Goodbye to the spa in Palm Beach

We've been in Palm Beach for a while now, and this was the first time I'd paid someone to take rubbish away. We were putting in a vegetable garden where the old spa sat, and it had to go first. It was a four-seater, dead for years.

It was sitting on the deck, about a metre off the ground, with a set of stairs as the only way down. The cover was mouldy and the cabinet was rotting.

Palm Beach is a rapidly renovating beach suburb of older homes and new unit developments, and getting things out isn't always simple. Tight streets near the beach need careful truck placement.

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.

They took two fence panels off, slid it out on rollers and put the panels back up before they left. It looked like the spa had never been there.

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.