The moment I knew: I’m not sure how many police officers heard me say ‘I love you’ – but Clare did and that’s all that matters

‘For all of the time I have known her, Clare’s internal compass has always tracked true north’: Phil Melgaard and Clare on their 25th wedding anniversary in central Victoria, 2000. Phil made the tea-themed garden fountain for Clare, a tea-lover. Photograph: Supplied

It’s been 50 years now since Clare and I met in the tiny Toll House in New Norfolk, Tasmania.

In 1974, it was one of many youth hostels providing accommodation to young people hiking or hitching (or in my case, riding a push-bike) in search of a cheap holiday and adventure.