Acknowledgements
The first person I would like to thank is Shane (Whitey) Kennedy. It was during my darkest struggles that this man stood up and opened his home to me. Friendships are tried and tested on the battlefields of life, and this man sat in the trenches with me through the longest nights. Thank you, Whiteman. A true gentleman.
To the Bininj People of Kakadu and the incredible people I got to share my adventures with in that part of the world: Thank you for opening your beautiful lands to me and showing me one of the most incredible places on earth.
To Victor ‘The Wizard’: Thank you for always working your magic and constantly showing me that nothing is impossible.
To Jenny: Thank you for always picking up the phone, no matter what time of day or night, and always having the time to share a hot cup of tea.
To my incredible family, whether your hair is red, brown, blonde, black or blue – you all know who you are: I am so grateful to have all of you in my life. Thank you for just being you, and for all your support during my crazy adventures.
To Brandon and the team at Bobby Dunne’s Boxing Gym. You guys all came into my life at just the right time and taught me how to focus my energy constructively. This came in handy once or twice in the wild places. Cheers, gents.
To Kylie Bartlett, my mentor: Thank you for seeing potential in me and guiding me through the whole publishing process. Your knowledge and insights have been priceless.
To my editor, Liliane Grace: Thank you, thank you, thank you! You proved time and again that your attention to detail is impeccable! You took the rambling words of an emotional roof tiler and made them into something respectable. I am forever indebted to you.
To the team behind the success of the Ten Deserts Odyssey; Stel, Darren, Bec, Sally, Shahn, Mel, Ryan, and all my sponsors. Thank you for all your belief in me and my crazy ambitions. I could never have done it without you.
To David Alenson from Alenson Design: Thank you for all your hard work behind the scenes on logos, website content and cover designs, and for countless hours of conversations about maps and colours, etc etc. Thanks for all your patience, mate. You’re a legend.
To Jeremy at Shevek Creative: Thank you for all your work behind the scenes with web development, typesetting, emails, and all my other requests that are technically beyond me.
To Jarrod, thank you for being such a good brother to me, not just in recent years, but since forever. Your selfless character has always seen you putting yourself second. That will never be lost on me. In moments of darkness, you have always been the lighthouse I have sought. Thank you, Jarrod. From the bottom of my heart, thank you.
And to my incredible mother: Although you left us almost 20 years ago, I feel you with me still. On the floodplains of Kakadu or in the sands of the Simpson, you have been with me every step of the way. Guiding my heart in the right direction. Working hard to keep me upright. My beautiful mother. Thank you for your fighting spirit, your love, your life. I feel you with me now and always.
And finally, for you, the reader: Thank you for picking up my book. I hope it has in some way inspired you to get out there and start fighting for all the things you want in your life.