He has been at Blackwater, near Rockhampton, north of Brisbane, for three weeks and after completing two training courses has just secured work with a contractor.
"Don't search for it under holiday destinations, as it is strictly a mining-type town," Mr Hewson said in an email to the Otago Daily Times on Wednesday.
Mr Hewson (45) is a Lake Hawea volunteer firefighter, the town's harbourmaster, a search and rescue team member and a fundraiser for the Lake Hawea Community Centre extensions.
He left three weeks ago and expects to be away about two years, but wants to come home often to visit his wife Suzie and his three teenage sons.
Suzie Hewson said yesterday she was doing well with her cattery and dog grooming business, but their Lake Hawea Motors business had been struggling for several reasons, including the cost of supplying fuel.
While mechanic Mike Clark was still there, the fuel supply side had been sold back to Allied Petroleum and the lease would be relinquished in October.
None of that was as bad as missing her man, she said.
"It's dreadful. I hate it. I feel like my limbs have been taken away from me," she said.
Mr Hewson said work conditions would be hard, but the money was good and would get better as he obtained more experience.
His friend and business neighbour, Lake Hawea earthmoving contractor Athol Budge, is working with him after moving to Australia earlier this year.
Mr Budge also suffered in the economic downturn, and in February he and his wife, Danielle, put their business, Workablearth Ltd, into voluntary liquidation.
Mr Hewson said he was lucky to have a contact who introduced him to a contractor who offered him a job.
"As I knew he needed two digger drivers I was also able to get Athol a job as well ... I have always wanted to come over here and experience the mine scene, but Suzie and I were going to do it when the family were grown up.
"The situation at home, with there being not a lot of work for skilled operators, just sped up that process.
"When you go on the websites you see hundreds of mining jobs but what they don't tell you is they are for guys with at least one year's experience and it is very hard for a new guy (greeenskins they call them) to get a job without mining experience," Mr Hewson said.
Mr Hewson and Mr Budge hope that after a year's work for the contractor, they, too, will be considered for mining positions, obtain a week-on week-off roster and come home more often.
