Anthea Slack and Josh Tombs

It was a very damp weekend for the marriage of Anthea Slack and Josh Tombs in the Hunter Valley of NSW last March, but UNE was proudly on show - in the many guests in attendance and the large St Albert's College marquee that provided emergency shelter.

Joining them to celebrate their nuptials were many friends made at Albies, where Anthea and Josh met in 2013. Anthea was studying Urban Planning and Natural Resources at the time (she graduated in 2014) and Josh was studying Zoology (he graduated in 2015) when their paths crossed.

Although he was an Armidale boy, Josh's mother had also attended Albies while studying teaching at UNE and insisted he enjoy the same college experience. Now he's very glad he did, and so is his wife.

"It was probably the best decision I've made in my life, I think, to go to UNE and college," says Anthea, who hailed from Sydney.

As well as the usual sport - netball for Anthea and rugby for Josh - the pair recall lots of fun times playing cards in friends' rooms, visiting Dumaresq Dam, and bushwalking in the national parks that surround Armidale.

"I loved it, and went back to do my Masters at UNE, which I finished last year," Anthea says.

"We made friends we'll keep forever," says Josh, who recently spent a weekend hiking in the Blue Mountains with a group of college mates.

When the couple quit their jobs to travel for a year in 2016, first three months in Canada and America and then a road-trip around Australia, they had no shortage of friends to visit. Josh describes the adventure as "the crucible that forged a lasting relationship".

"We lived out of a rooftop tent on the top of the four-wheel-drive, and literally spent every second of every day within a metre of one another," Anthea says. "If a couple can survive that, I think they can survive anything, but we had UNE and Albies friends all over Australia to stop in on."

They were thrilled that so many could attend their wedding, which was held two weeks before the hard COVID lockdown. "We were so incredibly lucky," Anthea says. "It was beautiful, very wet and very muddy, but lots of fun."

Now the newly-weds are setting up house in Newcastle. Anthea is working for Hunter Local Land Services and Josh is completing a Certificate in Carpentry, intent on equipping himself for a future role with the NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service. Other weddings are also on their busy social agenda.

"There were four of us from my friendship group at Albies who all married Albies boys last year," Anthea says. "And we've got three weddings coming up later this year," Josh adds. "Lots of couples from college have linked up."