Taking that first step
YOU’LL FIND some fabulous tales of triumph in this issue, from The longest walk to The hardest night. Scaling Mt Everest has perhaps become the supreme representation globally for inspiration and perseverance – a universal symbol that seemingly transcends cultures. Climbing to the top of the world has become the ultimate metaphor for success and achievement.
All that and more is what you’ll find in the story we bring you on page 66 about the first Aussies to do this, 40 years ago. Our writer, Ross Taylor, spent time speaking to climbers Tim Macartney-Snape and Greg Mortimer; his narrative captures all the hope, anguish and tragedy that accompanied that massive achievement.
In our regular Australian Portrait, you’ll meet and be inspired by Lucy Barnard, who’s been scaling her own Everest of sorts for the past few years, supported by the Australian Geographic Society. This determined young woman is travelling on foot from Argentina to Alaska – discover on page 26 what motivates her.
Elsewhere in this issue I’m sure you’ll be astounded to learn about the abundance of animal fossils that have been (and continue to be) unearthed on this ancient continent of ours. Who knew there was such a wealth of biological relics, seemingly scattered at quite shallow depths, across our landscape! Our staff writer, Esme Mathis, joined two current excavation sites for our story Searching for Aussie dinosaurs (page 90). We also bring you a list of how you, too, can become involved in one of these amazing excavations.
In Cocky whispering at Coomallo Creek (page 38) there’s another epic, multidecade tale of discovery about the efforts of Dr Denis Saunders to document a place and a species about which he’s passionate.
This extraordinary country and its remarkable people continue to offer up story after story of inspiration and we’ll continue to present these as we approach the magazine’s 40th year of publication.
But I remain intensely aware, as I write this from my hospital bed following elective neurosurgery at the Prince of Wales Hospital in Randwick, in Sydney’s eastern suburbs, that many great stories of inspiration go undocumented. A woman who is sharing a room with me embodies that inspiration – after being flown for emergency brain surgery from country New South Wales, she’s already spent more than two months in hospital and has many more months here. That will be followed by years of rehabilitation as she learns to talk and walk again – her own courageous attempt to scale Everest.