“Who wouldn’t love to live here?” is Neil’s answer to the first question from editor Jaap Vogel. The tone of the talk is set! Neil Smith volunteers at Community Care, as well as Rotary. It’s obvious that he loves the Mountain, but why exactly?

“The four seasons is a real bonus. Because of my work in the airline industry with Ansett, I lived in Alice Springs, Darwin and many other places. My wife and I always missed the four seasons, but the Mountain offers that. From the moment we moved here eight years ago, I have been involved in community activities, mainly with Community Care and Rotary.”

“I drive the Community Care bus two days a week. On Tuesdays, we go with a group of people to one of the Gold Coast’s shopping centres, while on Thursdays, we make a local tour: IGA, post office, chemist etc. And halfway, we enjoy lunch together. It’s a great service, and it allows people to stay independent longer. Community Care offers services to over 400 local residents and is fully funded by the government. We also employ four staff members. In addition to these drives, we also offer many activities, from table tennis to movies and from coffee meetings to outings to the Gold Coast op shops. I love it.”

“Rotary is a great organisation as well. It was re-established two years ago, and we have 14 members. I’m currently President-Elect. The Rotary Club of the Mountain is a satellite club of Coomera, also part of global Rotary, as well as the regional Rotary organisation that is home to 
 35 clubs. Our focus as a local organisation is ‘local youth’. We work closely together with the schools. Our most prominent project is the effort to get some form of public transport for the Mountain. We are in-between advanced stages to achieve that. I am very positive but have not been given confirmation at this time.”