By Brendan Rees
With Robyn Murphy, volunteer firefighter with Pearcedale CFA fire brigade.
1. How long have you been a volunteer with Pearcedale fire brigade? Almost 5 years.
2. What have been some of the major bush fires you have attended?I haven’t been able to get to faraway places much in the past due to needing to get kids to school and such, but I just recently went to Warrnambool to work in the Incident Control Centre for the Cobden fires. Closer to home, I’ve been at the Cranbourne and Carrum Downs Bush fires this year, and the Hastings, Somerville and Crib Point fires over the past couple of years.
3. What keeps you interested in firefighting? The challenge, the variety, the CFA family. There’s always something happening and there’s always something new to learn, somewhere new to go, and someone new to meet. I love it.
4. What is the most memorable moment in your life? It might sound a little selfish, but at the moment it’s the trip I did to Birdsville and the outback on my own last year. I had a ball and met some awesome people; visited some amazing places and it was so nice just doing whatever I wanted when I felt like it.
5. What is your favourite television show? I’m not a big TV watcher these days and I’m more inclined to stick a movie on Netflix when I want to watch something. That means I’ve ended up watching some real duds, and other times I’ve come across an awesome movie that I’d never heard of.
6. Favourite place to visit in Victoria? Hmm… Anything along the Great Ocean Road. I like chilling out in the coastal towns, and driving alongside that part of the ocean is just breathtaking.
7. What is your favourite book? The Eight, by Katherine Neville. It’s an awesome and intriguing story that I first read about 25 years ago. But I also have (I think) 82 Stephen King books so I kind of like him a little bit as well 🙂
8. What has been your most embarrassing moment? Fortunately, I don’t think I really have too many of those as I’m usually the responsible one haha. But I must admit, when I was parking in South Yarra the other day, I managed to find out that my new four-wheel-drive with roof racks is over two metres, as I discovered when I hit the two metre clearance sign on the way in!
9. What do you work toward in your free time? At the moment, it’s preparing for my outback trip again. I’m heading back to Birdsville with a friend in July, so I’m busy planning for outback camping for about three weeks. I’ve got a lot of things still to do on the four-wheel-drive and just organising everything I need to take is pretty time-consuming.
10. Where would your perfect holiday destination be? Hamilton island! I’ve been there so many times and I absolutely love it. I’ve flown there, sailed there, ferried there… each time I’m there it feels like a little home away from home. Just wish I could afford to go there every winter.
