When he applied for a job at New South Wales Government Railway (now called NSW Trainlink) in 1972, Jean-Paul Sinclair said he did not expect to still be working for the same company 51 years later. Mr Sinclair, 76, arrived in Australia 60 years ago from Nord-Pas-de-Calais, a region located in the North of France where it was often very cold back at the time. He said as a teenager, he wanted freedom and he was craving for new adventures and to have fun. Two options were then on the table.
North America or Australia. One of his friend's experiences made up his mind. "He went to Canada and came back just a few months later. It was way too cold over there," he told SBS French. "So, I picked Australia instead. It was the dream county in the 60s ... Good weather and very few tourists." A few years after moving more than 16,000 km away from home, a friend from Belgium asked him to join the railways so he simply applied. And that was it. "People call me 'Frenchie' or 'Froggie'.
Jean-Paul Sinclair Australia Railway Frenchman Long Career