From walking the wards in a city hospital to sitting in the red dirt doing assessments, Candice Poupard has experienced a lot as a young physiotherapist.
Having grown up in Greenvale, she is now a resident of Maribyrnong after a two-year stint working in the Northern Territory.
She headed north for four months after being given leave from a Melbourne hospital where she worked in amputee rehabilitation and aged care.
“I had never been there [Katherine] before but I had an interest in indigenous health and I was looking for a change from the city,” the 27-year-old says. “After four months, Candice’s adventurous spirit took her travelling to Africa, Europe, India, Nepal and south-east Asia before she returned to the outback for a further 18 months.
Mainly servicing Borroloola, a day’s drive from Katherine, Candice recalls some hairy moments getting to and from the community.
“Every time we went on a bush trip we had the risk of flat tyres, hitting wildlife on the road, getting bogged or trapped by rising flood waters. Friends of mine got helicoptered out of a roadhouse where they were stuck for days because the waters came up.”
Working on the community posed many challenges, including ever-changing appointment times — so Candice would drive around in a 4WD and hope someone would tell her how to find a client.
“There was one house I couldn’t go in because of the enormous territorial pig in the front yard and my colleague once got chased and cornered by two donkeys,” she laughs.
“The days were hot and I often sat in the dirt under a tree to conduct my assessments. It was like being in a different country, so many worlds away from my life in Melbourne.”
As well as the social life and the outdoors lifestyle, Candice also fell in love with the local wildlife, taking on the responsibility of caring for orphaned wallabies.
Staff shortages and a heavy workload prompted Candice to think about returning south. “I had learnt as much as I could from my role in Katherine. I missed the structure and support I got from working in a Melbourne hospital and I needed more of an opportunity to develop my skills.”
