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Downloaded from
YTS.MX

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Official YIFY movies site:
YTS.MX

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(waves crashing)

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(seagulls cawing)

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(birds chirping)

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(bubbles popping)

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(gentle music)

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- [Mick] I always thought that
life was a matter of choice

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and you made decisions based
on acquiring knowledge,

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and making that decision,
and then rolling the dice,

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and going with it,
giving it your best shot.

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I never thought that
there was an overall plan.

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I thought life was just
a series of accidents,

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some good, some bad.

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(mellow instrumental music)

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My first experience with the death

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of a loved one was my Dad.

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Since then, I've buried around

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20 of my family and close mates.

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But life goes on and on each occasion

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I quickly came to terms with it.

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After all, you're meant
to bury your elders.

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That's the way it is.

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Passing on the baton.

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But it doesn't always run to script.

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Accidents happen.

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Fate intervenes.

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But it always happens to someone else.

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Always some other poor bugger.

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However, fate had decided
it was now my turn.

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(bubbles popping)

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(gentle music)

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There comes a moment in any journey,

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the moment it dawns on you
that it's coming to an end.

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Growing old's a bit like that.

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How did you end up here?

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What if you'd gone there?

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Why did that happen?

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Did you have any say in it
or was it all in the hands

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of a higher power like
God, Allah, even fate?

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On my journey, the biggest influence

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wasn't divine intervention
or happenstance,

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but the direct result of a choice I made.

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Not only did that decision
change the course of my life,

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it taught me the core values
I hold to this very day.

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I learned humility, to show respect,

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the joy of living in the moment.

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That having mates is a gift of pure gold.

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But most of it all, it taught me that

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it wasn't always sunny and offshore,

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that sooner or later in your life,

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probably when you least expect it,

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you're gonna be mowed down by rogue waves.

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(soft instrumental music)

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My Dad was a Royal Marine
and he met my Mum here

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in Hobart towards the end
of the Second World War.

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Dad was 24, he came from
out near the Welsh border

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and had a bloodline to Romany Gypsies.

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Mum was a 20-year old local girl.

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She was a fourth-generation Tasmanian.

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Mum and Dad's union
resulted in me being born

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in early 1947.

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We had very little
money and the upbringing

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was more about satisfying your needs

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rather than trying to pursue your wants.

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Most of our daytime activity was spent

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playing in the rivulet
or Knocklofty Terrace,

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or a big adventure was to
catch the big trolley bus

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down to Nutgrove Beach where
we spent the day swimming.

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You always had the sense that
it wasn't just about you,

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that you were part of a bigger thing

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and that bigger thing was
the place in which you lived.

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Dad's life was adventurous to the extreme.

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He signed on on the Royal
Marines when he was 16,

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and not long after the war broke out

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and he was sunk three
times before he was 21.

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In 1945, he was in a flotilla
waiting for the land invasion

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of Japan and ended up in
a place called Hiroshima.

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Four days later he was moved out

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and moved to a place called Nagasaki.

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And it's something he
never recovered from.

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(gentle piano music)

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I had heroes in my life
like Tarzan and Superman,

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and, as a teenager, Mikki Dora.

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But Dad was my biggest hero.

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But I'd have to say that I never wanted

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to be like any of my heroes.

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It was something Dad instilled in me

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that you don't wanna
be like everybody else.

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You've got a special gift and you are you.

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It's important in life that
you, as much as possible,

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become the master of your own destiny.

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You've got to cherish the things

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that you hold dear to you,
hold them in the moment

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because you never know what
fate has in store for you.

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His overriding message was that

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it's not so important what happens to you.

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The most important thing in your life

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is how you deal with it.

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(gentle instrumental music)

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I didn't have a very good childhood.

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I received a lot of joy
and love and happy times

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but there was an overall shroud
of darkness in our house.

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My parent's relationship fell apart

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and Dad left home when I was 12.

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My schooldays were a reflection

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of what was happening at home, really.

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And then when you throw
in a bit of puberty,

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and I was the only boy in a class

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with 49 girls for three years.

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Safe to say that I wasn't really
focused on the blackboard.

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So left school at 15 and my
Mom, through family connections,

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acquired me a brilliant career
in the Accounts Department

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of the Hydro Electric Commission.

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It was an absolutely mindless job.

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I did that for a while
and then a mate of mine,

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he'd gone to work for a finance company

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and he rang me one day and said,

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"Interested in changing
job?" and I said, "You bet."

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So I end up working as a repo man.

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I got a car and 80 bucks a week it paid.

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And I got shotguns pushed into my face.

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I've got abused, punches thrown at me.

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(tires rumbling)

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It certainly taught me
a lot about the cost

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of borrowing money and what
can happen to your life

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if fate intervenes and
something unexpected happens.

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It can go pear shaped pretty quick.

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(mellow electric guitar music)

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After Dad moved out of the family home,

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my Mum filed for divorce and
subsequently met another man.

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When Dad received the news that Mum was

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to remarry, he couldn't deal with it.

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As a result of his war experiences,

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he suffered from mental health
problems his entire life.

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The news of Mum remarrying
was too much to bear

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so he killed himself when
I was in my mid-teens.

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(cheery music)

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I was a competitive swimmer up till then.

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I actually did quite well.

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I was a backstroker,
and in 1963 I ended up

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in the trials for the Tokyo Olympics.

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Came a very admirable last
in my event. (chuckles)

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I'd just come back from the Olympic trials

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and a friend asked if I wanted to go

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and see a movie about surfing.

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Another one of those
incredibly defining moments

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in your life, which at the time was just

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a spontaneous reaction.

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(guests chattering)

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Need a ticket for the surf movie please.

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Thank you.

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There I went in and sat down
in the State Picture Theater

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as an aspiring Olympian
and I stood up a surfer.

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(electric guitar music)

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Up on the silver screen,
there was freedom, fun.

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No one telling you what to do.

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I saw people just having
loads and loads of fun.

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When I told my Mum that
I wasn't swimming anymore

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and I was gonna be a
surfer, she was horrified.

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I might as well have told her
I was gonna be a Hell's Angel.

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Never quite saw what I saw.

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There was a way I could express myself.

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I could stay fit.

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I was discovering the
place in which I lived.

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I was with friends who were inspirational.

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Showed no fear, did crazy stuff.

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They weren't in the mold
of a normal teenager

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in the 1960s, that's for sure.

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Some of those relationships
went on to become

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both the most meaningful
and enduring of my life.

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Mates I lived and laughed with.

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Mates I buried and still grieve over.

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(thrilling music)

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Through my surfing life and
exploration of the island,

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I developed a very, very strong attachment

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to my island home.

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I'm quite patriotic about where I live.

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It played a major part in who I am today,

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that appreciation and
respect for where you live.

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That understanding that
life is not just about you,

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that you are intrinsically
connected to your surroundings,

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and how you interact
with those surroundings

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plays a large part in who you are

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and whether you're content or not.

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So without realizing it,

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I suddenly had found the best
teacher I ever had in my life.

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(birds chirping)

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(waves crashing)

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Surfing was different, totally different

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than anything else I'd been involved with.

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I mean, it's called a
sport, but it's not a sport.

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It's more ethereal than that.

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Describing surfing to somebody is like

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trying to describe sex to a virgin.

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They've got nothing to compare it to.

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(waves crashing)

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A lot of us are probably
more naturally gifted at it

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than others, and fortunately
I was one of those.

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I found surfing and the
balance aspect very, very easy.

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When I was on the
surfboard, I was in tune.

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I was in rhythm.

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I was of the wave, I
was not riding the wave.

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I was of it.

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(thrilling music)

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And the best surfers, the best dancers,

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whether they're doing tangos
or waltzes, doesn't matter,

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they just look good.

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Because, they're connected,
connected to that wave.

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The beauty is that no two
waves are ever the same.

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Each wave is an individual just like us.

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It's only when they feel the friction

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of the bottom that they stand
up and eventually break.

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The art of surfing is that very last gasp

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of that dying wave, that's when a surfer

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picks her up and starts dancing.

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It's a death dance for the wave.

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That's a really beautiful thing.

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And when you look at it
in that sort of term,

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it's very spiritual.

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Most surfers who become addicted,

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you find them very spiritual people.

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They...

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There's another element to them.

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An understanding, a knowing.

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And I think that comes from those moments

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when you're actually riding
inside of the barrel of a wave.

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The rush that you get
out of that is enormous.

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Hard to describe.

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And when it's over, it's surreal.

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You begin to wonder if it even happened.

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(birds chirping)

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00:18:35,431 --> 00:18:38,764
(waves crashing softly)

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One of the beauties of surfing in Tasmania

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is there are not many people,
in more ways than one.

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It's probably one of the
salvations of the island.

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Not many people live here.

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Not many people up to this
point in time want to live here.

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Most people seem to
think living in Tasmania

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is like living in a rusty
old fridge from the 1950s and

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not many of us were gonna
enlighten anybody from outside.

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We didn't want anyone living here.

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That's one of the things
about surfing, it's selfish.

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It's hedonistic.

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It's all about getting the rush.

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It's because, it's a finite resource.

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There's only so many waves,

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and the more and more surfers there are

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the harder and harder
it is to catch waves.

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Winter was the worst time, so damned cold.

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Eight degrees, freezing.

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Not a nice place to be in the winter,

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particularly as a surfer.

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And I think it was in
1974 that I first escaped.

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I went to Hawaii and then went across

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to California and Mexico.

257
00:19:49,460 --> 00:19:51,743
And I was hooked, that was it.

258
00:19:52,990 --> 00:19:54,840
I was a traveler from that moment on.

259
00:20:00,232 --> 00:20:04,134
There was a place in
Indonesia that Aussie surfers

260
00:20:04,134 --> 00:20:06,373
had discovered the year before.

261
00:20:06,373 --> 00:20:08,903
A rather unknown place,
it was called Bali.

262
00:20:08,903 --> 00:20:09,790
(upbeat rock music)

263
00:20:09,790 --> 00:20:13,020
So in 1975 I went to Bali and

264
00:20:14,650 --> 00:20:18,940
in those days Kuta and Legian
were just tiny little isolated

265
00:20:21,050 --> 00:20:24,173
villages and in between was
nothing but rice paddies.

266
00:20:30,030 --> 00:20:32,963
Rented a room off the locals,
lived with a local family.

267
00:20:34,070 --> 00:20:35,610
The best surf was out on what they

268
00:20:35,610 --> 00:20:37,190
called the Bukit Peninsula.

269
00:20:37,190 --> 00:20:39,960
It's a rather holy place called Uluwatu.

270
00:20:44,370 --> 00:20:47,583
And from the Uluwatu Temple
you had to trek your way

271
00:20:47,583 --> 00:20:50,834
down over these open
paddocks along cliff tops

272
00:20:50,834 --> 00:20:53,730
and eventually, after about half an hour,

273
00:20:53,730 --> 00:20:57,730
you came to this cave and
there was a bamboo ladder

274
00:20:57,730 --> 00:20:59,080
that you had to climb down.

275
00:21:01,207 --> 00:21:03,234
There might have been 20 surfers there

276
00:21:03,234 --> 00:21:05,140
from all around the world.

277
00:21:05,140 --> 00:21:07,640
People just starting to
get into the know of Bali.

278
00:21:09,680 --> 00:21:11,060
It was a magic place.

279
00:21:11,060 --> 00:21:16,060
The culture, the people, the
surf, it was just fantastic.

280
00:21:17,680 --> 00:21:19,290
For the next five years in particular

281
00:21:19,290 --> 00:21:21,250
I kept going back to Bali every winter

282
00:21:21,250 --> 00:21:22,660
and spent the whole winter up there,

283
00:21:22,660 --> 00:21:26,790
but word got out and slowly it started

284
00:21:26,790 --> 00:21:28,240
to get more and more crowded.

285
00:21:29,510 --> 00:21:32,540
So I decided to leave Bali at that

286
00:21:32,540 --> 00:21:36,570
and went on to explore
other parts of Indonesia.

287
00:21:36,570 --> 00:21:38,960
Lombok in a dugout, aboard a freighter

288
00:21:38,960 --> 00:21:41,310
to islands off Sumatra.

289
00:21:41,310 --> 00:21:44,290
Sailed a yacht to Southeast Java.

290
00:21:44,290 --> 00:21:46,105
Pretty hedonistic.

291
00:21:46,105 --> 00:21:48,688
(upbeat music)

292
00:24:01,115 --> 00:24:04,724
In 1970, I was then selected as being part

293
00:24:04,724 --> 00:24:08,620
of this finance company's
future management team.

294
00:24:08,620 --> 00:24:12,700
I was moved up to Sydney and
then spent a couple of years

295
00:24:12,700 --> 00:24:16,634
as a systems auditor simply
to learn the protocols

296
00:24:16,634 --> 00:24:19,224
of lending money and collecting it.

297
00:24:19,224 --> 00:24:22,160
(man shouting)

298
00:24:22,160 --> 00:24:25,560
Moving to a place like
Sydney was exhilarating.

299
00:24:25,560 --> 00:24:27,460
It was exciting.

300
00:24:27,460 --> 00:24:29,060
I'd never seen anything like it.

301
00:24:32,220 --> 00:24:35,163
Then I started to see it in another way.

302
00:24:37,300 --> 00:24:39,028
Coming from a place like Hobart

303
00:24:39,028 --> 00:24:41,843
where I'd had this
incredible, strong connection.

304
00:24:42,940 --> 00:24:45,740
It was really nothing like that in Sydney.

305
00:24:45,740 --> 00:24:46,930
There were too many people.

306
00:24:46,930 --> 00:24:49,193
It was crushing, overpowering.

307
00:24:50,350 --> 00:24:53,963
Anything I could connect to
was simply buried in concrete.

308
00:24:56,420 --> 00:25:00,564
I was being asked to sell
my soul to an institution

309
00:25:00,564 --> 00:25:03,450
and in return I got
loads and loads of money.

310
00:25:03,450 --> 00:25:06,030
I got to sleep with my secretary, get fat,

311
00:25:06,030 --> 00:25:08,560
and when I seriously thought about it.

312
00:25:08,560 --> 00:25:09,760
It's not what I wanted.

313
00:25:09,760 --> 00:25:14,263
It's not a way that I saw
myself living and being happy.

314
00:25:15,270 --> 00:25:16,930
I walked away, left the company,

315
00:25:16,930 --> 00:25:20,293
left the big city lights and
just got lost for a while.

316
00:25:23,954 --> 00:25:25,500
(gentle guitar music)

317
00:25:25,500 --> 00:25:29,090
And then one day this
friend of mine rang me and

318
00:25:29,090 --> 00:25:32,340
said, "do you wanna go on a
road trip for the weekend?"

319
00:25:32,340 --> 00:25:33,237
I said, "Yeah sure, where are we going?"

320
00:25:33,237 --> 00:25:36,027
He said, "Oh, let's
rock up the West Coast."

321
00:25:39,780 --> 00:25:41,380
We ended up on King Island,

322
00:25:41,380 --> 00:25:43,533
which is a pretty interesting road trip.

323
00:25:45,491 --> 00:25:47,991
(cows mooing)

324
00:25:50,350 --> 00:25:53,790
Spent a year sharing house
that was off the grid.

325
00:25:53,790 --> 00:25:57,110
Pretty much hippy existence,
with this Czechoslovakian guy,

326
00:25:57,110 --> 00:25:59,003
and the three of us worked in a mine.

327
00:26:00,080 --> 00:26:03,713
Essentially we just worked
and slept, and went surfing.

328
00:26:06,291 --> 00:26:10,117
There were four surfers on the island.

329
00:26:11,040 --> 00:26:13,880
It's a magnet for swell and
it's got fantastic beaches,

330
00:26:13,880 --> 00:26:16,680
and conditions made it
such that the island

331
00:26:16,680 --> 00:26:18,280
was just covered in magic waves.

332
00:26:33,478 --> 00:26:36,819
I spent a year out there and
after I'd saved enough money

333
00:26:36,819 --> 00:26:40,240
I thought, I had a yearning for change

334
00:26:40,240 --> 00:26:41,440
and so I caught a plane.

335
00:26:42,510 --> 00:26:44,496
Flying across Bass Strait
and I remember looking

336
00:26:44,496 --> 00:26:46,762
out the window and
seeing the Nut at Stanley

337
00:26:46,762 --> 00:26:50,553
and suddenly I realized
that I was coming home.

338
00:26:54,482 --> 00:26:55,840
(guitar music)

339
00:26:55,840 --> 00:26:58,330
I had enough money from
working at the mine

340
00:26:58,330 --> 00:27:02,270
to buy six acres of land
down near Clifton Beach

341
00:27:02,270 --> 00:27:05,063
so I did that, then I met a girl.

342
00:27:07,040 --> 00:27:11,043
Within two months of meeting
Robyn, we were married.

343
00:27:12,640 --> 00:27:14,610
A month later we started building a house.

344
00:27:14,610 --> 00:27:16,323
And it wasn't so much a house.

345
00:27:16,323 --> 00:27:20,883
It became our home for the past 40 years.

346
00:27:28,560 --> 00:27:29,900
There's not many people live there,

347
00:27:29,900 --> 00:27:34,900
and the only services in the
immediate area are a surf club,

348
00:27:35,000 --> 00:27:38,290
a lawn bowls club, and a cemetery,

349
00:27:38,290 --> 00:27:41,590
which pretty much sums up
the sort of place I live,

350
00:27:41,590 --> 00:27:45,210
and it's everything I
want, everything I need.

351
00:27:45,210 --> 00:27:46,870
Couldn't be happier.

352
00:27:46,870 --> 00:27:47,703
Very lucky man.

353
00:27:50,973 --> 00:27:52,743
Right place, right time.

354
00:27:54,230 --> 00:27:55,823
Life goes down another path.

355
00:27:56,761 --> 00:27:58,070
You don't even know.

356
00:27:58,070 --> 00:27:59,920
Don't even know you left the highway.

357
00:28:03,460 --> 00:28:05,044
In lots of ways I was a late starter.

358
00:28:05,044 --> 00:28:06,803
I didn't get married till I was 30.

359
00:28:08,291 --> 00:28:11,703
Our one and only son Tim
was born when I was 40.

360
00:28:12,670 --> 00:28:14,973
But we made the decision to only have one.

361
00:28:17,760 --> 00:28:20,181
There's a poem, which
talks about raising kids

362
00:28:20,181 --> 00:28:23,623
and that you're actually
nothing but an archer.

363
00:28:24,670 --> 00:28:28,850
And your children are from
you but are not of you

364
00:28:28,850 --> 00:28:30,293
and they're like arrows.

365
00:28:32,620 --> 00:28:35,140
Your role is to, when the time is right,

366
00:28:35,140 --> 00:28:37,523
to pick up that arrow and release it.

367
00:28:38,970 --> 00:28:42,613
And your duty is to release
it in the best direction.

368
00:28:43,460 --> 00:28:47,030
When it's let go, you admire it's journey

369
00:28:47,880 --> 00:28:50,361
and trust that you've done things

370
00:28:50,361 --> 00:28:52,723
up to that point as you should.

371
00:28:55,830 --> 00:28:57,520
And raising Tim was a bit like that.

372
00:28:57,520 --> 00:29:01,410
I was very, very conscious
of not forcing him

373
00:29:01,410 --> 00:29:02,633
into my lifestyle.

374
00:29:05,210 --> 00:29:08,290
And if he wanted to surf, it
had to be of his own volition

375
00:29:08,290 --> 00:29:11,003
not because his Dad wanted him to.

376
00:29:14,245 --> 00:29:19,245
In the late 1980s, I'd been
surfing the Southwest Wilderness

377
00:29:19,600 --> 00:29:22,033
for quite a while, for
probably about 10 years.

378
00:29:23,958 --> 00:29:25,900
And I had a friend down
one year from Queensland

379
00:29:25,900 --> 00:29:30,900
and he wanted to go, and then
Tim piped up, he was five,

380
00:29:32,160 --> 00:29:33,047
and said he wanted to come along.

381
00:29:33,047 --> 00:29:36,100
And I said, well, okay,
you can come along,

382
00:29:36,100 --> 00:29:38,340
but there's a rule here.

383
00:29:38,340 --> 00:29:40,733
There's no whinging when it turns to crap.

384
00:29:41,820 --> 00:29:43,860
Things get bad, that's it.

385
00:29:43,860 --> 00:29:46,560
You just shut up and soldier on, okay?

386
00:29:46,560 --> 00:29:47,965
Okay, deal done.

387
00:29:47,965 --> 00:29:50,965
(upbeat rock music)

388
00:29:53,689 --> 00:29:54,930
He probably spent so long sitting on

389
00:29:54,930 --> 00:29:57,410
that bloody beach that he just,

390
00:29:57,410 --> 00:29:59,523
he picked up surfing through osmosis.

391
00:30:00,960 --> 00:30:03,952
By the time it was his turn,
and he decided that he wanted

392
00:30:03,952 --> 00:30:07,760
to do it, that was very, very special.

393
00:30:07,760 --> 00:30:08,993
I'd passed the baton on.

394
00:30:10,584 --> 00:30:13,120
It was in good hands and
from what I could see

395
00:30:14,480 --> 00:30:16,873
Tim was gonna carry it
for a long, long time.

396
00:30:23,820 --> 00:30:27,250
In surfing terms, I
could've died there and then

397
00:30:27,250 --> 00:30:28,453
and been quite happy.

398
00:30:29,780 --> 00:30:32,030
Yeah, that was special
to hand that sort of

399
00:30:33,010 --> 00:30:35,523
way of life on to your kid.

400
00:30:38,543 --> 00:30:41,293
(waves crashing)

401
00:30:46,629 --> 00:30:48,712
I always had this ritual.

402
00:30:49,654 --> 00:30:54,654
I'd walk out of the surf,
no matter what it was like.

403
00:30:54,850 --> 00:30:57,835
I'd always turned and faced the ocean.

404
00:30:57,835 --> 00:30:59,410
- [Man] Whoa-ho-ho!

405
00:30:59,410 --> 00:31:01,910
- [Mick] The traditional
surf god was called Hui.

406
00:31:03,680 --> 00:31:05,670
And I always thanked Hui for the day.

407
00:31:07,014 --> 00:31:08,583
I always paid my respects.

408
00:31:09,840 --> 00:31:11,220
That's way I lived.

409
00:31:11,220 --> 00:31:13,050
I always tried to live in the moment,

410
00:31:13,050 --> 00:31:15,363
not get too far ahead of myself.

411
00:31:17,870 --> 00:31:20,450
After each surf, I tried to treat it as if

412
00:31:21,450 --> 00:31:25,217
that was gonna be my last
surf ever and one day it was.

413
00:31:26,880 --> 00:31:29,343
After 50 years, just walked away.

414
00:31:30,250 --> 00:31:31,150
That was that.

415
00:31:32,240 --> 00:31:34,223
Regrets, none whatsoever.

416
00:31:35,371 --> 00:31:36,204
(engine humming)

417
00:31:36,204 --> 00:31:41,180
Surfing kept me young and fit till my 60s.

418
00:31:43,380 --> 00:31:46,294
I got to travel around
the world extensively.

419
00:31:46,294 --> 00:31:50,000
I've had some of the most fantastic times

420
00:31:50,000 --> 00:31:51,540
in my life in Indonesia.

421
00:31:51,540 --> 00:31:54,650
Remote islands that had never
seen white people before.

422
00:31:54,650 --> 00:31:56,720
We'd rocked up in a boat
and surfed for days.

423
00:31:56,720 --> 00:31:57,673
We were gods.

424
00:31:58,750 --> 00:32:01,470
We left a surfboard for them at the end.

425
00:32:01,470 --> 00:32:02,470
And they knew we were gods.

426
00:32:05,007 --> 00:32:08,861
Those kids now are probably
surfing their life out.

427
00:32:08,861 --> 00:32:09,911
Fantastic, fantastic.

428
00:32:13,280 --> 00:32:14,577
I mean how greedy do you wanna be?

429
00:32:14,577 --> 00:32:16,827
How many rides on the
Big Dipper do you want?

430
00:32:20,509 --> 00:32:21,759
I'd had enough.

431
00:32:25,590 --> 00:32:28,757
(mellow guitar music)

432
00:32:36,666 --> 00:32:39,416
(birds chirping)

433
00:32:40,804 --> 00:32:43,530
I drifted through a lot of
jobs until the early 80s

434
00:32:43,530 --> 00:32:46,653
when I landed a sales
position in the film industry.

435
00:32:49,380 --> 00:32:51,183
In many ways, it was like surfing.

436
00:32:52,130 --> 00:32:55,260
I'd always considered surfing an art form.

437
00:32:55,260 --> 00:32:57,530
Self-expression with no rules.

438
00:32:57,530 --> 00:32:59,540
Capturing the moment.

439
00:32:59,540 --> 00:33:01,086
Whether you make a film or a wave,

440
00:33:01,086 --> 00:33:03,283
it all comes down to what looks good.

441
00:33:04,860 --> 00:33:07,610
I ended up making over 100 documentaries.

442
00:33:07,610 --> 00:33:09,880
Mostly about people and their interaction

443
00:33:09,880 --> 00:33:13,970
with the natural world,
mountain climbing, tiger hunts.

444
00:33:13,970 --> 00:33:16,180
Worked on Japanese documentaries.

445
00:33:16,180 --> 00:33:18,113
Even a feature with Fuji Films.

446
00:33:20,552 --> 00:33:23,135
(upbeat music)

447
00:33:27,620 --> 00:33:29,160
But my proudest achievement was

448
00:33:29,160 --> 00:33:31,623
with the Tasmanian Aboriginal community.

449
00:33:35,450 --> 00:33:39,590
I was lucky they openly
welcomed me into their world.

450
00:33:39,590 --> 00:33:41,958
In return, I helped tell their stories

451
00:33:41,958 --> 00:33:44,663
and taught their kids how to tell a story.

452
00:33:54,084 --> 00:33:56,500
I developed very close relationships

453
00:33:56,500 --> 00:33:59,283
with quite a few members of
the Aboriginal community.

454
00:34:00,120 --> 00:34:02,463
I hold that time very, very dear to me.

455
00:34:04,100 --> 00:34:07,480
They taught me a lot and I learned a lot,

456
00:34:07,480 --> 00:34:10,410
particularly relationship with place,

457
00:34:10,410 --> 00:34:12,930
what they call on country,

458
00:34:12,930 --> 00:34:15,543
and I got to learn what it meant to them.

459
00:34:19,853 --> 00:34:22,170
- [Cameraman] What do you reckon, Buck?

460
00:34:22,170 --> 00:34:24,323
- Fantastic, beautiful place.

461
00:34:24,323 --> 00:34:25,744
- [Cameraman] Wanna buy it?

462
00:34:25,744 --> 00:34:26,577
- Buy it ?

463
00:34:26,577 --> 00:34:28,005
(laughing)

464
00:34:28,005 --> 00:34:30,171
You g to make a bite?
- Is that an option?

465
00:34:32,086 --> 00:34:33,315
- [Cameraman] You wanna
put in a land claim?

466
00:34:33,315 --> 00:34:34,446
- Put a land claim?

467
00:34:34,446 --> 00:34:36,570
(laughing)

468
00:34:36,570 --> 00:34:38,440
- [Mick] In many ways, I see the problem

469
00:34:38,440 --> 00:34:41,353
of disconnection with
country a universal one.

470
00:34:42,430 --> 00:34:45,098
Modernity's wrecking havoc
on everybody's relationship

471
00:34:45,098 --> 00:34:48,603
with the natural world,
not just the Aboriginals.

472
00:34:52,777 --> 00:34:55,190
(mellow music)

473
00:34:55,190 --> 00:34:57,940
(birds chirping)

474
00:34:59,531 --> 00:35:03,281
In 2008, I suddenly
found myself in hospital.

475
00:35:05,200 --> 00:35:08,863
I'd endured a six-inch
split to my aorta artery.

476
00:35:14,670 --> 00:35:19,380
Initially, my chance of
survival appeared pretty slim

477
00:35:19,380 --> 00:35:21,853
and full recovery slimmer still.

478
00:35:23,910 --> 00:35:25,620
Fortunately, after a few weeks,

479
00:35:25,620 --> 00:35:28,323
I moved out of danger and was sent home.

480
00:35:29,510 --> 00:35:32,760
I was far from well though and
popping pills like a junkie

481
00:35:32,760 --> 00:35:35,090
but at least I was home.

482
00:36:09,413 --> 00:36:12,410
A week later, I was back in hospital.

483
00:36:12,410 --> 00:36:13,660
Something else was wrong.

484
00:36:19,334 --> 00:36:23,917
I now had a serious mental
health problem to deal with.

485
00:36:36,600 --> 00:36:40,263
Rather than getting better, I
descended into a dark abyss.

486
00:36:44,300 --> 00:36:47,802
Mick Lawrence had become
a complete stranger to me.

487
00:36:47,802 --> 00:36:50,113
I was both lost and scared.

488
00:36:52,840 --> 00:36:55,102
So I went back to my GP and told him

489
00:36:55,102 --> 00:36:57,667
I was bailing on my pills.

490
00:36:57,667 --> 00:36:59,357
"But why?" he said.

491
00:36:59,357 --> 00:37:01,637
"Because they're destroying me.

492
00:37:01,637 --> 00:37:03,497
"They've got me on the road to nowhere."

493
00:37:06,927 --> 00:37:10,973
"Okay, but I need to tell
ya, this may not end well.

494
00:37:12,894 --> 00:37:15,694
"It may be time to get your
board back out of the shed."

495
00:37:19,444 --> 00:37:23,393
I thought about it, but back
wasn't the way I wanted to go.

496
00:37:25,319 --> 00:37:27,226
(waves crashing)

497
00:37:27,226 --> 00:37:28,833
I called mine The Tardis.

498
00:37:31,088 --> 00:37:32,343
It was like a surfboard.

499
00:37:33,640 --> 00:37:35,923
Instead of standing on it, you sat in it.

500
00:37:38,720 --> 00:37:41,243
Similar, very, very
similar to a surfboard.

501
00:37:42,280 --> 00:37:44,303
So I had no problem with the transition.

502
00:37:50,080 --> 00:37:52,220
My problem was, as my GP warned me,

503
00:37:52,220 --> 00:37:54,480
your biggest danger is yourself because

504
00:37:54,480 --> 00:37:57,150
if you don't control yourself
you're gonna blow yourself up.

505
00:37:57,150 --> 00:37:58,343
You'll die out there.

506
00:38:00,283 --> 00:38:01,300
(soft guitar music)

507
00:38:01,300 --> 00:38:03,250
Now, I'm not a good listener.

508
00:38:03,250 --> 00:38:04,803
I never have been.

509
00:38:06,107 --> 00:38:09,250
So it's pretty amusing that
I'd discovered the secret

510
00:38:09,250 --> 00:38:11,273
of not blowing myself up by listening.

511
00:38:16,984 --> 00:38:21,160
And that came from the cadence of the boat

512
00:38:21,160 --> 00:38:22,410
moving through the water.

513
00:38:24,200 --> 00:38:26,250
It's just like a mechanic can tell

514
00:38:26,250 --> 00:38:28,433
when a car's in tune, you can just hear.

515
00:38:30,075 --> 00:38:32,400
The same with a boat, the
same with a surfboard.

516
00:38:32,400 --> 00:38:34,050
You know when it's running sweet.

517
00:38:36,950 --> 00:38:39,793
I quickly discovered that
once I got into that cadence

518
00:38:39,793 --> 00:38:42,780
I could paddle for three
or four, five hours

519
00:38:42,780 --> 00:38:44,763
and not even break into a sweat.

520
00:38:50,580 --> 00:38:52,630
Within the space of a few months,

521
00:38:52,630 --> 00:38:55,863
I was paddling around
home, around Storm Bay.

522
00:38:56,754 --> 00:38:58,600
I was clocking up about 100Ks a week

523
00:38:58,600 --> 00:39:02,239
and I was feeling great.

524
00:39:02,239 --> 00:39:03,480
Physically, I was feeling great,

525
00:39:03,480 --> 00:39:05,853
and I knew I had turned a corner.

526
00:39:09,630 --> 00:39:14,000
Trouble was, I didn't know how
to do what was for my head.

527
00:39:16,850 --> 00:39:17,683
Bloody dog.

528
00:39:18,941 --> 00:39:21,045
(suspenseful music)

529
00:39:21,045 --> 00:39:23,795
(birds chirping)

530
00:39:25,530 --> 00:39:27,833
I've never been a
stranger to the black dog.

531
00:39:27,833 --> 00:39:31,607
As a kid, there was always one at home.

532
00:39:31,607 --> 00:39:33,723
Wasn't mine, belonged to my Dad.

533
00:39:35,429 --> 00:39:37,110
So when he turned up in my backyard,

534
00:39:37,110 --> 00:39:38,540
it was a real kick in the guts.

535
00:39:38,540 --> 00:39:42,253
'Cause I thought I'd buried
the mongrel with my Dad.

536
00:39:43,660 --> 00:39:46,380
There he was, staring me in the eye,

537
00:39:46,380 --> 00:39:49,360
tongue hanging out, panting, glaring at me

538
00:39:49,360 --> 00:39:53,103
with those bloody eyes, and I was scared.

539
00:39:57,353 --> 00:40:00,780
I just hung in there and hoped that

540
00:40:00,780 --> 00:40:01,971
by getting myself physically fit

541
00:40:01,971 --> 00:40:06,020
the mental bit would look after itself.

542
00:40:06,020 --> 00:40:07,080
But it was a tough time.

543
00:40:07,080 --> 00:40:08,803
I couldn't tell anyone about it.

544
00:40:10,010 --> 00:40:11,160
I couldn't tell anyone.

545
00:40:12,225 --> 00:40:13,850
I don't think many blokes can.

546
00:40:15,530 --> 00:40:16,400
And it's...

547
00:40:18,264 --> 00:40:20,680
I think moments like that,
when you realize that

548
00:40:22,280 --> 00:40:24,199
even though you're surrounded
by family and friends

549
00:40:24,199 --> 00:40:27,160
and you live in a
beautiful, peaceful place

550
00:40:27,160 --> 00:40:28,460
where everyone's friendly,

551
00:40:30,840 --> 00:40:32,803
ultimately, you're on your own.

552
00:40:34,244 --> 00:40:37,244
And you've gotta sort it our yourself.

553
00:40:40,040 --> 00:40:40,953
That's what I did.

554
00:40:43,533 --> 00:40:46,116
It wasn't as hard as I thought.

555
00:40:52,123 --> 00:40:53,823
I remember paddling up this inlet.

556
00:40:56,070 --> 00:41:00,713
And suddenly in front of
me I could see a platypus,

557
00:41:01,660 --> 00:41:04,090
and he was just gliding
across the top of the water,

558
00:41:04,090 --> 00:41:06,613
so I stopped paddling
and just sat and watched.

559
00:41:07,830 --> 00:41:11,823
And then suddenly he realized
that I was in his space.

560
00:41:13,170 --> 00:41:18,070
He freaked, he dived, he
disappeared, he ran away.

561
00:41:19,757 --> 00:41:22,320
And I suddenly realized
that that was the answer.

562
00:41:22,320 --> 00:41:24,220
That was the way to deal with the dog.

563
00:41:25,220 --> 00:41:27,033
I just have to deny him space.

564
00:41:30,998 --> 00:41:33,748
(birds chirping)

565
00:41:34,920 --> 00:41:39,150
There's a lot of similarities
between surfing and kayaking.

566
00:41:39,150 --> 00:41:41,650
You're on the water, working in harmony

567
00:41:41,650 --> 00:41:43,643
with a finely-tuned water craft.

568
00:41:44,510 --> 00:41:47,110
It requires the same sense of balance,

569
00:41:47,110 --> 00:41:50,403
maneuvering, gliding, accelerating.

570
00:41:52,780 --> 00:41:54,320
I guess the biggest difference is that

571
00:41:54,320 --> 00:41:57,840
with surfing you're focused on the wave.

572
00:41:57,840 --> 00:42:00,153
With kayaking, you're not riding a wave.

573
00:42:01,620 --> 00:42:02,720
You're riding a place.

574
00:42:07,093 --> 00:42:08,070
(solemn music)

575
00:42:08,070 --> 00:42:11,050
It was only when I stopped
surfing that I realized that

576
00:42:11,050 --> 00:42:14,630
while we surfed all these iconic places

577
00:42:14,630 --> 00:42:17,097
it was only ever about the wave.

578
00:42:17,097 --> 00:42:19,547
The place just happened
to be where the wave was.

579
00:42:20,910 --> 00:42:22,660
Sure, we appreciated where we were

580
00:42:22,660 --> 00:42:25,113
but it was just the
backdrop for the main act.

581
00:42:30,150 --> 00:42:32,360
With kayaking, place dominates.

582
00:42:32,360 --> 00:42:34,860
You're part of the bigger thing.

583
00:42:34,860 --> 00:42:36,433
Part of a much bigger wave.

584
00:42:37,613 --> 00:42:39,453
Not so myopic.

585
00:42:42,971 --> 00:42:45,370
The other big difference is the rush.

586
00:42:45,370 --> 00:42:48,560
The euphoria you gain from the experience.

587
00:42:48,560 --> 00:42:52,343
Riding a wave is usually
short, intense, exciting.

588
00:42:53,574 --> 00:42:55,030
(waves crashing)

589
00:42:55,030 --> 00:42:56,093
Full of adrenaline.

590
00:42:57,100 --> 00:42:59,820
Kayaking, however, moves
to a different rhythm.

591
00:42:59,820 --> 00:43:03,543
It's prolonged, more laid back, tranquil.

592
00:43:04,480 --> 00:43:07,543
You still get a rush,
still taste the adrenaline.

593
00:43:08,550 --> 00:43:11,503
But it's a rush for the
spirit, not so much the body.

594
00:43:13,276 --> 00:43:16,026
(engine humming)

595
00:43:22,850 --> 00:43:24,473
Ask a surfer what he does and the response

596
00:43:24,473 --> 00:43:29,473
will be ride waves, of
course, but that's a delusion.

597
00:43:30,363 --> 00:43:32,380
When you really think about it,

598
00:43:32,380 --> 00:43:35,383
surfers spend very little
time actually surfing.

599
00:43:37,110 --> 00:43:40,330
At best, you might catch
10 waves in an hour.

600
00:43:40,330 --> 00:43:44,700
A long wave lasts 30
seconds, if you're lucky,.

601
00:43:44,700 --> 00:43:46,854
So five minutes per hour hardly counts

602
00:43:46,854 --> 00:43:48,913
as wall-to-wall adrenaline.

603
00:43:50,468 --> 00:43:54,070
(gentle piano music)

604
00:43:54,070 --> 00:43:56,300
With kayaking, the rush lasts

605
00:43:56,300 --> 00:43:58,643
for as long as you remain in the zone.

606
00:44:04,465 --> 00:44:07,132
(wind rustling)

607
00:44:14,240 --> 00:44:16,360
It's certainly a more humbling experience.

608
00:44:16,360 --> 00:44:19,790
Whereas surfing tends to massage the ego,

609
00:44:19,790 --> 00:44:22,670
kayaking simply massages the soul.

610
00:44:37,391 --> 00:44:41,530
I remember surfing the Southwest
for the very first time

611
00:44:41,530 --> 00:44:42,413
on my own.

612
00:44:43,473 --> 00:44:45,780
It was quite large and
challenging to surf.

613
00:44:45,780 --> 00:44:46,613
And if I'd been there with my mates,

614
00:44:46,613 --> 00:44:48,320
I would have been charging.

615
00:44:48,320 --> 00:44:49,833
I would have been frothing.

616
00:44:51,030 --> 00:44:52,763
But I wasn't, I was scared.

617
00:44:57,870 --> 00:44:59,240
And it took me two or three sessions

618
00:44:59,240 --> 00:45:01,713
before I felt anywhere near at ease.

619
00:45:04,513 --> 00:45:08,278
(feet lapping water)

620
00:45:08,278 --> 00:45:10,801
And it probably took me
four or five solo trips

621
00:45:10,801 --> 00:45:15,801
before I found that, not only
did I enjoy that solitude,

622
00:45:17,326 --> 00:45:18,659
I thrived on it.

623
00:45:32,416 --> 00:45:35,631
(somber music)

624
00:45:35,631 --> 00:45:38,381
(birds chirping)

625
00:45:40,454 --> 00:45:43,287
(water splashing)

626
00:45:47,353 --> 00:45:51,686
There's a fine line between
solitude and loneliness.

627
00:45:53,740 --> 00:45:55,224
For me, the key to being comfortable

628
00:45:55,224 --> 00:45:58,773
with solitude is being
comfortable with yourself.

629
00:46:04,550 --> 00:46:07,740
I'm lucky, I've always
enjoyed my own company.

630
00:46:07,740 --> 00:46:10,503
Never missed or feared
having no one else around.

631
00:46:16,960 --> 00:46:19,090
Not sure whether this is fine judgment

632
00:46:19,090 --> 00:46:21,093
or a dose of good luck.

633
00:46:23,780 --> 00:46:25,580
You can see where the tides come in.

634
00:46:30,890 --> 00:46:34,133
Apart from stupidity, your
major enemy is the weather.

635
00:46:36,500 --> 00:46:38,860
Fortunately, I knew the enemy well.

636
00:46:38,860 --> 00:46:42,693
I knew its capacity,
its behavior, its signs.

637
00:46:43,840 --> 00:46:46,753
Knew when to go and when to stay.

638
00:46:46,753 --> 00:46:48,663
I was comfortable with all that.

639
00:46:54,950 --> 00:46:58,190
Surfing also taught me
to stay calm in a crisis.

640
00:46:58,190 --> 00:47:02,463
To think my way through,
that panic can kill ya.

641
00:47:04,390 --> 00:47:07,937
So falling back on myself
didn't phase me at all.

642
00:47:09,957 --> 00:47:13,350
(birds chirping)

643
00:47:13,350 --> 00:47:16,050
In the natural world,
there are no human ideals

644
00:47:16,050 --> 00:47:19,563
like equality, rights, justice.

645
00:47:21,850 --> 00:47:23,690
Out there when it all goes pear shaped,

646
00:47:23,690 --> 00:47:26,263
you're simply left with the consequences.

647
00:47:29,230 --> 00:47:30,633
It is what it is.

648
00:47:32,290 --> 00:47:36,533
And as alien as it might
be, you can't sue nature.

649
00:47:39,350 --> 00:47:43,033
The other thing about nature
is that voids never last long.

650
00:47:44,960 --> 00:47:49,960
Rejuvenation follows destruction
as night follows day.

651
00:47:50,010 --> 00:47:52,473
It's a natural order of things.

652
00:47:54,390 --> 00:47:57,093
Unfortunately, the human
world isn't like that.

653
00:47:58,602 --> 00:48:00,170
There's a part of us that loves

654
00:48:00,170 --> 00:48:01,950
coming up with negative stuff.

655
00:48:01,950 --> 00:48:05,333
Loves supplying fertile
ground for our dark side.

656
00:48:10,030 --> 00:48:12,022
I found the best way to deal
with these negative forces

657
00:48:12,022 --> 00:48:16,600
was to fill the void with
what's happening around you,

658
00:48:16,600 --> 00:48:17,850
become part of the place.

659
00:48:20,020 --> 00:48:22,070
That's the thing I learned about the dog.

660
00:48:23,170 --> 00:48:26,033
It thrives on being the
center of attention.

661
00:48:28,810 --> 00:48:30,920
And once I stopped giving it attention,

662
00:48:30,920 --> 00:48:32,840
it began to lose interest.
(Tasmanian devil wailing)

663
00:48:32,840 --> 00:48:34,643
Started to leave me alone.

664
00:48:38,940 --> 00:48:42,430
That's when I found things
began to turn around,

665
00:48:42,430 --> 00:48:45,263
when I got a chance to find myself again.

666
00:48:46,361 --> 00:48:49,444
(upbeat banjo music)

667
00:48:53,810 --> 00:48:54,643
Birch's River.

668
00:48:56,932 --> 00:48:58,163
More creek than a river.

669
00:49:01,050 --> 00:49:03,000
Not often I get to paddle off the map.

670
00:49:04,670 --> 00:49:06,323
So I think I'm gonna turn round.

671
00:49:10,200 --> 00:49:11,033
Look.

672
00:49:11,033 --> 00:49:13,233
I might even be on the Pocrocker River.

673
00:49:15,221 --> 00:49:16,593
I might even be lost.

674
00:49:19,628 --> 00:49:21,628
I don't know about this.

675
00:49:22,973 --> 00:49:24,071
(gentle electric guitar music)

676
00:49:24,071 --> 00:49:28,630
It sounds a bit weird, but
I actually enjoy being lost.

677
00:49:28,630 --> 00:49:30,170
Where am I, who am I?

678
00:49:32,240 --> 00:49:33,730
What makes you tick?

679
00:49:33,730 --> 00:49:34,763
What tips you over?

680
00:49:35,953 --> 00:49:36,786
(waves crashing)

681
00:49:36,786 --> 00:49:40,765
I like the process,
searching, finding answers.

682
00:49:40,765 --> 00:49:42,098
Becoming unlost.

683
00:49:53,516 --> 00:49:54,954
(birds chirping)

684
00:49:54,954 --> 00:49:57,240
For the next five years, I threw myself

685
00:49:57,240 --> 00:49:59,963
into exploring the Southwest wilderness.

686
00:50:01,480 --> 00:50:03,510
I started in the mountain lakes

687
00:50:03,510 --> 00:50:05,490
and then worked my way down through

688
00:50:05,490 --> 00:50:07,200
the various river systems,

689
00:50:07,200 --> 00:50:10,113
into the harbors and
out onto the coastline.

690
00:50:11,010 --> 00:50:14,053
Usually I had no plan, just drifted.

691
00:50:21,890 --> 00:50:24,283
And then I started to focus on Port Davey.

692
00:50:25,290 --> 00:50:27,970
Of all the Southwest, this was it.

693
00:50:27,970 --> 00:50:30,186
This was the spot.

694
00:50:30,186 --> 00:50:33,853
(upbeat instrumental music)

695
00:51:43,585 --> 00:51:44,585
How amazing.

696
00:51:48,440 --> 00:51:49,320
So you've taken this

697
00:51:49,320 --> 00:51:51,054
all sorts of places, rivers.
- Yeah, I have.

698
00:51:51,054 --> 00:51:53,440
But only since we came to Australia.

699
00:51:53,440 --> 00:51:56,115
'Cause we bought it specially
for Australia and New Zealand.

700
00:51:56,115 --> 00:51:58,698
(lips blowing)

701
00:52:05,575 --> 00:52:08,011
- [Mick] A very personal
relationship with your kayak.

702
00:52:08,011 --> 00:52:11,482
(laughing)
- We're intimately acquainted.

703
00:52:15,374 --> 00:52:16,580
Well, the great thing about this is,

704
00:52:16,580 --> 00:52:19,370
when you're portering this thing,

705
00:52:19,370 --> 00:52:22,220
I can just slip straight into the rucksack

706
00:52:22,220 --> 00:52:25,144
and actually wear the whole
thing up above my head.

707
00:52:25,144 --> 00:52:26,270
It just stays on my back.

708
00:52:26,270 --> 00:52:27,540
So I just put this on basically

709
00:52:27,540 --> 00:52:31,147
and wear the kayak on my back. (laughs)

710
00:52:31,147 --> 00:52:33,750
- [Mick] I don't mind telling ya.
I reckon you guys are nuts.

711
00:52:33,750 --> 00:52:36,295
(laughing)

712
00:52:36,295 --> 00:52:37,378
- [Woman] No.

713
00:52:41,160 --> 00:52:42,845
- [Mick] Well, happy trails.

714
00:52:42,845 --> 00:52:43,678
- Thank you.
- Thank you so much.

715
00:52:43,678 --> 00:52:44,943
- Thanks, Mick.
- Yeah.

716
00:52:47,100 --> 00:52:48,810
And you remember the
directions, don't you?

717
00:52:48,810 --> 00:52:50,460
Turn left to Antarctica.

718
00:52:50,460 --> 00:52:52,710
(laughing)

719
00:52:59,267 --> 00:53:02,100
Hey, with no wind that thing goes!

720
00:53:03,480 --> 00:53:04,559
- [Man] Easy!

721
00:53:04,559 --> 00:53:05,768
You can even wear the thing!

722
00:53:05,768 --> 00:53:08,749
(Mick laughs)

723
00:53:08,749 --> 00:53:10,757
Coo-ee!

724
00:53:10,757 --> 00:53:11,590
Burnie!

725
00:53:17,893 --> 00:53:20,640
- [Mick] That was a
wonderful period in my life,

726
00:53:20,640 --> 00:53:24,463
a time when I was in almost
constant state of contentment.

727
00:53:25,430 --> 00:53:27,390
And why shouldn't I be?

728
00:53:27,390 --> 00:53:31,160
In a space of five
years, I'd cheated death,

729
00:53:31,160 --> 00:53:33,963
dealt with a dog, and found a new passion.

730
00:53:35,490 --> 00:53:37,770
It was the second major crisis in my life.

731
00:53:39,810 --> 00:53:42,720
I'd given it my best shot and

732
00:53:42,720 --> 00:53:44,903
I thought I'd handled it quite well.

733
00:53:44,903 --> 00:53:47,303
Thought my Dad would be proud of me.

734
00:53:51,120 --> 00:53:54,430
But it was also a time when
I became a bit of a hermit,

735
00:53:54,430 --> 00:53:57,580
not that I'd turn my back
on my surfing friends,

736
00:53:57,580 --> 00:53:59,793
just that our paths seldom crossed.

737
00:54:02,714 --> 00:54:05,714
(upbeat rock music)

738
00:54:18,390 --> 00:54:21,890
Even though my board
gathers dust in the shed,

739
00:54:21,890 --> 00:54:22,840
I'm still a surfer.

740
00:54:23,690 --> 00:54:26,927
Still the go-to forecaster
for Tim and his mates.

741
00:54:28,490 --> 00:54:31,503
They were living large,
exploring new frontiers.

742
00:54:33,030 --> 00:54:35,290
In many ways, it was like watching my life

743
00:54:35,290 --> 00:54:36,303
replayed in HD.

744
00:54:40,000 --> 00:54:43,453
Up until now, life here has
managed to fly under the radar.

745
00:54:44,340 --> 00:54:45,540
But things are changing.

746
00:54:46,650 --> 00:54:49,583
The world's seen what we have
and they want a slice of it.

747
00:54:50,750 --> 00:54:53,690
What's more, our leaders
are more than eager

748
00:54:53,690 --> 00:54:54,910
to serve it up to them.

749
00:54:56,363 --> 00:54:59,940
I see tourism as a potential Trojan Horse,

750
00:54:59,940 --> 00:55:02,713
a gift to be treated with great caution.

751
00:55:04,100 --> 00:55:07,350
Either way, our way of
life is being challenged.

752
00:55:07,350 --> 00:55:08,923
And it's not just in the surf.

753
00:55:11,026 --> 00:55:13,859
(waves splashing)

754
00:55:17,780 --> 00:55:20,763
Then I was offered a job
as a wilderness guide.

755
00:55:21,660 --> 00:55:25,210
Greg was an old surf mate of
mine who ran three days tours

756
00:55:25,210 --> 00:55:28,300
from a standing camp at Port Davey.

757
00:55:28,300 --> 00:55:32,293
He's a master storyteller who
really knew how to deliver.

758
00:55:34,019 --> 00:55:35,372
It was more like being on a surf trip

759
00:55:35,372 --> 00:55:38,834
with no surf than a guided tour.

760
00:55:38,834 --> 00:55:40,570
- [Woman] Out here on the rocks really.

761
00:55:40,570 --> 00:55:42,880
- [Man] Here we go, here we go, look.

762
00:55:42,880 --> 00:55:43,717
Here he is.

763
00:55:43,717 --> 00:55:46,550
(people cheering)

764
00:55:48,524 --> 00:55:49,656
- Whoa!
- Hey!

765
00:55:49,656 --> 00:55:51,239
- [Woman] Oh, whoa!

766
00:55:53,090 --> 00:55:54,885
- [Mick] Even though it's very relaxed,

767
00:55:54,885 --> 00:55:57,243
we cram a lot into a day.

768
00:55:58,290 --> 00:56:00,410
Cruise around offshore islands,

769
00:56:00,410 --> 00:56:05,410
stroll through ancient
forests, climb some mountains.

770
00:56:05,552 --> 00:56:09,219
(mellow instrumental music)

771
00:56:53,777 --> 00:56:56,444
(birds hirping)

772
00:57:04,773 --> 00:57:07,523
(birds trilling)

773
00:57:41,623 --> 00:57:45,223
It's a great job but I do
have some reservations.

774
00:57:47,730 --> 00:57:51,593
I saw what tourism did to Bali
and I'm very mindful of that.

775
00:57:53,060 --> 00:57:54,260
That place is now a zoo.

776
00:57:57,710 --> 00:58:00,460
This place is undergoing change as well.

777
00:58:00,460 --> 00:58:02,653
Slowly, but it is changing.

778
00:58:06,110 --> 00:58:07,460
It's all to do with people.

779
00:58:10,600 --> 00:58:13,940
In the time since I was born,

780
00:58:13,940 --> 00:58:15,690
the world's population has trebled.

781
00:58:17,910 --> 00:58:20,020
And if you look at it
from another perspective,

782
00:58:20,020 --> 00:58:23,573
that means in the 70 years
that I've been alive,

783
00:58:25,840 --> 00:58:28,523
my personal space has
been reduced by a third.

784
00:58:30,310 --> 00:58:33,133
And that's frightening,
that's frightening.

785
00:58:34,180 --> 00:58:37,700
I mean, even here, we
live on this big rock

786
00:58:37,700 --> 00:58:40,070
surrounded by a moat,
you'd think we're immune,

787
00:58:40,070 --> 00:58:40,903
but we're not.

788
00:58:42,630 --> 00:58:44,400
And that's our biggest challenge.

789
00:58:44,400 --> 00:58:47,423
Not just for the Southwest,
it's the challenge for Tasmania.

790
00:58:49,360 --> 00:58:53,300
We've got to understand
that not only do we need

791
00:58:53,300 --> 00:58:57,907
to protect the place, the space as well.

792
00:58:59,410 --> 00:59:01,870
(electronic music)

793
00:59:01,870 --> 00:59:04,620
(waves crashing)

794
00:59:12,237 --> 00:59:14,987
(birds chirping)

795
00:59:18,040 --> 00:59:20,580
With the approach of summer,
things couldn't have been better.

796
00:59:22,410 --> 00:59:23,970
I was still stoked with kayaking.

797
00:59:23,970 --> 00:59:26,223
The guiding season was about to start.

798
00:59:28,400 --> 00:59:29,929
Tim and the love of his life, Kaitlyn,

799
00:59:29,929 --> 00:59:31,633
had just bought their first home.

800
00:59:32,940 --> 00:59:35,014
And for the first time in my life,

801
00:59:35,014 --> 00:59:37,233
I thought about being a grandfather.

802
00:59:38,410 --> 00:59:42,683
I was on cloud nine,
living the dream, I was.

803
00:59:42,683 --> 00:59:45,850
(mellow guitar music)

804
00:59:49,249 --> 00:59:52,166
It's an exclusive club that no one,

805
00:59:53,260 --> 00:59:57,133
no one deserves to be or
wants to be a member of.

806
01:00:02,442 --> 01:00:05,680
The ceremony involved a
traditional surfer's sendoff

807
01:00:05,680 --> 01:00:08,320
and Tim's partner Kaitlyn and I

808
01:00:08,320 --> 01:00:12,080
carried his ashes down
through a guard of honor.

809
01:00:12,080 --> 01:00:14,743
Over 200 of Tim's surfing friends.

810
01:00:18,430 --> 01:00:21,360
Tim's mates followed us
out and formed a circle.

811
01:00:21,360 --> 01:00:23,240
Together we held his ashes aloft

812
01:00:23,240 --> 01:00:26,902
and scattered them to the breeze.

813
01:00:26,902 --> 01:00:29,569
(waves rushing)

814
01:00:35,900 --> 01:00:37,100
I call them rogue waves.

815
01:00:38,203 --> 01:00:42,073
They come outta nowhere, at
any time, from any direction.

816
01:00:46,417 --> 01:00:48,667
Sometimes there's only one.

817
01:00:49,803 --> 01:00:51,720
Sometimes endless sets.

818
01:00:57,577 --> 01:01:01,360
And when they hit, they drag you down

819
01:01:01,360 --> 01:01:03,883
into the deepest depths of despair.

820
01:01:07,630 --> 01:01:09,910
It'd be very easy if you just gave in

821
01:01:09,910 --> 01:01:12,750
and rolled over and said
I can't take it anymore.

822
01:01:12,750 --> 01:01:15,890
I don't think anyone
could blame you for that.

823
01:01:17,663 --> 01:01:20,003
My Dad, he couldn't work it out.

824
01:01:20,920 --> 01:01:23,983
He rolled over, he gave up.

825
01:01:28,143 --> 01:01:31,226
(propellers humming)

826
01:01:32,917 --> 01:01:35,667
(engine humming)

827
01:01:39,060 --> 01:01:41,051
A few days after Tim's service,

828
01:01:41,051 --> 01:01:44,470
I had my first camp for the season.

829
01:01:44,470 --> 01:01:47,120
Back-to-back camps with a
three-day break in between.

830
01:01:51,139 --> 01:01:53,490
(gentle instrumental music)

831
01:01:53,490 --> 01:01:56,263
So I decided to stay at
the camp during the break.

832
01:01:57,220 --> 01:01:59,177
Spend some time on my own

833
01:01:59,177 --> 01:02:01,653
in the place I felt most comfortable.

834
01:02:22,550 --> 01:02:23,852
That was the very bottom.

835
01:02:23,852 --> 01:02:28,320
That was three days of torment, anger,

836
01:02:28,320 --> 01:02:30,153
pain, unrelenting pain.

837
01:02:36,412 --> 01:02:39,410
I couldn't even think about the future.

838
01:02:39,410 --> 01:02:43,300
To me now, the future was
gone, no longer existed.

839
01:02:43,300 --> 01:02:44,170
It wasn't there.

840
01:02:44,170 --> 01:02:48,833
Not a place to visit, not
a place to think about.

841
01:02:48,833 --> 01:02:52,860
But I also found that instead
of living in the moment

842
01:02:52,860 --> 01:02:55,700
I spent most of my time living in the past

843
01:02:55,700 --> 01:02:59,383
because the past is the
only place that Tim was.

844
01:03:04,300 --> 01:03:07,773
Solitude had been replaced
by a bit of loneliness.

845
01:03:09,160 --> 01:03:11,790
The natural world no
longer provided solace

846
01:03:12,990 --> 01:03:17,757
and I had absolutely no idea
where I was going to find it.

847
01:03:20,535 --> 01:03:23,285
(birds trilling)

848
01:03:25,853 --> 01:03:28,436
(somber music)

849
01:03:33,913 --> 01:03:37,740
I've always strived to be
the master of my own destiny.

850
01:03:37,740 --> 01:03:40,283
Probably one of Dad's legacies.

851
01:03:44,350 --> 01:03:47,210
But I'm now beginning to wonder if

852
01:03:47,210 --> 01:03:49,003
such an idea is even possible.

853
01:03:51,600 --> 01:03:55,197
That the elements are
overwhelmingly stacked against you.

854
01:03:57,923 --> 01:04:02,317
That we're nothing but
flotsam on the stream of life.

855
01:04:04,870 --> 01:04:07,537
(water running)

856
01:04:28,210 --> 01:04:31,600
I remember being on the Franklin River,

857
01:04:31,600 --> 01:04:33,633
a beautiful place called the Big Fall.

858
01:04:37,670 --> 01:04:40,005
I was sitting there when I noticed an area

859
01:04:40,005 --> 01:04:43,123
of limestone bowls about a meter high.

860
01:04:46,650 --> 01:04:49,040
And I soon realized
that they'd been formed

861
01:04:49,040 --> 01:04:51,935
by floodwaters spinning small rocks around

862
01:04:51,935 --> 01:04:53,923
and around on the bedrock,

863
01:04:54,770 --> 01:04:59,143
slowly but surely grinding
the bowls deeper and deeper.

864
01:05:02,380 --> 01:05:04,780
A process that had been in train

865
01:05:04,780 --> 01:05:06,673
since before the arrival of Man.

866
01:05:07,926 --> 01:05:11,009
(somber piano music)

867
01:05:16,795 --> 01:05:20,370
It made me understand how
completely insignificant I was

868
01:05:20,370 --> 01:05:21,970
in the broader scheme of things.

869
01:05:26,830 --> 01:05:30,010
The stark reality was that ultimately

870
01:05:30,010 --> 01:05:32,260
it all came down to a collision of events

871
01:05:32,260 --> 01:05:35,563
over which you have absolutely no control.

872
01:05:38,850 --> 01:05:41,790
How many floods rolled over
the top of you in a lifetime.

873
01:05:47,635 --> 01:05:50,385
(insect buzzing)

874
01:05:56,764 --> 01:05:59,370
One of the joys of being a father is

875
01:05:59,370 --> 01:06:01,233
the handing on of knowledge,

876
01:06:02,640 --> 01:06:05,283
the guiding, the nurturing.

877
01:06:07,070 --> 01:06:08,940
Sharing in somebody's else's life

878
01:06:08,940 --> 01:06:12,820
and just observing and
participating in the joys,

879
01:06:12,820 --> 01:06:14,770
and helping during the bad times.

880
01:06:14,770 --> 01:06:17,520
(waves crashing)

881
01:06:19,030 --> 01:06:20,860
That's probably the biggest loss,

882
01:06:20,860 --> 01:06:22,593
having that focus in your life.

883
01:06:23,690 --> 01:06:26,360
And trying to gain a new focus

884
01:06:27,550 --> 01:06:30,213
has taken up the last six
months of my head space.

885
01:06:31,970 --> 01:06:36,830
So I've decided I out of all that
to join the local board riders club

886
01:06:37,860 --> 01:06:40,360
and offer just to help out in the contests

887
01:06:40,360 --> 01:06:42,430
and the nurturing of the
kids in their surfing,

888
01:06:42,430 --> 01:06:45,823
and surfing skills and even life skills.

889
01:06:49,430 --> 01:06:51,850
There's a whole gaggle of
little six, seven, eight,

890
01:06:51,850 --> 01:06:53,860
10-year-old, 12-year-old kids out there

891
01:06:53,860 --> 01:06:55,420
who get a lot of joy out of hanging out

892
01:06:55,420 --> 01:06:59,090
with one of the original
pioneers of the thing

893
01:06:59,090 --> 01:07:00,603
that they love doing, surfing.

894
01:07:04,572 --> 01:07:06,520
(mellow music)

895
01:07:06,520 --> 01:07:09,053
Half a century ago, surfers were tribal.

896
01:07:09,920 --> 01:07:13,173
A loud, loose, politically
incorrect boys club.

897
01:07:14,190 --> 01:07:16,880
Today, there's three generations

898
01:07:16,880 --> 01:07:19,053
and a lot of them are females who rip.

899
01:07:20,850 --> 01:07:23,060
The tribe of yesteryear has evolved

900
01:07:23,060 --> 01:07:26,720
to be more aware, more inclusive.

901
01:07:26,720 --> 01:07:30,473
Still tribal but has a deeper,
broader sense of community.

902
01:07:31,710 --> 01:07:34,820
Kids sharing waves with
their grandparents.

903
01:07:34,820 --> 01:07:36,543
That's a beautiful legacy.

904
01:07:41,140 --> 01:07:43,320
In my time of need, I was overwhelmed

905
01:07:43,320 --> 01:07:45,120
by the way my community reached out.

906
01:07:46,000 --> 01:07:48,606
We all have a story and
when I listen to others

907
01:07:48,606 --> 01:07:51,093
I begin to get my loss into perspective.

908
01:07:53,860 --> 01:07:55,340
There's always somebody worse off

909
01:07:55,340 --> 01:07:57,713
and you don't have to
look far to find them.

910
01:08:01,630 --> 01:08:04,990
Ironically, those who've been
dealt the cruelest of hands

911
01:08:04,990 --> 01:08:07,730
are often the ones who complain the least.

912
01:08:07,730 --> 01:08:11,193
The ones who just get on with
it, give it their best shot.

913
01:08:12,440 --> 01:08:15,320
Having friends like that helped get me

914
01:08:15,320 --> 01:08:17,223
through some pretty tough times.

915
01:08:19,116 --> 01:08:22,360
(gentle piano music)

916
01:08:22,360 --> 01:08:25,380
Being alone, that was the biggest hurdle.

917
01:08:25,380 --> 01:08:27,680
That's when I was most vulnerable,

918
01:08:27,680 --> 01:08:31,660
when the emotional
demons came out to play.

919
01:08:31,660 --> 01:08:33,816
But I was never really alone.

920
01:08:33,816 --> 01:08:36,363
I had Atlas, my grand-dog,

921
01:08:37,510 --> 01:08:39,163
happiest being I've ever known.

922
01:08:40,460 --> 01:08:42,820
He leads a simple life.

923
01:08:42,820 --> 01:08:46,553
As long as he's fed, sheltered
and loved, he's content.

924
01:08:48,010 --> 01:08:50,860
His attitude introduced a more balanced,

925
01:08:50,860 --> 01:08:52,913
less emotional perspective,

926
01:08:54,030 --> 01:08:56,860
one that made me realize that whilst I had

927
01:08:56,860 --> 01:09:00,090
suffered a huge loss,
I still had the basics.

928
01:09:00,090 --> 01:09:04,143
I was still fed, sheltered, still loved.

929
01:09:05,250 --> 01:09:08,014
That's been a significant lesson.

930
01:09:08,014 --> 01:09:12,143
Focusing on how much I
had, not how much I'd lost.

931
01:09:14,561 --> 01:09:17,200
(gentle music)

932
01:09:17,200 --> 01:09:20,693
When I looked back, I've
certainly had a fortunate life.

933
01:09:21,550 --> 01:09:24,830
I coulda been born in
any number of hell holes.

934
01:09:24,830 --> 01:09:29,033
Instead I was born in a
place most can only dream of.

935
01:09:30,070 --> 01:09:34,090
I've also been blessed with
a long, meaningful marriage.

936
01:09:34,090 --> 01:09:36,793
Experienced the joy of having been a dad.

937
01:09:37,630 --> 01:09:41,503
I'm part of a caring community,
surrounded by close mates.

938
01:09:42,480 --> 01:09:44,163
It's been a great journey.

939
01:09:45,670 --> 01:09:49,980
But not all journeys are plain sailing.

940
01:09:49,980 --> 01:09:54,377
Sooner or later, fate's gonna
throw some rogue waves at you.

941
01:09:55,700 --> 01:09:59,950
And when they hit, you wonder
how you're going to survive

942
01:09:59,950 --> 01:10:02,373
let alone cope, but you do.

943
01:10:03,290 --> 01:10:05,813
Even if it's a constant struggle, you do.

944
01:10:07,060 --> 01:10:08,720
That's the thing with rogue waves.

945
01:10:08,720 --> 01:10:10,391
They're just a part of life

946
01:10:10,391 --> 01:10:12,473
that we all have to deal with.

947
01:10:13,390 --> 01:10:16,680
It's just that for some
they're eight foot,

948
01:10:16,680 --> 01:10:18,443
for others they're 80.

949
01:10:19,683 --> 01:10:22,913
The sobering thought is,
there's more out there.

950
01:10:24,039 --> 01:10:25,113
They're not done yet.

951
01:10:34,392 --> 01:10:36,360
I often wonder how different my life

952
01:10:36,360 --> 01:10:38,495
would have been if 60 years ago

953
01:10:38,495 --> 01:10:42,983
I hadn't made that simple
decision to see a surf movie.

954
01:10:44,000 --> 01:10:46,673
Yet another question with no answer.

955
01:10:48,641 --> 01:10:53,641
However, if I had my time over,
with one obvious exception,

956
01:10:54,640 --> 01:10:56,570
I wouldn't change a thing.

957
01:10:56,570 --> 01:10:59,083
I mean, what'd be the point?

958
01:10:59,936 --> 01:11:01,586
I never wanted to grow up anyway.

959
01:11:02,600 --> 01:11:03,897
Not about to start now.

960
01:11:41,899 --> 01:11:45,566
(gentle instrumental music)