CANOEING THE "RIVER OF MIRRORS" - NOOSA RIVER TRIP REPORT

I was thirteen when I first kayaked the length of the Noosa River. My dad and I spent a few days camping along the tranquil snaking banks, swimming and slowly paddling up and back. Since then, I’ve hiked beside it, camped at its mouth with friends, and kayaked laps of it many times. Each time is slightly different, with fire scarring its banks and floods depositing debris; weather changing its façade and perspective and age changing my view of these everglades.

AIMING HIGH- SHOOTING HIGHLINING PHOTOGRAPHY AT BEECHMONT

I got a slackline for Christmas a few years ago. After the classic Aussie Chrissy lunch, my sisters and I headed out to the front lawn to set it up. I remember grabbing hold of each of my sister’s shoulders as I wobbled on the line.

The slackline stayed set up for weeks after the 25th; conveniently it served as a barrier between the car parks and the house, which resulted in a lot of tripping. In those weeks, the most progress I made was around five steps before I’d bounce off the line and land on the prickly needles of the pine tree that guards our yard.

SEND BURNS AND BERMS - MOUNTAIN BIKE PHOTOGRAPHY

Shannon is your classic Aussie legend; way too humble for her own good.

She’s competed internationally in BMX and now travels nationwide for downhill and XC mountain biking. Despite this, road-biking and bike-packing don’t fall through her radar, and impressively, she’s able to balance leisure riding as well as competing.

I DID A DREAM SHOOT ON THE GOLD COAST - SUNRISE PARAGLIDING FOR PARAGLIDING QUEENSLAND!!

There’s nothing more inspiring or rewarding as dangling off the side of a cliff desperately burst-mode-ing shots of a furiously-concentrating pumped climber reaching for the crux on a challenging outdoor sport route or the pure focus of a mountain-biker shooting around a berm. I respect the grit and endurance of athletes sending hard in all conditions, and the flow-state and pure concentration it produces.