In Hermannsburg Johannsen erected buildings, stockyards and performed general repairs. He was often assisted by and taught Aboriginal men building skills. In 1911 the family left the mission and moved to Deep Well Station; where Gertrude Ottilie Johannsen and then Kurt Gerhardt Johannsen were born. Johannsen sometime left the running of Deep Well to contractors and took building contracts elsewhere, this included sinking wells, building the police buildings at Alice Well and Arltunga and working on the Stuart Town Gaol. Johannsen also served as a guide to Walter Baldwin Spencer and Leonard Keith Ward during their 1923 visit and, once again hosted Ward and Vilhjalmur Stefansson. Stefansson wanted to compare the arid desert of Central Australia with the Arctic. Following the sudden death of Carl Strehlow in 1922 Johannsen returned to Hermannsburg to work as the station manager before again returning to Deep Well in 1924. While here Johannsen started a tanning industry and encouraged gardening again. Mona Dora Johannsen was born at the Mission. Central Australia was in the midst of a severe drought and, Johannsen was experiencing poor health and had contracted polio myelitis, so after seeking treatment in Adelaide the family gave up their lease and moved to Alice Springs in 1928. Johannsen's trip to Adelaide was enabled by Sam Irvine, a mail contractor, who made up a canopy bed for him on his truck and looked after him until they were met at the Oodnadatta railhead by Australian Inland Mission sisters who assisted him on the train. However, in these year two additional children were born; Randle Werner Johannsen and Myrtle Edna Johannsen. In Alice Springs Johannsen built a family house on Todd Street; what is now the site of the National Australia Bank . Shortly after this Johannsen pioneered the first mail truck to Arltunga, held the government contract for sanitary and garbage services, was involved in gold mining at Winnecke and mica mining in the Stranways Ranges; where the family lived during the war. Following the end of the war the family returned to Alice Springs and Johannsen retired from active bush work; a severe accident at Winnecke strongly contributed to his decision to retire.
Later life
In later life Johannsen was an active member of the Alice Springs Progress Association. Johannsen died suddenly on 4 April 1951 when he collapsed at the Pioneer Theatre and his funeral was one of the biggest seen in Alice Springs for many years.
