Coronavirus forces Cudgen couple to abandon dream job

They should be sitting around a campfire and watching the sunset over the vast plains in the Northern Territory

Faye Martin and Max Dalton at Warroora Station on Australia's Coral Coast.

THEY should be sitting around a campfire and watching the sun set over the vast Northern Territory plains.

Instead, the coronavirus pandemic has forced a Cudgen couple to abandon their plans and move back to the Tweed.

Faye Martin, 29, and Max Dalton, 30, scored the job of a lifetime last year, working for Outback Wrangler television star Matt Wright at his Top End Safari Camp.

They had spent about 18 months travelling Australia before working the dry season at the adventure camp and planned to return in March.

 

Cugen couple Faye Martin and Max Dalton were forced to abandoned their plans to return to the Northern Territory for work due to the coronavirus pandemic. Photo: Jodie Callcott

After travelling around Tasmania late last year, the pair were gearing up to return to the Top End for another season.

Mr Dalton returned to the Territory in February and was in the middle of completing a coxswain course when COVID-19 hit Australia.

Ms Martin had planned to join him but had a gut feeling this Top End Safari Camp's season would not go ahead.

"We fell in love with the NT, the way of life and how friendly everyone is," Ms Martin said.

"It was confusing when they first started closing the borders, it seemed like crossing the border was going to be really hard.

"Max was relaxed about the whole situation and then they said they were closing the borders so he packed his car and left (the NT) an hour later.

"This year we were supposed to go back to the Territory, work at the camp for seven to eight months, then fly to the UK for a month and then head straight to New Zealand for six months.

"There was an easy flow to it. Now we're here, we're really confused."

 

Faye Martin is on the adventure of a lifetime, taking a unique opportunity with both hands.

However the couple have rolled with the punches and made the most of being home.

Ms Martin returned to work as a registered nurse and Mr Dalton is working for Ms Martin's father, who was supposed to retire before the pandemic.

"I needed to get back into nursing otherwise I would have found it really hard without current references and recent work experience," Ms Martin said.

"Next year we will probably end up in the Territory. I've started studying online to become a clinical nurse, I'd like to be a diabetic educator in an ­indigenous community."

The down time has also created the opportunity for her to work on a passion project. Ms Marton said photographing their two-year journey around Australia had led to a business opportunity.

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She has created her own line of prints and photo editing presets and is paid by business owners to create social media content.

"My photography at the start was quite good, then I got worse and then I got better," she said with a laugh.

"At the start I had my own style, which was basically me trying to figure out my camera.

"Then I think I was trying too hard to copy other people who were travelling and failed at it dramatically and then I managed to get better."

Check out Faye's prints of the Tweed at powershala.wordpress.com/shop/