“You had to make your own fun” sums up Sue's recollections of her 15 years living in Hydro towns. Born in Butler's Gorge, moving with her family to Bronte Park as a baby, then on to Poatina at the end of 1958, she and her friends soon became accustomed to the lifestyle of few outside distractions, creating their own games with whoever and whatever was around at the time.

“We did do some naughty things” says Sue as she recollects some of their exploits, "but for the main part they were simply a bunch of mates enjoying each other's company, though that fun sometimes landed a few in hot water, such as the time a group of boys managed to start up one of the big D9 dozers up in the bush.

"Most of it was a lot more good natured though, even if it did err on the side of giving someone a stir. Like the time a snake had been killed on the way to the swimming hole. Knowing that their mate Theo was yet to cross the paddock to get to the creek, they propped the dead snake up on a forked stick to make it look like it was about to strike, then ducked for cover to check out his reaction when he came across it."

Arriving with her parents Kevin and Kathleen, and brothers Michael and Stephen, the Fox family were in the first group of families to take up residence in the newly constructed brick homes. With Sue going into Grade 6 in the school's first intake of 47 students at the start of the 1959 school year, there was some question as to whether the school population would quickly outgrow its facilities. The second stage of the school complex was therefore promptly organised and begun in April of that year.

While Cressy Area School was the closest secondary school, Sue, along with about 10 other students, were accepted for enrolment at Kings Meadows High School. Passing an aptitude test at the end of grade 6, they were among the first to attend the school which opened its doors at the start of 1960. The anticipation of what should have been an exciting first day was short lived however. New uniforms, new friends, new buildings and facilities, new furniture, furniture so new in fact that the varnish on the chair was still not properly dry. Standing up after her class, Sue's uniform not only stuck to the chair, but when she finally extracted herself from it, the hairs from the back of her legs were still on the chair. A memorable first day to say the least, but a painful and embarrassing one at that.

Until there was a school bus service from Poatina, families shared the responsibility of transporting their children to Cressy where they then caught the bus on to Launceston. On the homeward journey one day with about 10 km to go, Sue was in the back and classmate Mick Eaton was sitting in the front seat of the Fox's Vauxhall Victor, the model which had front opening doors. Instead of what he thought was the handle to wind down the window, Mick inadvertently opened the door which swung open, dragging him out on to the road while the car was still moving. What could have been a disastrous accident brought an end to yet another memorable school day.

Even when Stirling Morse gained the contract as school bus driver, all was not smooth sailing. When everything was running according to plan, Stirling's that is, the children would stop briefly in Longford, change buses, pick up more passengers and continue into Launceston. It was a long day, leaving at 7am and getting home at 6pm, but if you were diligent your homework would be well and truly done by the time you reached home. On more than one occasion though, Stirling's best efforts were foiled, with perpetrators even going to such extreme measures as putting sugar in the fuel tank, and sawing off his gear stick in order to not get to school.

Despite the main purpose of the Hydro project in its construction of the power station, Poatina's children were certainly not neglected when it came to providing strategic facilities, and utilising the many skills of its residents. They benefitted enormously under the watchful eye of Bill Furey, who at that time worked with Sue's father in administration. Representing Australia in the 1938 Commonwealth Games,