The bloke before the blueprint

I was born in Redcliffe and spent my first few years in Ningi, on about 100 acres that were mostly scrub forest. I loved hide-and-seek and tiggy, and gave my first dog the name Tiggy. Exploring was already the fun part.

At Grace Lutheran College I enjoyed technical drawing, woodwork, metalwork and the chance to make things. Outside class it was tennis and bodyboarding. At the Googa outdoor camp in Year 10, I won the boys’ orienteering competition. I wasn’t the fastest runner, but finding a way through the bush with a compass suited me.

I got into science at the University of the Sunshine Coast. Then I got bored, skipped lectures to go bodyboarding and left before the end of the first term. The waves were winning that argument.

I moved out with an old school friend, drove a silver 1981 Holden Gemini and worked the checkouts at Woolworths in Burpengary. There were house parties, nightclubs, girlfriends and plenty of beach time. I remember being a fun-loving, easygoing beach bum. It was a good time.

Then came six months in Maroochydore and six in Mooloolaba, with a transfer to the new Woolworths at Buderim. After a year on the coast I returned to Caboolture and spent two and a half years learning servicing, brakes, steering, suspension and wheel alignment in Dad’s automotive business. After that, I went to England for a year on a working holiday visa.

One of the jobs took me to Glastonbury in 2004. While we were setting up the festival, I sat on the hill by the stone circle and watched a sunshower put a rainbow right on the tip of the Pyramid Stage. I caught it on my Sony Cyber-shot. Later the memory stick corrupted and I lost the photo. I still remember the sight.

I’ve moved house more than 40 times. Making friends has usually come easily; keeping in touch after another move has been harder. I’ve left relationships untended and felt the limits of trying to keep a big life going on hourly wages. There’s a lot of starting again in my history.

There have been good reasons to pack up again too. Travel has given me some of my favourite memories: New Zealand, three trips to Thailand, longer stays in India and visits to Nepal. Some journeys were with a girlfriend, others on my own. I’ve met people easily and enjoyed the chance to see how life works somewhere else.

Minjerribah was my home away from home long before it became my current address. Mum, her mum and other family members had homes at Amity. I came for family, friends and bodyboarding, eagerly waiting for the cyclone swells along the coast.

Later I worked on the island, helped with festivals and transcribed aural history for the museum. There were websites to build, people to meet and new projects to get involved in. My connection to this place grew through those ordinary encounters as much as through the big moments.

I still want adventure, affection, music and a reason to be excited about tomorrow. The AI projects, songs and books are part of that. So is wanting enough time and money to enjoy life with people I care about. When I say ‘joyful responsible abundance’, the joyful part matters.