Every time I visit the city, I have an amazing time – as a tourist – enjoying the nightlife, the amazing shows, music and events, marveling at the frequency of public transport, and the bustling vitality. And every time I leave, I’m so glad to be living my normal daily life in a regional area.
As an immigrant to Australia, I really feel I’m living the Australian Dream. I can afford a house, with a backyard, a dog, 3 cats (indoors of course). Rush-hour happens for 10 minutes when parents picking up from school queue to get on the roundabouts. I’ve lived inland, on acres, with horses, chickens, cattle, alpacas, a veggie garden, and at the coast, where it’s been a 2 minute walk to the beach and I frequently have the beach all to myself. I’ve always got to know and socialize with my neighbours and the local community. Despite having no actual family living nearby, my kids have grown up with an extended community family through all sorts of activities, in family day care, playgroup, sports, music, and then primary and high school, where we run into and keep in touch with the same families over and over again.
Shopping is easy as I can drop in to the shops on my way somewhere else – it doesn’t take long, and we choose from what’s available. And online shopping is our friend for anything we can’t get locally. Local business owners are members of our community.
There’s always a thriving arts and culture scene in regional areas – and it’s so welcoming. We make our own entertainment. I have sung in choirs, performed in local theatre, played in orchestras. Local sport of all types brings the community together.
Being a vet opened all of this up to me – we’re so privileged to be easily able to have this regional lifestyle due to our professional qualification, when many people find themselves unable to stay in regional areas once they’ve moved there, due to the lack of work opportunities.
If you’re thinking about moving to regional NSW, currently there’s a support package for essential workers, which includes employees in Veterinary services, which has come out of the recent Inquiry into the veterinary workforce shortage in NSW. For more information about The Welcome Experience, visit NSW Government | The Welcome Experience
Author:
Wendy Nathan
Kookaburra Veterinary Employment
This information includes the views and opinions of Kookaburra Veterinary Employment and is of a general nature only. Factual information is believed to be correct at the time of writing, however, should not be relied upon and any person should confirm details with the relevant authorities and through their own research prior to acting on any of the suggestions in this article.
Good working condition
