Getting the car back in the garage in Surfers Paradise

We've been in Surfers Paradise for a while now, and this was the first time I'd paid someone to take rubbish away. I'd bought a new car and refused to leave it in the sun on the driveway through another summer. The problem was the garage, which was full to the roller door.

There were old cots, a broken treadmill, half a dozen cartons of tiles from a bathroom we'd redone years ago, two bikes with flat tyres, a bar fridge, and shelving that had started to lean.

Surfers Paradise is a dense high-rise beachside centre where most homes are apartments and short-stay units, and getting things out isn't always simple. Metered street frontage is limited along Cavill Avenue and the Esplanade, so we usually load from basement car parks or side service lanes.

They offered a time the next morning. I asked if they needed me to move anything to the kerb first, and they said no, they'd take it from where it was.

They arrived a few minutes early, introduced themselves and did a quick walk-around. The price they gave me was a bit under what I'd budgeted, which was a pleasant surprise.

My husband kept wanting to 'just check' each box. The crew set up a little table for him at the door and passed him boxes as they went. He kept about six things. Everything else went.

The space is unrecognisable. I keep walking past it just to look. I'd use them again without thinking about it, and I've already passed the number on to my sister.

If I'm honest, the hardest part was deciding to do it. Once that was done, it was easy.