FROM YORKSHIRE TO MOUNT ISA

Q AHow did you end up coming to Australia?

When I did my coaching badges I then decided the learning process was something I want to explore. A little bit late in life I did a vocational teaching qualification. I’d lived in a town called Eston all my life and never moved away and I decided I want to pursue an education and coaching role. Where I live was just surrounded by chemical industry and steel industry as well as the ironstone so I thought I wanted a change of environment. So I took the very bold move of moving to Mount Isa in 2007. One reason was I had an application for work accepted in Mount Isa and I also thought my industrial back- ground would serve me well with Mount Isa, which is of course built around the mine. I also thought it was probably a place I wouldn’t stay more than a couple of years.

There must have been a bit of culture shock there. How did you handle it?

I enjoyed it. I think it was more of a surprise for my wife than it was for me. I embraced the community. I absolutely loved living in Mount Isa. But when there’s that distance from your children, once my second daughter Amanda started having grandchildren, my wife at the time made a decision she would rather be with her grandchildren than me, which wasn’t surprising to be fair.