Tanya Heaslip

He showed it in every way but he had this view that I was this young Australian girl and I was younger than him and that I would go back to Australia where I could properly have my career and that if I did that...

he would be broken and he said, this would not be good for either of us and you will go.

But at that time, being madly in love and I was 31, I was like, I'm going to stay here forever.

And he somehow knew that that ultimately wouldn't be the case.

But he was wonderful.

And yeah, I had this amazing two and a half years with him.

Do you mean he knew that you were sort of of, you were of Central Australia and he was very much of Prague?

Neither of you

Could completely leave where you were from?

Is that what he meant?

I think so.

So his friends, Misha and Yada, these two Czech Australians who'd brought me to Prague and introduced me to Kardel, had been to the outback.

They'd told him about it.

He had a real sense of what it was.

And he'd had the chance to escape in 1968 after the Prague Spring with them, and he couldn't.

He said, I cannot leave my country and my family.

And that was Kardel.

He was wedded to Prague.

to the nature, to his land, to the music, to his family, and he would never, never move.

And I think he had the thought that, well, he said to me, I cannot ever leave here and go to Australia with you.