Town offers over £250,000 a year and a FREE home for specific worker – there’s no commute and constant 30C sunshine
AN Australian town offered over £250,000 a year and a rent-free home for a very specific worker.
The small outback town in Queensland, Australia, released the enticing offer while on the hunt for a new resident GP.
Not only would the doctor make over a whopping £250,000, but they would also be entitled to a rent-free four bedroom home, five weeks annual leave and a job with no commute.
“No traffic jams or long commutes here – simply black soil plains, blue sky and burnt orange sunsets,” the job advertisement read.
“Julia Creek is the Gateway to the Gulf, so there’s always adventure close by, and tropical Townsville is just a short flight away,” it continued.
But now, a father-of-four has nabbed the opportunity and relocated to the tiny town of Julia Creek.
After his mother-in-law joked about him finally being able to fulfil his dream of owning a cow if he got the job, Dr Adam Louws began researching the position that seemed too good to be true.
Not only did the house come with a decent-sized block of land, but a nearby Dirt n Dust festival piqued his interest too.
He also took three days to trek through the entire town on Google Maps according to local media.
“It’s hard to explain, the feeling of falling in love with a town you’ve never been to,” he said.
Adam, his wife and their four kids moved to Julia Creek earlier this month after he was snapped up to fill the position.
They were reportedly left surprised at how easy the transition was.
Adam is now the new full-time doctor in the area that is home to 500 residents and says it was his dream of owning a cow that inspired the huge 1,600km move.
Before the doctor arrived in Julia Creek, the town had gone without a full-time doctor for over a decade and locals were forced to travel hundreds of kilometres to be treated.
If residents needed to see a GP, the closest one available was 147km away in Richmond, a gruelling two hour drive.
But despite Adam taking on the role of head of a GP practice, aged care home and hospital, he said his patient load has “effectively halved”.
“Yes, things can get hectic at times. On my first day, we had an emergency that had to be transferred out – a process I had to learn very quickly,” he said.
“But overall it’s a lot less pressure than people expect. They expect all these calls at 2am on a Sunday morning, that hasn’t happened yet”.
Adam also admits that living in a country home comes with several extra perks: “Where else in Australia can you live five minutes from your work and have a 100-acre property? There’s heaps of land, heaps of open space, clear skies,” he said.
But the dream of owning a cow is still in the works for the new resident doctor.