England has just shivered through an unseasonably chilly March. Storms lashed the southern coastline, rain fell by the bucket load and in places the temperature barely cracked double digits.
So it's no wonder that when New Idea recently spoke with East of Everything star Richard Roxburgh, 46, who spends a good part of each year living in West London, he was only too happy to reminisce about the sunny months he spent shooting the ABC's new drama series in beautiful Byron Bay.

'It's absolutely gorgeous there,' he says enthusiastically. 'I'd never really spent much time in Byron, but the opportunity to be there for two months was just amazing.'

Byron Bay is the setting for the fictional town where much of the action in East of Everything takes place.

'One day we were shooting scenes on surfboards,' Richard says. 'And there were whales breaching in the back of the shot. It was just amazing. It's a magical place.'

Like his character Art, a travel writer, Richard has spent a large part of his professional life travelling the world.

He met his wife, Italian actress Silvia Colloca, 29, in Prague where they were both starring in the 2004 film Van Helsing - he as Count Dracula, and she, ironically, as Dracula's bride. Since then they've spent the past few years on the road.

Not only do they own a house in London's Notting Hill, but the couple also regularly visit Italy with their one-year-old son Raphael. In fact, they love Silvia's homeland so much they're considering buying a house there.

'Silvia is from Milan, but we would probably get a place in Rome,' he says.'We absolutely love that city. It's fantastic - such a mad, beautiful place.'

Although his globetrotting lifestyle sounds exciting, Richard is the first to admit it has its drawbacks and the lure of raising his son back in Australia is becoming great indeed.

'I've been lucky to have travelled lots,' Richard says. 'But there's a downside to it. You wonder where home is, and you spend a lot of your time living out of a suitcase.'

[View our Richard Roxburgh gallery]

Their lifestyle suits Richard and Silvia for now while Raphael is still young, but they're aware that as he grows, they're going to need a more permanent base. And at the moment, it's looking like it could be Sydney.

'I always think of Sydney as being my home,' Richard says. 'And I think it will be. It's a beautiful place for a kid to grow up. 'Raphael's pretty portable still, but becoming less so because he's on his feet now and causing trouble wherever he goes.'

He was five months old when the couple travelled to Byron to begin shooting and, as Richard explains, it was the perfect introduction to Australia for his young son.

'He was a little tacker and it was beautiful for him and Silvia to be in such a clean environment,' he says. 'We lived in a forest just outside Byron. It was divine.'

Although Richard was working long hours, the production was family-friendly and he enjoyed time off on weekends. They spent time at the beach, exploring the hinterland and visiting the weekend markets.

'It was the kind of shoot where people got together on weekends, which was really good because there are so many things to do,' says Richard, who also learnt to surf.

'I'd never done it before. I mean, I grew up in Albury-Wodonga, where we used to float around on planks in the river - that was our surfing!' Richard laughs.

'But it was really beautiful to go out on weekends with a couple of guys and bob around on the board. You'd be out there, beyond the break and you'd have this great thing where almost every time there would be dolphins. It was just magic.

'There's just something about the beaches, like Wategos Beach; there's something about the way the hinterland falls into the sea and the sun sets almost over the water from a certain point. It's spectacular.'

After the East of Everything shoot wrapt up in September, it was back to the UK for Richard, Raphael and Silvia, and, as you might imagine, their pace of life sped up considerably once more.
Despite his fondness for home, Richard also has a soft spot for London, where he's currently working on a directing project.

'There's a lot going on and the parks are second to none,' he says. 'And it's so closeto all those other terrific cultures and secret places. We're going to the South of France to experience life there for a few days soon.'

While Richard has spent much of the past few months in London, Silvia and Raphael have also been back and forth to Italy to spend time with Silvia's family before they jet back to Australia.

'It's not like our relationship with Italy will ever be lost, because it's important to us that Raphael grows up with a strong sense that he's half Italian,' Richard explains.

So is their son bilingual? 'He's no-lingual at the moment!' Richard laughs. 'It's just "Mama" and "Dada". But he will be. We both speak Italian to him.'

Once Silvia returns, they'll pack up their belongings and head back to Australia.

'They've already commissioned a second season of the show,' Richard says. 'We're really looking forward to it. There are few places on earth as special as Byron.'

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