Nothing, I think, hurts much more than extremely cold water. It is like a thousand little knives hitting your body. And then there’s the bone-aching cold that numbs your body and makes it hurt to move. You do not want to swim in extremely cold water, unless you have a dry suit. Fortunately we were going scuba diving in Northern Australia - in Cairns.

The smell hit me first as I stepped out of the accursed plane. It was lovely, although slightly ruined by the aroma of smog and airport cleaner.  The smell was the scent of fresh Hawaiian air. Hawaii has its own smell and that fragrance washed the plane like sanitizer never could have.

I am a sailor, heart and soul. Nothing except not having a sailboat keeps me out of a boat.

My mouth is watering as I write this. Food is something I love to experiment with, although most times I end up burning it to the bottom of a pan. I made charcoal out of soup once! Oh well…

Family. That is one word that creates a thrill when I haven’t seen them in a long time.

Farming is something that takes patience and love. When I was a little boy, I had a barrel that was cut in half that mom said I could fill with flowers. My sister had one too, and she bought flowers at the store, but I had no money so I went around and got weeds.

Wind has always been my friend. On hot days it swoops in and cools me down, which makes the other people in my family unhappy because they love the heat; when I am kite surfing it usually is there to hold my kit up in the air, which helps me to move around.

As I walked back from the beach, alone on a quiet road, I thought to myself, “I need to write about this, I need to let the world know how many awesome things people can do in the water.” And so I have.

People around the world have local knowledge that can save their lives. As a Canadian and an American, I know how to deal with bears, wolves, skunks, and other animals. Don’t leave food out when camping, pick up trash, don’t wander around near their territory, don’t touch them or their cubs - and all the other little rules that you get taught as you grow up.

The Sydney Opera House is one of the most famous opera houses in the world. It seemed to me surreal as we flew in over the ocean, looking down at Sydney, at the opera house, at all the boats. It was amazing.