See you later, I'm heading off again

It has been a fun year but I have to say goodbye to the Southern Downs once more. I had a blast catching up with old friends and my massive, extended family.

Headshot of Warwick Daily News reporter Michael Nolan. Picture: Marian Faa

IT IS with great sorrow that I write to say my time at the Daily News has come to an end.

On Tuesday I pack up to take a job at the Toowoomba Chronicle.

Usually when a departing reporter knocks together their fair-well editorial they talk about moving on to bigger and better things, about the excitement of new challenges and all that other dross.

But that does not apply to me.

If I had my way I'd stay at the Daily News.

I really enjoyed working here. I enjoyed the madness and pressure of our small newsroom. I enjoy sharing yarns at the Pig and Calf Sale and catching up with long forgotten family and friends. It has been incredibly fulfilling to meet up with the many people that were part of my life as a kid, people who knew my mother or had shared are beer at the Langham Hotel with my father.

All of that has come an end.

I'm packing my son and cat and heading north in pursuit of better employment opportunities for my wife.

Sadly, when you have a family you lose the freedom to make career choices based on your own desires. The past year living on a single income was too difficult and we faced the very real prospect of another 12 months of a tight family budget.

I will miss the great folks I met over the past and special mention goes to Bill Pentecost.

You are a true gentleman, Bill.

I'm sure The Chronicle is a lovely place to work, but it won't have the charm of the Warwick Daily News and its readers.

Michael Nolan