Some opportunities surprise you even if they don't seem glossy on paper

At a glance

In late 2013, Nick Thomas-Kinsella moved from Perth to Townsville to take on a temporary two-year role as a civil engineer in the Townsville Water team. A decade later, after falling in love, getting married and starting a family, Townsville remains the place he calls home. We sat down with Nick to chat about his relocation to Townsville and the opportunities he’s since enjoyed.

Over my first three years in our dams team, I had gained a lot of technical experience doing site work, design work and a secondment with Water Corporation, but I had reached a point where I wanted to build experience in a different location.

Funnily enough, I had constructed a short list of preferred destinations in my mind, among them San Francisco, Melbourne or Wellington. So, the opportunity to move to Townsville was a bit left field and something I wasn’t prepared for initially.

While discussing the opportunity with my manager at the time, he said some opportunities may surprise you, even if they don’t seem especially appealing on paper. He said it’s often the unexpected locations that offer you a unique perspective, experience and professional and personal growth. So, I went for it.

I had only planned to stay in Townsville for two years, but the opportunities and the type of work meant that two years has turned into ten years.

Moving to a regional centre like Townsville has given me a degree of autonomy that I wouldn’t have had in Perth. I was given more responsibility much earlier in my career, simply because I didn’t have that same breadth of technical resources around me locally. It encourages you to think laterally and look for ways to tap into multidisciplinary teams from all over the country to find the right technical skillset for a particular job.

One thing that was unexpected was that, despite the extra distance from our city centres, being in Townsville has actually strengthened my connections throughout GHD. I think I’ve worked with every region in Australia as a result of being in Townsville and I’ve travelled to around 20 different GHD offices for work-related activities. I’ve really grown my network and become more skilled in collaboration.

And from a lifestyle perspective, I think what’s also surprised me just how liveable Townsville is. All the core services that we could possibly need are here – schools, hospital, university, airport – but with less traffic, less congestion and less costs. There are more options for things to do than we even have time for.

I spend a lot less time ironing! The GHD polos get a more regular workout. And I don’t know what a jumper is anymore – I have to search long and hard when I travel down south or out west.

There’s been a lot of investment in Northern Australia over the past decade and there’s a lot more planned. The world’s largest pumped hydro scheme is being designed and proposed to be built in Mackay, just a five-hour drive away from Townsville, which our team is excited to be working on.

With large scale upgrades at Ross River Dam, Burdekin Falls Dam raising and many other extreme and high consequence category dams in the region needed over the coming years, there are plenty of larger projects on the horizon in need of local resources to service them.

Then, of course, there are the proposed new storage dam opportunities like the Adelaide River Offstream Water Storage in Northern Territory, Big Rocks Weir which is two hours from Townsville, Hughenden Offstream Storage and another pumped hydropower project opportunity nearby.

There are lots of smaller projects too which are very hands-on, with more client contact and travel opportunities. There’s barely been a fortnight in the past ten years where I haven’t had the opportunity to travel somewhere in Queensland and experience something really unique.

One of the reasons why my family and I have been so happy to stay in Townsville is because GHD is such a flexible organisation. I think that can be a concern for some people, who might think, “What if I get stuck? What if I need to come back?”

I think as an organisation, we’re quite flexible in that sense. I’ve never felt constrained about staying here, and if a family need arose or circumstances changed, we know relocating wouldn’t be a hindrance. On the career development side, I’ve considered whether I would suffer from being in a regional location versus a larger centre.

Though it comes with its own challenges in terms of a smaller workforce and capability, the barriers to success in a regional location don’t exist. There are a lot of successful people in regional locations who take on leadership roles and remote work opportunities whilst enjoying the benefits of living somewhere affordable, with good opportunities for young families, plenty of interesting things to do and see outdoors, and great weather.

Not everyone wears an Akubra! However, I have sat next to Bob Katter on a plane, and he is every bit the person he is in the media and does wear one regularly.