My first flight lesson in Rockhampton, Queensland at the Rockhampton Aero Club
My two main hobbies outside of cooking and kitchens, is flying light aircraft and digital photography.
Flying Light Aircraft
While growing up, I always wanted to be 747 pilot and somehow was distracted into cooking. It wasn’t till I started work on Great Keppel Island Resort where the actual resort and staff quarters were separated by an airstrip that my passion to fly was reignited. The executive chef’s residence was located at the end of the strip and when not in the kitchen I used to sit and watch the Qantas Twin Otters bring in guests a few times a day. This gave me the inspiration to go and get my restricted pilots license.
I started my license at the Rockhampton Areo club, initially learning in a plane called a Skyfox Gazelle which has a 80 horse power engine. For a big guy the Skyfox Gazelle was a really tight fit, but a great plane to learn the basics in. While still living and working on Great Keppel Island, I was lucky enough to be tutored in the staff room by the Qantas pilots between their ferry flights from the Island to Rockhampton. After doing my solo and flying by myself I upgraded to a Piper Cherokee 6-300 which had a lot more power than then Skyfox Gazelle.
Since then it’s been sometime since I’ve flown and my dad is now flying as well so I’ll need to get back into it sometime soon.
Digital Photography
Over the past few years I've taken a real interest in digitial photography, taking a wide range of photos from food photography to landscape photography. I've since purchased a Nikon D200 and have invested in Profoto studio lights for better results.
