I grew up in the northern suburbs of Brisbane and have lived in the same area all my life. It is a good place to live and bring up a family. As a kid I was mainly interested in outdoor activities. I started playing tennis at seven, eventually playing competition level in Brisbane which I still do and enjoy, although these days the result of the game is not important to me, but the activity, the social aspect and the relationships are. I also coached junior cricket.
I married Helen in 1981 and we had an extended trip in Europe when we were in our 20s. It was incredible to go to places and see things that I had only read about or seen on TV – Stonehenge, the Tower of London, Wimbledon tennis Museum, Wales, Scotland and then France, Spain, Italy, Greece, Bulgaria, Austria and Switzerland which I especially remember for a train trip through the beautiful countryside. Eastern Europe in those days was stark, cold and impersonal but Yugoslavia is a beautiful country. Back then, Dubrovnik was an historical walled city, very special to see and so sad that it was bombed and destroyed by war.
We settled down and had three boys – all now grown up – twins Scott and Geoff and their younger brother Matt who is also the tallest in the family. They all play tennis as well, two of them have coached tennis. Geoff recently got married – he is a policeman in north Queensland, Scott is an office manager in Brisbane and Matt is studying at Uni and works as a personal trainer.
As a family we have always had animals, cats when I was a kid and now dogs. Summer beach holidays are a family tradition. We have a boat and go fishing around Bribie Island. When the kids were younger we used to pull them around behind the boat on an airhead. We also used to go camping – Girraween national park on the May long weekend was another family tradition. We have also travelled as a family on holidays to Fiji, Vanuatu and New Zealand.
I work in the banking industry and apart from that and sport, I am a bit of a home handyman and like doing projects like walls and fences and a paving project coming up in the next few months. My mum still lives in the house that I grew up in and I have begun a painting project there as well. When I retire, I would like to become a qualified tennis coach and continue to travel.
I love reading your Member’s Profiles. Ken and Mick especially sound like active interesting people with lots of things going on in their lives… and they have HSP too. It encourages me to get out there and keep fit and to have fun while doing it.