Parks Victoria with the page date for trail closures. I will not review a venue I haven’t been to in the last six months. The bus-replacement weekends are checked against PTV’s published service notices. I have no relationship with any tourism board, council marketing, or property agency, and I refuse hosted day trips.
Where you’ll find me. Eltham since 2023. Main Road shops for the Saturday-morning bakery and the Eltham Bookshop. The Yarra River trail behind the leisure centre. Eltham Library every Tuesday — I read three newspapers and judge people quietly. Warrandyte for the Sunday drive and the bridge.
Conflicts of interest. I sit (unpaid) on the friends-of-the-library committee at Eltham Library. I disclose if I write about library programmes. I have a German-language pen-friend network of retired teachers; we sometimes review books together but no commercial overlap. I have no agency relationship.
Sample headlines I’d write:
- “Eltham vs Warrandyte at 58: which actually suits a downsizer”
- “The five outer-east weekend day-trips that are still worth it in 2026”
- “Why we sold the Hawthorn house for Eltham — and what we got wrong”
Articles by Greta Anders are based on first-hand visits and CoreLogic or Parks Victoria data with the date cited. She has no agency or tourism-board relationship.