By MATT NICHOLLS
AFTER spending most of the last 12 months on a boat, Sophie Gollan said she was glad to be back in Armidale this week.
The Navy Sub Lieutenant was spending rare time with her parents after being away from home for the best part of a year.
But Sub Lt Gollan said she wouldn’t have it any other way.
Since joining the Australian Defence Force five years ago, she has thrived in the Navy.
“There have been so many opportunites for me,” she said.
“The best thing is there has always been something new and challenging.”
This year, the former PLC student spent Christmas aboard patrol boat HMAS Armidale, named after her home city, in Australia’s northern waters while conducting border protection.
While being away from home at Christmas was hard, Sub Lt Gollan said she and her colleagues were each able to make a two-minute phonecall home, while they also enjoyed a special feast prepared by the ship’s cooks.
In her brief time in the Navy, Sub Lt Gollan has had the opportunity to travel to Singapore, the United States, Gallipoli and the Solomon Islands, which has many sunken ships from World War II in the area.
“It was interesting to see Ironbottom Sound, to see where the ships were,” she said,
“In World War II one of our ships was there and when we visited we had to opportunity to go diving and check out a shipwreck.”
Sub Lt Gollan said one of the highlights of visiting Gallipoli was to kayak into Anzac Cove at dawn.
She said since she joined the defence force, she had a new appreciation for Anzac Day.
While Sub Lt Gollan is away carrying out Navy duties, her family are at home continuing to support their daughter from afar.
“My grandmother sends me cookies and baked goods, she’s especially good at Anzac cookies,” she said.
Parents Megan and Stephen are proud of their daughter and her career choice.
Sub Lt Gollan always brings back a hat from the ships that she has been on for her dad to wear down at the pool.
“Dad loves it, it’s a big talking point,” she said.
“People see the hats and are always asking about the Navy, and how their kids can join.”
It was swimming in the Armidale pool that led her to Gollan joining the Navy. As a child, she was a keen swimmer and a member of the Armidale Alligators Swimming Club.
She has come a long way.
After graduating from the Australian Defence Force Academy, with a Bachelor of Science in Chemistry, Sub Lt Gollan has begun her training to become a maritime warfare officer.
She has already attained her Harbour Watchkeeping Certificate and is now working towards a basic navigational qualification.
“It’s something different. I don’t know anyone who gets to travel as much as I do, it’s a challenging and rewarding environment,” she said.
