“I still think of myself a little like a back packer. If things don’t work out, I can always go home,” said Timothy Macmillan in Gjøvik.
He hadn’t expected to be gone so long when he left Australia as a youth to back pack in Europe, the United States, and Asia. But fate led him to settle down in Sweden where he lived for more than 15 years before he moved to the town of Gjøvik in 2007. He came here with his Swedish partner and son Charlie.

This Australian has been central in construction of the Science Center in Gjøvik (a hands- on science and technology learning center for the public). He has worked as a designer, artist, decorator, and teacher with responsibility for many of the exhibits and decorations.

Timothy grew up in the large city of Sydney. After secondary school he had training as a sign painter and work experience in this field. Among other places he worked at the Science Center in Borås, Sweden before coming to Gjøvik.

In spite of growing up in a city of 20 million and living many years in Stockholm, Timothy gets along well in a town where people don’t have problems with waiting in line, finding place to park, or stress…. And he appreciates the natural landscape around Gjøvik.

In the beginning he felt that a cold and dark northern winter for half the year was oppressive. But he is fascinated with the long light of summer nights. And now he likes winter and finding downhill ski slopes.
Language wise, it wasn’t a big problem to come to Norway because so many people speak English. But he feels it has been difficult to learn a new language and at home there’s much English spoken. His son is tri-lingual speaking English with his father, Swedish with his mother and Norwegian in the day care center/ kindergarten.

Timothy doesn’t know how long he’ll be in Gjøvik. Perhaps the next stop will be Sweden, or maybe Australia? He has always thought about going back to Australia as a retiree. Yes, he longs to go back: “It was the place of my childhood and I still have good contact with my family and friends from school. I miss the whole culture, the nature, the beach…. I feel more relaxed when I get back there. I don’t know if it’s because it’s my home land where I understand how everything functions, or whether there’s a more ‘relaxed’ mood there.”