A publican, two paramedics, and a couple of backpackers rolled into the outback, leaving their city lives behind. In the remote Queensland town of Julia Creek, more than 1,600 kilometres north-west of Brisbane with a population of just 550 people, the quaint rural village is now home for 30-year-old Jack Pixley, who manages the local pub. “My boss bought the pub and asked, ‘Do you want to go to Julia Creek and run a pub?’ and I said, ‘Yeah, why not?’” the Sydney local said. Three years after that proposition, the self-proclaimed “city lad” said he was pleasantly surprised by the outback charm. “[It’s] a very small town from what I’m used to, obviously, but it’s been really good,” he said, noting that he has developed close friendships and a sense of community he never found in Sydney.
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Kelsea Hogan and Billy Wootton packed up their Brisbane home, their young twin daughters, and swapped the metro grind for a town without a single traffic light. The paramedics took a leap of faith to run Julia Creek’s ambulance base, with no plans to return to the state’s capital. “[We were looking] for something a bit more family friendly,” Wootton said. “We had our kids … and we were working opposite shifts in Brisbane. The workload was out of hand and we weren’t really spending much time together as a family.” Now, they’re no longer facing the shift extensions that kept them apart, and they have rediscovered the simple joys of having dinner together and putting their children to bed every night.
Transitioning to the cultural norms of the outback has taken some time, but the couple say they “couldn’t be happier.” “When we first moved out here, it’s sort of like the internal clock is running at that busy, metropolitan, hustle-and-bustle pace,” Wootton said. “We don’t have to worry about traffic, busy shopping centres, just the normal day-to-day stuff that you get in busy areas. Everything’s walking distance from home … it’s just a simple, peaceful way of life.” After watching the couple experience burnout in Brisbane, their families eventually understood their decision to move a 17-hour drive away. The couple also appreciated the warmth of the local community, which welcomed them with open arms and helped them settle in.
