I've been tagged

I’ve watched this tagging meme doing the rounds - slowly circling me, coming closer.. closer.  Now, thanks to Angus, it’s my turn to stroke my own ego in public.

So, here are 5 things about me that you probably didn’t know.

1.     I played rugby before I went to school.  I was born in New Zealand after all J  I started school when I was 5, but I was playing rugby at 4 (you know – when you don’t wear boots, and you tackle your team-mates and steal the ball because you don’t understand the rules).  I still play and, touch wood, to this day I haven’t had a serious injury (if you don’t count almost biting my tongue off last year as serious – I don’t).

2.     I was a koala.  Not long after finishing high school I was walking through Brisbane city with a mate and we saw a Wilderness Society koala collecting donations.  We thought it looked like fun, so later that afternoon we were both koalas.  Possibly my most fun job ever, although in hindsight voluntarily wearing a head-to-toe fur coat in the middle of a Brisbane summer was a bit strange.  (Stranger still was that a schoolmate once recognised me from across the street as I wildly danced in my koala suit (quote:“only you would do something so stupid, Johann”)).

3.     I love airports.  And airline food.  Most people hate them, I love them.  The love affair began several years ago during a 17-hour stopover at Changi Airport in Singapore, where I had a brilliant time.

4.     I was a pro skateboarder.  Yes that’s right, for a while there I was paid to ride my longboard downhill at speeds so stupid and dangerous that these days I would ban my kids from even thinking about it (if I had kids).

5.     I was Captain of the Young Endeavour.  In 2003 I was Master and Commander of the ship and crew off the coast of New South Wales (including during a massive storm complete with water-spouts), but only for 24 hours J

Now of course I have to tag five others.  Umm.. Mario D'Silva, Jeff Alexander, (this is hard, everyone's already been tagged!), RockyH, and I will edit this post shortly with two more :)