Coming from the big smoke of Brisbane to the smoking town of Mount Isa, Sue Wicks did not expect to stay longer than two years.
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Working with Centacare, Sue travelled to Mount Isa to assist with an indigenous employment program for two weeks. Two weeks turned into two months, which then turned into two years and then 11 years.
“I had not heard of Mount Isa before I came out here, I had to find it on a map. I knew it was outback Queensland but I had no idea how remote it was,” Sue said.
She found herself passing her two year plan to stay in Mount Isa where she would become a well-known member of the community.
Holding many roles throughout Mount Isa, Sue worked as a graduate coordinator at Mount Isa Mines, board secretary and manager of Commerce North West and had her own consulting business.
Sue also volunteered for organisations and hosted many local event including Zonta Bush Poets Breakfast and International Women’s Day Dinner, president of Tourism Association, volunteer at Mount Isa Volunteers, coordinator of the Rotary Rodeo Queen Quest, coordinator of Northern Outback Business awards, secretary of Mount Isa Rodeo Board on the committee for Mount Isa Boarder Ride.
“When I first came to Mount Isa there were a lot of opportunities to get involved and to help organisations and events to grow, which I love doing,” Sue said.
“It didn’t take long for me to settle in and realise I wasn’t going back to the city anytime soon. I have grown to love Mount Isa and it feels comfortable, safe and like home.”
Although Sue is relocating to Cairns at the end of June she said she would not forget the happy faces of the people she met in Isa.
“Mount Isa has been great. Everyone says it is the people and they are definitely right, it is the community. It is just the fact that if anyone ever needs anything, all they have to do is be honest and ask for help and sure enough people will assist,” Sue said.
“I have never felt on my own in Mount Isa. I could do Queen Street Mall in skirt and heals in three and a half minutes flat. Now in my boots and jeans I yander down the mall at a very slow pace.”
Accepting the role of director of admissions and marketing at Trinity Anglican School, Sue said her new role was a combination of things she had done in the past.
“It is all new and exciting, but I will miss my wide open spaces,”she said.
“I will miss getting in the car and driving four hours to Adels Grove, wearing cowboy boots and no one batting an eyelid.
“Although I may have a new home in Cairns, I have my house here for when I decide to come back. Mount Isa will always be home.”