At Work With..
KATE MACONACHIE
When Kate Maconachie’s parents gave her a book of
gnomes for Christmas as a teenager, she had no idea
that book would change the course of her life, and
eventually her career. Kate, or Fairy Kate as she is now
known to so many, found herself engrossed in the
illustrated pages, immersed in a land of little folk,
forests and fairies.
“When I was younger, I had made a list of all the coun-
tries I wanted to travel to. And ever since my mum gave
me that book, the nordic countries had always rated
highly on that list. There was something about the
enchanting forests and the folklore that I felt a connec-
tion with,” Kate explains.
“I did a lot of international travel - twelve years of it in
fact. I lived in New Zealand, Vietnam, Finland, Sweden
and Myanmar. I was mostly working as a teacher and
was delighted being able to bring my creativity into the
classrooms,” Kate recalls.
“It was when I was in Oslo in 2010, that I had a moment
of clarity. Through a series of coincidences, I met Uncle
Bob!” Kate refers to the late Aboriginal elder, teacher
and campaigner, Bob Randall.
“He was travelling all around Europe teaching the
Kanyini principles, which is a method of connected-
ness through caring and responsibility that underpins
Aboriginal life. We spoke of embracing nature, and
during that conversation, I felt a real pull to be with my
family again.”
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“I had been travelling for 12 years, and I now realise I
was burnt out by the school system. I needed a change
and the conversation with Uncle Bob gave me permis-
sion to go home.”
As a fourth generation Cairns local, Kate described the
feeling of coming home as wonderful.
“We have deep roots in this town. Murray Street is
actually named after my grandmother, Essie Murray.”
Kate explains that she took some time to spend
connecting with family, before taking on a role with
Migrant Services through Centacare.
"At that time, they were still processing asylum seek-
ers through Scherger, and I was employed in a client
support role. In many instances, I was actually the first
person many refugees saw after they were granted
freedom. You could really feel their vulnerability. I really
did love it, however, it was quite stressful a stressful
job.”
“I found that I needed a creative and artistic outlet, and
that’s where I became interested in fairy gardening.”
“Initially it was an escape. Fairy gardening allowed me
to draw on experiences I had in Finland and Sweden,
where their culture and folklore is so very strong.”
“I was casting my own fairy doors, and painting them,
and then some friends and neighbours were interest-
ed, so I made some for them. From there, the word