After 35 years spent mapping the far-flung corners of Australia, the Alicks are finally retiring

For 35 years, Rosemary and Terrence Alick’s maps have had pride of place in the homes and vehicles of regional and rural Australians.

Their pastoral station wall maps hang in many a homestead, office, boarding house and even Parliament House.

Admired by thousands over steaming cups of tea, and consulted on long dusty country roads, the maps and atlases are a firm favourite.

It started in 1989 when Terrence was working in western Queensland mustering cattle and found that over the years the names of properties changed, but the new names weren’t listed anywhere.

He saw the opportunity and reached out to cartographers in the state land department to learn the tricks of the trade.

“For the first year we made reproductions of the old Robinson [map publishing company] maps, which were photo reproductions,” Mr Alick said.

The sale of those first maps helped fund their next project, the Atlas of Queensland and Northern Territory Pastoral Stations.

The couple travelled to rural shows, hit the phones and checked property names on the electoral roll and phone books to ensure they were getting accurate information.

“We had to do a fair bit to make sure we had it right,” Mr Alick said.

In their 35 years spent travelling across Queensland, the Northern Territory and New South Wales, Mr Alick said they’d had some interesting interactions.

“Someone would come up and say, ‘If it wasn’t for your book the ambulance driver never would have found me,'” he said.

“Then they say something like, ‘We named our kid after you’ and I’d think, ‘Oh my god’.

“You talk to the most brilliant people, some absolutely beautiful people.”

Bush bible

In the last 35 years, the Alicks have published 12 editions of their atlas books, but this month they announced they were retiring at the end of 2024.

The announcement was met with an outpouring of support and fond memories of their maps.

They have been staples in the lives of countless people, often helping travellers to avoid geographical embarrassment.

Chris Kuhne and his wife Katrina are former teachers at the Mount Isa School of Distance Education, responsible for teaching children from 110 families across north-west Queensland, South Australia and the Northern Territory.

“The book saved my wife and I many times from being geographically embarrassed,” Mr Kuhne said.

“Our schoolyard is 800,000 square kilometres, four times the size of Victoria, and my wife and I had to travel that area.”

The Kuhnes would often travel 60,000 kilometres or more each year to visit their students’ families, before GPS was available.

“The Terrence Alick map was our go-to bible in the car,” he said.

Long-lasting legacy

Reflecting on their careers, Mr Alick said he and his wife felt “great pride” in their work and their connection to rural Australia.

The couple has recently had a number of health issues, prompting their decisions to close the business in December.

Mr Alick has been dealing with Q fever, leptospirosis, broken bones and a golf-ball-sized benign brain tumour, all of which have left ongoing issues.

Ms Alick has also been recovering from a heart attack and a stroke.

But Mr Alick has taken it all in his stride.

“I’m 70 years old next year — I look very young, but I’m still 70,” he said.

“It’s just one of those things, you’ve got to know when it’s time.”

With their maps and books in the National Library, parliamentary libraries, and the homes and cars of countless Australians, Mr Alick said they were grateful to have played a part in so many lives.

“I have actually thought about whether I should be knighted,” he joked.

“But I thought a sainthood would be better.

“When I die, I’ll go up to heaven and tell God, ‘You’re in my seat.'”