I was truly astounded to receive a call from Jim Hair. Congratulations Jim and Allan for such a good idea and the hard work. I wish that I had been able to get to the reunion. Maybe next time!
I had a wonderful first career. NZ Tourist Dept mostly in Invercargill and Wellington. I travelled a lot in NZ and other countries. Did the OE and in the early 1970’s travelled widely though Middle East and Europe. Settled down in late 70’s and have been very happily married for over 45 years. One beautiful daughter, works in the Queensland Premier’s Department.
I held a number of positions in NZ and I was posted to the NZ Tourist Office in Brisbane in 1985. Regional Manager. Very enjoyable, challenging 5 years. EXPO88 particularly, was a fascinating 6 month experience. My career came to an end in 1990 with closure of NZ Tourist Bureaux. Rogernomics. Back to Wellington. The dreaded redundancy. Returned to Queensland’s Gold Coast in 1992 to financial hard times for a few years. Did a number of jobs. I discovered that sales are not at all my thing.
I joined Queensland State Government in 1996. Started at the bottom again. Took all opportunities offered and finished up as a Senior Policy Analyst working mostly in the Department of Industrial Relations and also the Department of Justice and Attorney-General. I worked in a number of areas mostly to do with the review and development of legislation and regulations. I really enjoyed the job.
Along the way I obtained some training and educational qualifications including a teaching qualification and a post grad programme in public sector leadership.
I retired in November 2017. I spent the last 7 years with the Queensland Government working on policy and legislation mostly related to workplace safety issues including electrical safety. Really interesting work, covering such things as scuba diving, white water rafting, and the safe design of cattle trucks which transport large numbers of cattle across great distances in Queensland. I worked with a huge range of advisors and inspectors. I had great colleagues, many of whom I am still in touch with.
I am enjoying retirement and have reached the stage where I can sit and read a book without feeling that I should be doing something. Gym three times a week helps me with fitness and social groups, as does church and some community work. I’ve also written a family history/memoir of growing up in a post-war Catholic small city in NZ. Something for the grandchildren to ponder over in future years.
Our two beaut grandchildren continue to keep us busy..
A couple of health issues mean that my wife and I make sure we take our medications morning and evening.
Just looking at the Marist pages, our lives now would have been impossible to imagine. However, there is still a lot of the boy in all of us, I think; just tempered a bit by experience and (some) wisdom.
We love living on the Gold Coast and have a lot of friends, including Kiwis.
We’ve experienced good times and hard times and can say that life is just great It’s not always easy but just great. I’ve learned to enjoy the now, look to the good in people, not to carry baggage and to retain my sense of humour when things are not going well.  

boyleaus at gmail.com