fun facts about me

Growing up in Canberra, field hockey was a big part of my life. My parents even met through our hockey club, so I guess you could say that without hockey, I literally wouldn’t be here. With my parents spending so much time at hockey, naturally, I followed in their footsteps.

I started playing at age 5 in the Central Under 7s Minky team, and later went on to represent the ACT in under age and senior national competitions. I was even awarded an ACT Academy of Sport scholarship in my late teens.

For many years, hockey was a huge part of my life, and while I haven’t played in quite some time, I still miss it.

I once danced in a Broadway musical… honestly, I have. The 2011 production of Priscilla Queen of the Desert, to be exact.

During the performance, one of the drag queens came down to my seat and told me that she liked my brand new purple strappy sandals and asked me to stand up and do a twirl. Who am I to refuse a drag queen? Then she told me to go up to the stage, so my friend and I joined the cast and danced in the number “Thank God I’m a Country Boy”. An absolutely amazing experienced.

I have always been a big fan of musical theatre, and while I have since returned to New York and Broadway, I am yet to return to the Broadway stage. I might be a ‘one and done’ Broadway dancer.

In 2011, I left my home town of Canberra to begin working Fly In Fly Out (FIFO) job for four years in Western Australia. I absolutely loved it.

I was lucky enough to be working for a company that had resource and construction projects all across Australia and there was an opportunity to work on the biggest project they had at the time, the Gorgon LNG Project, up in the Pilbara region of Western Australia. I spent the next four years working across two projects in the Health and Safety teams, gaining invaluable professional and personal experience.

Would I recommend FIFO work? If you are single and without a family, yes! I thoroughly enjoyed the experience. There are certainly pros and cons to the lifestyle, but for the most part, I had a pretty positive experience.

I finished working in WA in 2015, and made the long drive along the Nullabor to start a new job in Sydney.

I have always been a dog person, but my love for dogs exploded when I adopted a short haired dachshund named Harry.

I didn’t really know a huge amount about dachshunds, other than that they’re incredibly cute, but quickly I learned that they’re quite the handful. For those unfamiliar, dachshunds are known for their immense loyalty, their independent thinking, ferocious spirit and extremely bark. Harry displays all of those characteristics. He has such a hilarious personality and is the biggest snugglebug I know.

Some of Harry’s favourite things include chasing the ball at the park, raw chicken wings, playing with his friends at doggy daycare, and snuggling on the couch after a long day of being the Northern Beaches’ most spoilt sausage dog.

I have very much become the dog-mum I never wanted to be, but I wouldn’t have it any other way.

Every now and then, I will include some of Harry’s favourite things for the week, so keep your eyes peeled for my weekly love list.

There will be many years until Australia forgets about the horrendous 2019/2020 summer bushfires, but I won’t forget them for a different reason. I have been a proud volunteer with the NSW Rural Fire Service since September 2019, working as a Communications Officer in the Northern Beaches district.

I joined the RFS after taking a road trip up to the NSW Northern Tablelands and seeing the smoldering embers along Thunderbolts Way. I could see how dedicated the local volunteers were to keeping their communities safe and it inspired me to get involved. I have since been able to participate in programs like local hazard reductions, aviation activities and community engagement.

I’m not going to lie, it’s a lot of work, but it’s hard to find a more fulfilling hobby.