Des Sykes says that he and Isabel McLeod were engaged for two years.

Isabel: It would be almost two years before my feelings became romantic. I was totally involved in the growing of the practice, because by this time Desmond had gone to Mildura, and the branch there, which was the head branch, was growing dramatically, and I was on the tail end of Wentworth. And although I couldn’t consult (having no qualifications) I was able to hold the fort, as an office, and make appointments.
Yes, I was in love with him, but I could say quite honestly that I never ever thought he would have considered marriage.

Des: My manner of proposing was this. I was doing a lot of work for the Council, and there was one particular block in the best part of the town, that was the end of Beverley street in Wentworth that ran right down to the river. I bought this land for £25 and she was sitting outside the hotel in a car and I took the piece of paper out and put it in her lap and said ‘Do you think we could build on that?’ She said ‘Yes, I think we could.’ So I gave her a kiss and that was that. Within the next couple of days I went to Mildura and bought the engagement ring that she is now wearing.

Des: John Duck and his wife were witnesses to our wedding – Saturday morning, eight o clock. I was 34 when we married, she was 26.
No bridal gowns, no tails, no anything. The wedding breakfast was bacon and eggs and a grilled chop. I had a Chev coupé. I borrowed a wireless and we had one of the first wirelesses in a motor car. And we went to Sealake and Woodend. It rained like hell. The drought broke. At Woodend, at the golf course, when I pulled out the driver, both golf bags were full of bloody confetti. That was the only sign we were married people by then.

In Mildura we built a house on the corner of Walnut and Rose streets. Cost £950 and it was a jolly good house too. Charlie ah Kim helped dad (EJ) build the fence and gates.

Meredyth Elizabeth (Mere) was born in 1939, and Judith Joan (Judy) in 1941.

Adrian Bell, an English writer, in 1930 published a best selling book called Corduroy, about the experience of farming in Suffolk, England. This was followed by two more books, to make a trilogy (with Corduroy) - Silver Ley (1931) and The Cherry Tree (1932). Des and Isabel gave the name Corduroy to their first property, a 30 acre block on a bend on the Murray river in Curlwaa in Curlwaa in the 1940s. Many years later they named their house in Adelaide Cherry Trees.