After school, I kicked off an apprenticeship as a motor mechanic and finished that in 1971. As mechanics are fairly itinerant, I worked at a few places over the years. One of these gave me the addiction to rallying that I still have. Probably the only sport I’ve ever been in, that I can honestly say, I have done everything there is to do. I managed to work for the then, factory Ford Rally Team, for a while, which was quite a buzz!

In 1983, I was steered into driving taxis as a second job, primarily to fund a potential house purchase. The house idea fell through, but the taxi career continued to the point I quit being a mechanic and took up the cab industry as a prime source of income. I didn’t continue driving them, but became one of those voices that you would hear in taxis. I was one of the best radio dispatchers we had here in Canberra and I kept this going until the system changed to an automated one.

In 1991, I went back to the tools again and started off my own repair shop with a partner. Unfortunately, this enterprise was doomed from the start and I was lucky enough to see what was coming and sold my share before it went bust. For the next couple of years, I worked in a couple of places, the last one rekindled my rallying, as the owner was one of Canberra’s best drivers.

In 1999, I decided that there was more in life than getting my hands dirty, so I took a self funded sabbatical and spent 6 months studying IT. After a brief “introductory” position with the Tax office, I moved to the Dept of Defence and I’ll probably be here until retirement.

Along the way, I managed to get married twice, have more relationships than I think is healthy and produce three kids. The eldest one, is the editor of one of the country’s leading motoring weeklies, the second is a married mum of two and the youngest is in year 5 at school.

In between working and managing relationships, I managed to satisfy a childhood dream and get my pilot’s licence in 1986. I flew quite a lot in the early years, but very little in recent ones. I’ve flown here, as well as the US and UK and enjoyed every minute of it.

I’ve travelled quite a bit, mainly in the US and Europe. I lived in Edinburgh back in the mid 70s for a while, but primarily, Canberra has been home since I left school. I keep promising myself I will move away from this place, but somehow, I never seem to.

Sad to see a few of us haven’t made it, but considering our age group, there are quite a few of us still going. The last time I saw any of the list, would have been Mal McCourtie up in Brisbane. That would have been about 4 years ago.