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04 / Life

Discovery and exploration.

Under the water, on two wheels, under iron, on a dig site. Every signal worth chasing has lived somewhere outside the lab.

"To explore is to live, for life itself is a journey into the unknown."
Amelia Earhart
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Depth Signal

Underwater adventures

On a closed-circuit mixed-gas rebreather
·Closed-circuit mixed-gas rebreather

Long-time scuba diver. In an earlier life helped organise and run one of the world's largest underwater photography competitions, the Australasian Underwater Photographer of the Year, while serving three years on the committee of the South Pacific Divers Club.

Part of search teams that have located and identified shipwrecks off the coasts of New South Wales and Tasmania. Designed and built a personal closed-circuit mixed-gas rebreather, then planned and executed deep dives with it (using heliox) to explore shipwrecks off the Australian coast.

A bucket-list adventure: diving with Great White sharks at the Neptune Islands in 2022.

  • Disciplines
    Open water, deep, mixed-gas rebreather
  • Built
    Own closed-circuit rebreather
  • Wrecks
    NSW and Tasmania search teams
  • Bucket list
    Great Whites, Neptune Islands, 2022
  • Committee
    South Pacific Divers Club, 3 years
  • Event
    Australasian Underwater Photographer of the Year
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Archaeology Signal

Greek antiquities

Archaeological excavation near Antikythera
·Archaeological fieldwork, southern Greece

From 2009 to 2014, part of archaeological excavations run by the Greek Ministry of Antiquities on the islands of Kythera and Antikythera in southern Greece. Boots-on-the-ground archaeology in some of the most historically loaded waters on Earth.

For three consecutive seasons (2011, 2012, 2013), part of the Ephorate of Underwater Antiquities team excavating the famous Mentor shipwreck off Kythera. The Mentor sank in 1802 carrying part of the Parthenon Marbles, and its excavation has been one of the most significant underwater archaeology projects in the Mediterranean.

  • Region
    Kythera and Antikythera, southern Greece
  • Period
    2009 to 2014
  • Authority
    Greek Ministry of Antiquities
  • Project
    Mentor shipwreck, 2011 to 2013
  • Team
    Ephorate of Underwater Antiquities
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Strength Signal

Fitness, bodybuilding, CrossFit

On stage at the Australian Nationals
·On stage, Australian Nationals

Started going to the gym in the 1980s, the heyday of bodybuilding: Conan the Barbarian on the screen, Olivia Newton-John's "Physical" on the radio, and the "Life Be In It" campaign on TV. Nobody really knew what they were doing, but it was fun and it stuck.

In 2016, walking past a CrossFit competition at the Wollongong Entertainment Centre kicked off a new chapter. From there: dieted and trained for a run of amateur bodybuilding events, taking out several trophies and culminating in a 5th place finish in age group at the Australian Nationals in Melbourne.

Even managed to meet Arnold twice in the same month: once at Gold's Gym in Los Angeles, and again a few weeks later at the Melbourne Fitness Expo. No longer competes, still trains.

  • Best result
    5th, Australian Nationals (ICN), Melbourne
  • Trophies
    Multiple amateur competitions
  • CrossFit
    From 2016 onwards
  • Arnold
    Twice in one month, LA and Melbourne
  • Started
    1980s, the bodybuilding boom era
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Mechanical Signal

Motorcycles

Two wheels, open road, the constant feedback loop between machine and rider. From learning to ride at age 14 on a cousin's farm at Grenfell in western NSW, through long-haul Australian touring, to years of MDMC group rides across Southeast Asia. The full story sits on its own page.

Full motorcycle story →