Richard James Dunbar Harris SC OAM (known as “Harry” to pretty much everyone except his dad, who called him Bert) is prepared to admit that if there was one time in his life when he was somewhat brave - at least for a few hours - it was this:
"I was 15, and me and a mate, Sam, were on an open-water diving course,” Harry says. “We were in the Gulf of St Vincent, five or six kilometers off the South Australian coast with our instructor and two other students. It was around 5 pm when it suddenly got very rough. We went down one wave, smashed into the back of the next and the boat flipped over, tipping us all into the ocean.
“We managed to right it, but the boat was swamped and the engine wouldn't start. From then on, we pretty much sat in this boat that was full of cold water for the rest of the night. Every now and again we'd hit another massive wave, the boat would throw us out and we'd have to scramble in again. It was a horrendous night. Sam and I tried to crack jokes and keep morale up because the two other students seemed very frightened - one of them started praying. I remember thinking, “We're actually being quite heroic here,' but by about two in the morning, my courage had deserted me.
How frightened were you?
I don't remember fear being the emotion. It was more a sense of, 'When will this misery ever end?' And the thought that we might not actually make it. The boat's floorboards started to pop up and the polystyrene flotation was drifting away, so the boat was actually sinking, and I realized that, even with a life jacket on, you could easily drown ... It was a feeling of desperation. Thankfully, we were finally rescued by an old fisherman at daybreak.
Was that the kind of kid you were growing up the kind who'd crack jokes in difficult situations?
Diese Geschichte stammt aus der May 2022-Ausgabe von Australian Women’s Weekly NZ.
Starten Sie Ihre 7-tägige kostenlose Testversion von Magzter GOLD, um auf Tausende kuratierte Premium-Storys sowie über 8.000 Zeitschriften und Zeitungen zuzugreifen.
Bereits Abonnent ? Anmelden
Diese Geschichte stammt aus der May 2022-Ausgabe von Australian Women’s Weekly NZ.
Starten Sie Ihre 7-tägige kostenlose Testversion von Magzter GOLD, um auf Tausende kuratierte Premium-Storys sowie über 8.000 Zeitschriften und Zeitungen zuzugreifen.
Bereits Abonnent? Anmelden
PRETTY WOMAN
Dial up the joy with a mood-boosting self-care session done in the privacy of your own home. It’s a blissful way to banish the winter blues.
Hitting a nerve
Regulating the vagus nerve with its links to depression, anxiety, arthritis and diabetes could aid physical and mental wellbeing.
The unseen Rovals
Candid, behind the scenes and neverbefore-seen images of the royal family have been released for a new exhibition.
Great read
In novels and life - there's power in the words left unsaid.
Winter dinner winners
Looking for some thrifty inspiration for weeknight dinners? Try our tasty line-up of budget-concious recipes that are bound to please everyone at the table.
Winter baking with apples and pears
Celebrate the season of apples and pears with these sweet bakes that will keep the cold weather blues away.
The wines and lines mums
Once only associated with glamorous A-listers, cocaine is now prevalent with the soccer-mum set - as likely to be imbibed at a school fundraiser as a nightclub. The Weekly looks inside this illegal, addictive, rising trend.
Former ballerina'sBATTLE with BODY IMAGE
Auckland author Sacha Jones reveals how dancing led her to develop an eating disorder and why she's now on a mission to educate other women.
MEET RUSSIA'S BRAVEST WOMEN
When Alexei Navalny died in a brutal Arctic prison, Vladimir Putin thought he had triumphed over his most formidable opponent. Until three courageous women - Alexei's mother, wife and daughter - took up his fight for freedom.
IT'S NEVER TOO LATE TO START
Responsible for keeping the likes of Jane Fonda and Jamie Lee Curtis in shape, Malin Svensson is on a mission to motivate those in midlife to move more.
