Writing was my thing, and I knew it because I loved it. Turning passion into prose has been a privilege and an honour since graduating from university in, well, a long time ago.

My first published work hit the streets in high school; a piece on an excursion to Japan for the school magazine Karawatha (shout out to Port High). My turn of phrase wasn’t great but I worked at it. 

After university, I landed a job as sports journalist at the Macleay Argus in Kempsey. A few years later I became the sub editor at the Manning River Times in Taree. Both jobs taught me how much local news means to a community and set me in good stead for working at the Camden Haven Courier for the last 13 years.

I wrote a few stories for the Courier on behalf community groups I volunteered with during maternity leave, after the birth of our first child.

The Courier’s editor Ian Hodgkinson gave me a call and then a quick job interview in Bi-Lo (now Coles) carpark and I landed a job with the best newspaper on the Mid North Coast (no bias, I’m a journalist).

In my initial two-days a week journalist/photographer role, then later as managing editor, I was fortunate to cover a myriad of stories; from farm produce at 13 Camden Haven Shows, to being empowered by our community during the campaign to stop a diesel-fuelled power station from being built at Herons Creek.

I’ve had the honour of writing personal stories of local people who have achieved incredible dreams, or struggled through devastating lows. Our very generous community has reached out when they have read stories that matter, and each time one of our own is in need. Our community is very hands-on with its local news. The way people write in, drop in, phone up and want to talk about local stories, political issues or share ideas, I will remember with great fondness.

This sense of pride in local news hasn’t changed as newspapers move into the digital age. Our readers are more engaged than ever online, on email and on social media. The Camden Haven Courier is now, as it was when the first edition was published in 1924, “a powerful factor in advancing the interests of the Camden Haven.” Long may it continue with a new journalist in the chair.

My last day in the office will be Friday June 16. It’s time to chase a new dream.