Spaniard warms to Aussie sun

This is why she loves Australia so much.

‘I’m from the north so we just have a couple of months but here in Perth, we have six or seven months of good weather so you do a lot of things outdoors,’ she said.

‘I have two little girls so I think life for them is certainly better here in that sense. In Spain, you would have to spend a lot of time indoors.’

Mrs Gonzalez, who first came to Australia in 2006 and has been living in Perth for the past five years with her husband who comes from Melbourne, will become an Australian citizen this Sunday.

She was scheduled to become a citizen at the beginning of last December but she had just given birth to her second daughter Ella so postponed it.

Now the Sorrento resident will join about 100 others at the City of Joondalup’s Australia Day ceremony at Central Park South before celebrating with a barbecue at home for friends.

‘I’m very, very excited. I didn’t know I was going to be that excited,’ Mrs Gonzalez said.

‘At the beginning, I did it because it was easier. My girls are Australian and my husband, so easier for travelling. We’re going to live here so it’s just easier but now I’m pretty excited.’

Joondalup Mayor Troy Pickard said Australia Day was ‘a time to celebrate how fortunate we all are to live in this great country and reflect on what it means to be Australian.’

‘More importantly, it is a day when we open our doors and our hearts to welcome Australia’s newest citizens who have travelled from around the world to live here,’ he said.