JULIE Murray was born in Maitland NSW, and has lived in Maleny, Queensland; Dungog, NSW, and then Yackandandah where her three children went to school.

She moved to Beechworth around 27 years ago after restoring an 1890s home and gardens with her partner.

What do you do workwise?

I'm retired now, but prior to that I had a career in information management.

What brought you to your role/career?

After my first husband died 30 years ago, I closed our roof plumbing business and found alternative work.

I did a few courses and moved into information management.

I started my career at North East Water and then moved to Wodonga City Council and later during Covid, to Indigo Shire.

What do you love about retirement?

It gives me time to enjoy an outdoors life with my husband, Chris.

We live close to everything we love.

I enjoy photographing native orchids, fungi and in winter, cross country skiing.

We also enjoy time with our children and grandchildren who are dotted all over Australia and abroad.

Pre-Covid we travelled extensively throughout Asia, Europe and North America.

What do you do in the community?

I volunteer at the community Op shop which is a fantastic way to meet new people and help the community.

Quercus Beechworth does a great job providing for and nurturing our community on various levels.

Is there an important community issue that you think needs addressing?

I'm disappointed about the ongoing deterioration of the hiking trails in the Beechworth Historic Park.

The closure of the Gorge bridge has gone on for too long.

This has to have impacted our tourism reputation.

Moreover, locals and visitors restricted to vehicle travel can no longer enjoy this stunning drive.

What would you do to solve change, improve that situation?

I'm hoping that the authorities are working and lobbying towards a permanent fix for the opening of the bridge.

The walking trails in the park are an important community asset, and their upkeep including signage, is important for tourism.

Perhaps a solution could be to use our trail upkeep to train future landscape designers in our TAFE system.

What do you see as one of the most important current world issues?

Things are not looking good with war in the Middle East and Ukraine.

I'm not sure we can do anything about that.

But we can do something about the way we treat people in our local community.

Respect each other and work together for the common good.

If the person you would most like to meet or knew, came to Indigo Shire (past or present), or was already here, who would that be, what would you show them, and why?

I would have liked to bring my brother Rodd down to see our historic precinct and the Burke Museum.

He had a PhD on Colonial Australia and was working on a second Australian History PhD when he passed away two years ago.

He was part of a colonial re-enactment group in Queensland too.

What book are you reading?

At the moment I'm reading anything that gives me insight on Nordic countries.

We have a house swap arranged in Finland for two months over the northern winter.

My son gave me a lovely book by Christaine Ritter, "A Woman in the Polar Night" which is a great read.

It's set between World Wars on Svalbard.

Fascinating and highly recommended.