Mark Six,
Going by your where you work, you at one stage probably enjoyed the wonderful lifestyle on Hamilton Island. (Some truth in that, it wasn't all tongue in cheek.) If you were still there doing IFR Marine pilot transfers you would be earning around AUD$65,000. It is still the award so there is nothing special about it. How does that compare to what you were getting over here in the early days? (if my assumption was correct).
Cheers