Podcasts about boxing day tsunami

In 1995, a deliberately lit fire in Sydney left 8 people dead. But how was it lit? How can forensics tell, and what information do they need to build a case for conviction?  Professor Peter Ellis is a veteran of forensics in Australia and has worked across a number of high profile criminal investigations. He's also worked overseas, in mass grave sites in Kosovo and mass disasters like the 2004 Boxing Day Tsunami in Thailand.  In this episode of Crime Insiders Forensics, understand Peter's career, and the toll this type of work takes, as Kathryn Fox takes us through his career and his incredible work. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Max Pearson presents a collection of the week's Witness History episodes.We hear two stories from the deadly 2004 Boxing Day tsunami, which killed thousands of people in south-east Asia.Our expert guest is Ani Naqvi, a former journalist who was on holiday in Sri Lanka when the wave hit.We also hear from the two Polish students who created the voice of Alexa, the smart speaker.Plus, the story of Klaus Fuchs, the German-born physicist who passed nuclear secrets to the Soviet Union while working on the first atomic bomb.Finally, we find out about Robert Ripley, the American cartoonist who made millions from sharing bizarre facts.Contributors:Choodamani and Karibeeran Paramesvaran – couple whose three children died in the Boxing Day tsunami.Dendy Montgomery – photographer who captured the tsunami devastation.Ani Naqvi – former journalist who was caught up in the tsunami.Lukasz Osowski and Michal Kaszczuk – creators of Alexa.Klaus Fuchs-Kittowski – nephew of atomic spy Klaus Fuchs.John Corcoran – director of exhibits at Ripley's.(Photo: Tsunami devastation in Indonesia. Credit: Getty Images)

On the 20th anniversary of the Boxing Day Tsunami, Dr. Stephen Phillips discusses the U.S. Navy's humanitarian response, Operation Unified Assistance, with Dr. John Sherwood. This and other humanitarian responses are discussed in great detail in Sherwood's book, A Global Force for Good: Sea Services Humanitarian Operations in the Twenty-First Century.

What were you doing on Boxing Day morning in 2004? Sarah Ayles was on a beach in Sri Lanka, putting on a mask about to go snorkelling with her business partner and ex-boyfriend, when her life changed forever. The Boxing Day Tsunami was caused by an earthquake in the Indian Ocean and experts say it had the energy of 23,000 Hiroshima-type atomic bombs. 227,898 people lost their lives across Indonesia, Sri Lanka, India, and Thailand but Sarah survived. Click here to subscribe to No Filter. Listen to Sam Bloom's inspiring story here: https://omny.fm/shows/no-filter/an-extraordinary-tale-of-tragedy-and-beauty CREDITS: Host: Mia Freedman With thanks to special guest Sarah Ayles. Producer: Elissa Ratliff GET IN TOUCH: Email the show at podcast@mamamia.com.au Find any book mentioned at apple.co/mamamia No Filter is a podcast by Mamamia. Find more shows here.Become a Mamamia subscriber: https://www.mamamia.com.au/subscribeSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Paul Holden highlights the "Tomb Raider Experience" down along the Seattle Waterfront // Crime and Punishment with Casey McNearthney: Highlighting the Family Support Division // Matt Markovich on the new restrictions surrounding the sale of RVs and trucks // Daily Dose Of Kindness: A gingerbread tradition in North Carolina helps a community rebuild after Hurricane Helene // Ted Buehner on the 20th anniversary of the Boxing Day Tsunami // Gee Scott on the Seahawks' Thursday Night game against the Chicago Bears 

122624 Israel Bombs Yemen, Azerbaijan Plane Crash Mystery, Boxing Day Tsunami, NYCHA Evictions by The News with Paul DeRienzo

It's twenty years since the deadliest tsunami in history. On December 26th, 2004, a 9.1 magnitude undersea earthquake struck 240 kilometres off the coast of the Indonesian island of Sumatra. In the hours that followed, a tsunami triggered by the earthquake surged across the Indian ocean, at speeds of 800 kilometres per hour. It brought disaster to 14 countries, wiping out entire communities in South East Asia and South Asia and impacting coastal areas as far away as East Africa. In total, at least 225,000 people lost their lives. SBS News Asia Correspondent Aaron Fernandes travelled to one of the worst affected areas, Indonesia's Banda Aceh, to meet with those who survived.

2024 marks two decades since the Indian Ocean tsunami, a massive natural disaster which left well over 200,000 people dead. The wave was so large it altered the rotation of the earth. In the aftermath, Australia donated more than $1b in aid to help Indonesia and other countries recover. Breaking Politics spoke with Plan International's Syifa Andina, who was in the car with her mum and brother when the tsunami hit.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Today marks 20 years since the massive Boxing day tsunami which caused widespread destruction, displacement and death in countries on the Indian Ocean rim. A 9.0 earthquake struck off the West Coast of the Indonesian island of Sumatra on Boxing Day 2004. It triggers a series of tsunamis that charged across the Indian Ocean and killed around 230,000 people. Former World Vision Staffer Alex Snary was working at the time the tsunami hit and tells Tim Beveridge he has vivid memories of his arrival to the island and the “smell of decaying bodies.” “It wasn't until you really got boots on the ground that I really began to understand the extent of the devastation. When in whole villages... there's just nothing above knee-high or waist height left.” In the 20 years since, World Vision have stepped up their ability to respond to disasters of the scale of the 2004 tsunami. “When I first joined World Vision, there was kind of the ability to respond to one place in the world. When I left, we could respond to four or five if needed.” On how the events of that day and all that followed changed the way he feels about the work he does, Snary says seeing the difference of an area when he left compared to its state upon his arrival reinforced just how important the work is. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This year, Boxing Day marks the twentieth anniversary of the tsunami that caused 230,000 deaths around South East Asia.So with the Daily on a brief break, we're replaying an episode of Storycast which tells the story of Martunis.On 26 December 2004, one of the deadliest disasters in history struck when tsunami waves were triggered by a massive earthquake. A Sky News camera crew would discover an eight-year-old boy named Martunis among the devastation.Their subsequent report was seen by Cristiano Ronaldo - the Portuguese football star, known to many as the greatest player of his generation, but less so for his role in this remarkable survival story. Martunis has told his story in full for the first time in Miracle Boy, the first episode of StoryCast '21 - a Sky News podcast series telling 21 extraordinary personal stories from some of the biggest news events of the century. Producer: Soila ApparicioDigital production: David ChipakupakuEditor: Philly Beaumont

On Eavesdroppin' comedy podcast this week, Geordie & Michelle look at a Christmas natural disaster...On the 26th of December, 2004, holiday makers in South East Asia woke up to another day in paradise. Sunshine. Blue skies. White-sand beaches. Boxing-Day bliss. And then, disaster struck. An underground earthquake with a magnitude of 9.2, caused by shifting tectonic plates, triggered a tsunami that smashed through the region. This week, Geordie looks at the Indian Ocean tsunami and recounts what happened alongside personal stories from tsunami survivors. So pop on your headphones, grab a brown lemonade and join Geordie & Michelle for this week's episode, plus chit-chat about mice, Geordie's dog-walking Whatsapp group and more, only on Eavesdroppin' podcast. And remember, wherever you are, whatever you do, just keep Eavesdroppin'! *Disclaimer: We don't claim to have any factual info about anything ever and our opinions are just opinions not fact, sooorrrryyy! Don't sue us! Please rate, review, tell your friends and subscribe in all the usual places – we love it when you do! Support us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/eavesdroppinDo write in with your stories at hello@eavesdroppinpodcast.com or send us a Voice Note!Listen: www.eavesdroppinpodcast.com or https://podfollow.com/eavesdroppinYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCqcuzv-EXizUo4emmt9PgfwFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/eavesdroppinpodcast#tsunami #christmastsnumi #2004 #boxingdaytsunami #indianoceantsunami #earthquake #khaolak #srilanka #thailand #reallife #naturaldisaster #eavesdroppin #eavesdroppinpodcast #eavesdroppincomedypodcast #podcast #comedy Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A massive 9.1 magnitude earthquake under the ocean. A series of tsunami waves moving almost 500 miles an hour. Nearly a quarter of a million people dead across 14 countries. Today we're going off the radar to talk about one of the largest seismic events ever recorded: the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami, also known as the Boxing Day Tsunami. My guest this week is marine biologist Dr. Dwayne Meadows. He was in coastal Thailand when the deadliest tsunami in history came crashing in, and he was almost a victim of its destructive power. Dwayne was swept out to sea by its powerful waves – and despite the odds, he survived. We'll be discussing this harrowing event, how to vacation safely along coastal areas, and the impact a tsunami can have on a survivor's mental health.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

In December 2004, Rebekah Giles made the spontaneous decision to book a holiday to Thailand. After a busy year working as a lawyer, she decided a week on the idyllic Phi Phi Island would be the reset she needed. But her relaxing break quickly turned into a total nightmare, when the deadliest tsunami in modern history struck. 20 years on from that horrific day, Rebekah shares her story and reflects on the tragedy. LINKS Follow Ant on Instagram, X, and Facebook Learn more about Ant on his website antmiddleton.com Follow Nova Podcasts on Instagram for videos from the podcast and behind the scenes content – @novapodcastsofficial. CREDITSHost: Ant MiddletonEditor: Adrian WaltonExecutive Producer: Anna Henvest Managing Producer: Elle Beattie Nova Entertainment acknowledges the traditional custodians of the land on which we recorded this podcast, the Gadigal People of the Eora Nation. We pay our respect to Elders past and present. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Send us a textIt's 20 years since the Boxing Day tsunami in the Indian Ocean that killed more than 200,000 people.Londoner Ani Naqvi was asleep in a beach hut in Sri Lanka when the tsunami hit, filling the hut with water and almost drowning her.In this podcast Ani shares her life before the tsunami, the harrowing experience of the disaster, and the profound impact it had on her life. She discusses her struggles with PTSD, her journey towards healing, and how she found purpose in helping others after surviving such a traumatic event. The conversation delves into themes of survival, personal growth, spirituality, and the search for meaning in the aftermath of tragedy.https://shopbooksdirect.com/product/tsunami-the-wave-that-saved-my-life-and-can-save-yours/Support the showhttps://www.angelawalkerreports.com/

Send us a text

Journalist Ray Martin speaks to Clairsy & Lisa about reporting on the ground, and the stories from the Boxing Day Tsunami twenty years ago in 2004.  'Tsunami: 20 Years On' at 7pm Sunday 8th December on Nine.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Adrian Barich (Barra) comes in to update Clairsy & Lisa in the world of sport including: Mitch Marsh to bowl in the Pink Ball Test and injured Eagles players. Ray Martin chats to Clairsy & Lisa to remember twenty years ago when the Boxing Day Tsunami hit. In the Shaw Report, Lisa talks about plenty of celebrities who have publically ridiculed their own biopic movie, and Liza Minnelli has a new tell-tale memoir coming out. Rounding out the end of the year, we ask you ‘What's something new you tried in 2024?' See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Listen live on the FIVEAA Player. Follow us on Facebook, X and Instagram. Subscribe on YouTubeSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Boxing Day this year will mark 20 years since the Indian Ocean Tsunami of 2004 which to this day is one of the worst natural disaster event to ever occur with over 227,000 people killed. Australian forensic specialist Peter Baines was one of the people tasked with identifying the bodies of thousands of victims. This experience inspired Peter to launch his own charity called Hands Across the Water which provides long-term support to children who were orphaned or displaced by the disaster. This year Peter will be running 33 marathons in 26 days to hopefully raise $1 million for his charity. Peter Baines told Peter Fegan on 4BC Breakfast, 'it's an important journey, we want to raise a million dollars.' We want to raise awareness, we've raised $35 million,' he said. 'We have been and are the largest contributing Australian charity to Thailand. We've put 40 kids through university. We're building an agricultural learning centre, a hospitality learning centre,' Baines said. 'But, we're basically unknown in Thailand, all of that $35 million has basically come from Australia and hopefully the run will change that.'See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Rev Bill Crews talks to Ray Martin, journalist and TV presenter, who has just returned from one of the most devastated areas Aceh province where he's been making a documentary commemorating the 20th anniversary of the Boxing Day Tsunami and The Last Goodbye tragic event.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

I Was Actually There is a new ABC podcast featuring gripping stories told by people who witnessed history first-hand. Hear what it was like to be a police sniper tasked with handling the gunman at the Port Arthur massacre; how it felt to be a teenager seeing The Beatles during their record-breaking 1964 Adelaide visit; and how one man survived being trapped 1km underground for 14 days, after the Beaconsfield mine collapse.Follow the I Was Actually There podcast on ABC listen.In this episode, Rebekah Giles and her boyfriend were enjoying a last-minute Christmas holiday in Thailand when the deadliest tsunami in recorded history struck. Rebekah recounts her remarkable survival, from the moment a torrent of water blew apart her beachfront hut on Phi Phi Island.

Rebekah Giles and her boyfriend were enjoying a last-minute Christmas holiday in Thailand when the deadliest tsunami in recorded history struck. Rebekah recounts her remarkable survival, from the moment a torrent of water blew apart her beachfront hut on Phi Phi Island.If you need someone to talk to, call:Lifeline on 13 11 1413Yarn on 13 92 76Beyond Blue on 1300 22 46 36Headspace on 1800 650 890QLife on 1800 184 527Stream the TV show on ABC iview.

Victoria Vanstone has lived the nightlife of a rockstar – blazing through bars across the world, waking up in random locations with hazy memories of the night before, with clubbing injuries and risky scenarios all part of her weekly experience. It was a blisteringly good time – until it wasn't. As a mum of three kids, and an author with a thriving podcast, Vic is now sober and living in Queensland, in stark contrast to her blackout days. She has had some wild adventures, that she recounts in quite hilarious fashion, in her book A Thousand Wasted Sundays. We got right to the heart of things, unpacking Vic's journey to sobriety, through her early years growing up in the UK, to her many misadventures across the world – including a traumatic firsthand account of the Boxing Day Tsunami, bearing witness to the unthinkable tragedy in the unfolding days. We got deep about the complexities of parenthood, grief, peer judgement and accountability – and so much more. Vic's story is entirely engaging, totally relatable and incredibly inspiring. Listen to this ep and then grab yourself a copy of her brilliant book A Thousand Wasted Sundays, but be warned – you won't be able to put it down! You can hear more of her story in her award-winning podcast Sober Awkward and on socials at @drunkmummysobermummy. Find me at @thecuriouslifepodcast and @thedaysthatfollow. You can also order your copy of my new book PLOT TWIST via Booktopia by clicking this link, or in real life at your favourite bookstore. Thank you to my wonderful team, Editor and Audio Engineer, Luke Hensel @lukehensel07, and voiceover artiste Julie Reynolds @audiolemonade www.audiolemonade.com    

In a twist on our history episodes, Greg and Ed revisit the devastating tsunami of 2004. Greg begins with a thorough summary of the event, which begins with an absolutely massive earthquake off the coast of Sumatra that caused a rift and shift on the ocean, creating immense waves that would affect multiple continents. Reverberations were felt as far away as the state of Oklahoma. The devastating results eventually took the lives of hundreds of thousands of people in Southeast Asia.  Greg and Ed recount their memories. In Greg's case, he had just flown out of Thailand to Amsterdam and learned of the tsunami after he touched down. He relates how he was glued to the TV and as the horrific death toll numbers climbed and climbed. For Ed, he was in Bangkok and actually tried to go to work the morning of the event, only to find that his office had been closed due to a countrywide shutdown. He did manage to feel an aftershock while in his office tower though. The guys discuss the total shock felt by the entire country of Thailand, and all the positive vibes that the Thai people gave to all the foreigners affected by the tragic act of nature.  Greg then talks with listener Hugh Van Es , who has written a short book about his devastating search for a friend lost in the waves called Hell in Paradise. His first-person account of Phuket after the disaster is a sobering account of just how big an event it was, and how - even 20 years later - it seems that everyone knows someone who was affected. Don't forget that Patrons get the ad-free version of the show as well as swag and other perks. And we'll keep our Facebook, Twitter, and LINE accounts active so you can send us comments, questions, or whatever you want to share.

In this episode, we have Suze from England who shares she faced various significant life challenges, including being sent away to boarding school at a young age, facing bullying, the sudden death of her mother, and surviving the terrifying 2004 Boxing Day Tsunami. She discusses her struggle with alcohol, which became a coping mechanism following these traumatic events and the subsequent dip in her mental health. Despite initially starting to drink socially in her late teens, Suze's real battle with alcohol began in her thirties, intensified by trying to moderate her consumption without success. Eventually, feeling trapped in a cycle of drinking, she sought help.  --------------- Follow Suze on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/suzesober/ Sign up for FREE SoberBuddy Virtual Meetings: https://yoursoberbuddy.com/free-zoom-meetings/ More information on Sober Link: www.soberlink.com/recover Follow Sobermotivation on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sobermotivation/   00:00 Welcome to the Sober Motivation Podcast with Sue 00:15 Sue's Childhood and Early Experiences 01:49 The Start of Sue's Drinking Habits 03:07 Traumatic Events and Their Impact on Sue 07:50 Boarding School Memories and Its Influence 10:17 Navigating Early Adulthood and Challenges 12:21 The Tsunami Experience and Its Aftermath 18:55 The Journey of Motherhood and Its Struggles 22:36 Finding a New Beginning and Facing Challenges 25:53 Reflections on Drinking and Its Role in Coping 26:59 The Vicious Cycle of Alcohol Addiction 27:36 The Turning Point: Seeking Help and Finding AA 32:04 The Journey to Sobriety: From Desperation to Hope 34:44 Embracing a New Life: Growth and Healing in Sobriety 39:23 The Power of Community and Self-Reflection 48:36 Advice for Those Struggling with Sobriety 50:28 Conclusion: The Continuous Journey of Recovery

Over 220,000 fatalities --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/rocky-seale7/message

In the 1990s, a deliberately fire in Sydney left 8 people dead. But how was it lit? How can forensics tell, and what information do they need to build a case for conviction?  Professor Peter Ellis is a veteran of forensics in Australia and has worked across a number of high profile criminal investigations. As well, he's worked overseas, in mass grave sites in Kosovo and mass disasters like the 2004 Boxing Day Tsunami.  In this episode of Crime Insiders: Forensics, understand Peter's career, and the toll this type of work takes as Kathryn Fox takes us through his career and his incredible work. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Leadership doesn't come from a position or title but from actions and reactions! Peter Baines has lead teams in crisis situations such as the Bali Bombings and the Boxing Day Tsunami.  Peter shares his leadership journey across these two events and how he connected and bought the best out in his teams under extraordinary circumstances.  In response to the needs of the children left without a home or parents post the Tsunami in Thailand he would form Hands Across the Water and commence fundraising in Australia to build them a home.  Peter shares with us his leadership insights, what it takes to lead in a crisis, how we can better manage corporate and employee giving.   See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Rebekah Giles is currently the director of Company Giles, a boutique law firm that specialises is reputational risk and sensitive legal disputes. Rebekah is also a survivor of the 2004 Boxing Day Tsunami. If you feel like voting for me for the 2023 Gold Logie, you can do so at https://www.tvweeklogies.com.au/ Stay up to date on more upcoming NTNNNNN shows by joining the mailing list here: Osher Günsberg - Better Than Yesterday Podcast | Linktree Anything else? Come visit us on discord. Join the oshergünsberg Discord Server! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Eco-Leadership Institute has recently entered into a partnership with the Humanitarian Leadership Academy with the purpose to re-enchant the sector. This podcast was recorded in the Save the Children London office as part of a workshop for international humanitarian staff. The aim was for Gareth to introduce Simon and his ideas on Eco-Leadership to those working in the humanitarian sector.  In this podcast, Simon shares his personal work journey, showing how his experience shaped the project of Eco-Leadership. Gareth and Simon then discuss the challenges in the humanitarian sector and they explore how the new partnership aims to meet these challenges with some new ideas that are already having an impact. The Eco-Mutualist manifesto below summarises some of this thinking. Enjoy the listen! Eco-Mutualism: A Manifesto for a New Age of Humanitarianism Bio Dr. Simon Western is the founder and CEO of the Eco-Leadership Institute, a leading academic and practitioner in coaching and leadership. He is the author of "Leadership: A Critical Text" (3rd ed., Sage 2019) and "Coaching and Mentoring: A Critical Text" (Sage 2012) plus many book chapters and journal articles.  He has also contributed to the development of a new paradigm in leadership through his work on Eco-Leadership. Dr Western is a Past President of the International Society for the Psychoanalytic Study of Organisations, previously adjunct Professor at University College Dublin, Director of Coaching at Lancaster University Management School, and Director of Masters in Consulting and Leadership at the Tavistock Clinic. Gareth Owen OBE is the Humanitarian Director of Save the Children UK. Over the last two decades, he has led responses to numerous emergencies all over the world including the Boxing Day Tsunami, Pakistan and Haiti earthquakes, Cyclone Nargis in Myanmar, East Africa and Niger food crises and the Somalia, Angola, Kosovo, Iraq, Afghanistan and Syria conflicts. Today, he leads a team of 190+ humanitarian professionals and in June 2013 he was awarded the OBE for ‘For services to Emergency Crisis Response Abroad'.

On this episode of the In This Together Podcast, Maia sits down with her new friend Riley Kehoe to discuss all things COURAGE! Riley Kehoe is a writer, speaker, and non-profit leader who uses her platform to equip and inspire young girls throughout the country. Riley shares her personal testimony on how she faced a near death experience in the Boxing Day Tsunami and how she overcame her fear that resulted from living through such a tragic event. She shares how her parents were an incredible encouragement to her facing her fears and to her living a life full of adventure. Through her personal experience, Riley shares her wisdom on how to acknowledge fear and live an authentic, JOY-FILLED life! Rather than just ignoring fears, she explains how it's important to acknowledge them to truly overcome them. And even talks on what to do when those fears are triggered. Courage is something most of us are all in search for a little more of in our lives. Riley explains what courage is and how to have it in everyday life. We hope you join in this genuine conversation and that it emboldens you with courage! A great reminder that we need to be in this together. “The gift of a near death experience is that you realize how precious life is” If you want to learn more about Riley Kehoe and her platform, click HERE for more information! Want to know more about MM DESIGNS? Click HERE for our instagram! Click HERE for our Podcast Instagram! Click HERE for Maia Mae's Instagram!

Fred discusses the Boxing Day Tsunami, which caused horrific loss of life and property along the coast of the Indian Ocean on this day in 2004. www.rockysealemusic.com https://rockysealemusic.com/wow-i-didn-t-know-that-or-maybe-i-just-forgot https://www.facebook.com/150wordspodcast --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/rocky-seale7/message

Please check out our website: www.heart2heartwalk.org which contains links to handy links. If you need support: click on the Support Directory link on the main page.This is not a sugar coated account of life in the emergency services, and listener discretion is advised._______________________Bruce Cameron AFSM.  Recently retired as a Superintendent with Fire Rescue NSW after an amazing 42 year career.This is the first of our special edition 'Hot Debrief' episodes, where we talk to Bruce about his career, family and life through the Hot Debrief, or Hot Wash mantra:1. What worked well;2. What didn't go so well; and 3. What would you do differently if you could give your 18 year old self some advice.Bruce talks about starting out in 1980 with (the then) NSW Fire Brigades as a Retained Fire Fighter at Glenbrook in the Blue Mountains of NSW and working through the ranks while specialising in all things rescue.  Bruce's career saw him do multiple international and interstate deployments for both training and emergency responses.  Bruce is a highly decorated career firefighter, who has given everything he could during his amazing career, so listen on to hear this story.DEPLOYMENTS - Incidents Base of Operations Commander Northern Rivers Floods (Lismore) 2022.Strike Team Leader, Northern Rivers Floods 2020.Strike Team Leader, NSW bush fire season. Numerous locations. 2019/20.Team Leader, NSW Field Hospital - South Coast bushfires (Batemans Bay) 2019.Safety Advisor, Tasmania bushfires. North West Coast 2019.Strike Team Leader, Northern NSW Floods, Rapid Damage Assessments, 2017.USAR Team Leader, Taskforce deployment to Christchurch Earthquake, NZ, 2011.Team Leader, Flood rescue deployment to Queensland 2011.NSWFB Team Leader, Banda Aceh Indonesia, Boxing Day Tsunami response 2004.Canberra Bushfires – Strike Team 2003.DEPLOYMENTS – Training and exercises USA as Deputy Task Force Leader, exercise Shaken Fury (Joint NSW & Qld.) 2019.United Nations (UN) Asia Pacific Disaster Exercise, Mongolia. 2014.United Nations (UN) USAR Classification for Oman, Middle East, USAR Team. (2012).Numerous Australia wide USAR training exercises and deployments.Bruce talks about the importance of balancing your professional/work pressures with healthy external pursuits, where Bruce is an accomplished author and historian, artist and rock climber.  Bruce also talks through the real toll working in the emergency services can have on you, and your family and the importance of continual self care.Bruce can be contacted via Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/bruce.cameron.9237Check out this video of Bruce, his career and his painting: YouTube LinkFollow the podcast on Instagram:  @h2hwalk.podcastFollow the podcast on Facebook: h2hwalk.podcastOur walk: www.heart2heartwalk.orgInstagram: @heart2heartwalk2023Facebook: Heart2HeartWalk2023#H2hwalk #triplezeroalliance #heart2heartwalk #firstresponderfamily #firstrespondermentalhealth#firstrespondersaustralia #firstresponder #firstresponderfamily #FirstResponderPTSD #firstrespondersuicide #ptsd

We're back for Season 4 and our first episode is a beauty as we talk life, leadership, and the law with one of Australia's most prominent female legal minds, Rebekah Giles. An accomplished litigator with specialist expertise in reputational risk and over 20 years' top tier experience in Australia and the United Kingdom, Rebekah has a diverse portfolio of non-executive directorships in government, sport, and private enterprise. She's an ambassador for the Fertility Research Clinic at the Royal Hospital for Women Foundation, a mother, and - miraculously - a survivor of the 2004 Boxing Day Tsunami. She's now also a successful startup founder, launching her private practice, Company (Giles), in 2019. Rebekah is on a roll. Honoured with an Award for Excellence from the Faculty of Law at UTS in 2017, in 2018, she was listed in the AFR's 100 Women of Influence (Boards and Management). Awards for Reputational Risk Lawyer of the Year by Global Law Experts followed in 2019, 2020 and 2021. A deep believer in the power of influence to affect positive change and the importance of giving back, her advice for success is simple. “Put your skills to use, volunteer in the community, find a passion outside your career to help broaden your experience…and in a world filled with KPIs, just diligently and passionately do your work.” Connect with Rebekah@ www.companygiles.com.au Follow the Influence Unlocked podcast on Instagram@ https://www.instagram.com/influenceunlockedpodcast/ Find out more about The PR Hub: https://www.theprhub.com.au/ Follow Samatha Dybac on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/samanthadybac/ Check out the Influence Unlocked podcast videos on YouTube here: https://bit.ly/3fq8dJ5 Producer:  http://www.piccolopodcasts.com.au/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Support our Sponsors! Stamps http://stamps.com enter code: MILEHIGHER | Credit Karma http://creditkarma.com | Stitch Fix http://stitchfix.com/milehigher | Liquid IV http://liquidiv.com enter code: MILEHIGHER Check out our vlog channel https://www.youtube.com/c/Kendaily Check out our other podcasts! The Sesh https://bit.ly/3Mtoz4X Lights Out https://bit.ly/3n3Gaoe Planet Sleep https://linktr.ee/planetsleep Higher Love Wellness Co https://higherlovewellness.com/ Get 10% Off by entering code: homies Higher Love Wellness IG: @higherlovewellnessco Higher Love Wellness TW: @higherlovecbd MHP Merch: http://milehighermerch.com Join our official FB group! https://bit.ly/3kQbAxg Join our Discord community, it's free! https://discord.gg/hZ356G9 MHP YouTube: http://bit.ly/2qaDWGf Are You Subscribed On Apple Podcast & Spotify?! Support MHP by leaving a rating or review on Apple Podcast :) https://apple.co/2H4kh58 MHP Topic Request Form: https://forms.gle/gUeTEzL9QEh4Hqz88 Merch designer application: https://forms.gle/ha2ErBnv1gK4rj2Y6 You can follow us on all the things: @milehigherpod Twitter: http://twitter.com/milehigherpod Instagram: http://instagram.com/milehigherpod YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/milehigherpodcast Hosts: Kendall: @kendallraeonyt IG: http://instagram.com/kendallraeonyt TW: https://twitter.com/kendallraeonyt YT: https://www.youtube.com/c/kendallsplace Josh: @milehigherjosh IG: http://instagram.com/milehigherjosh TW: https://twitter.com/milehigherjosh Producers: Janelle: @janelle_fields_ IG: https://www.instagram.com/janelle_fields_ TW: https://twitter.com/janelle_fields_ Joel: @milehigherjoel IG: https://www.instagram.com/milehigherjoel/ TW: https://twitter.com/milehigherjoel ✉ Send Us Mail & Fan Art ✉ Kendall Rae & Josh Thomas 8547 E Arapahoe Rd Ste J # 233 Greenwood Village, CO 80112 Music By: Mile Higher Boys YT: https://bit.ly/2Q7N5QO Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/0F4ikp62qjdIV6PMO0SlaQ Sources: https://pastebin.com/nFrnH4qV Welcome to the Mile Higher Podcast hosted by wife and husband duo Kendall Rae & Josh Thomas! Our show is focused on Crime & Conspiracies but we delve into many other topics including unexplained phenomena, metaphysics, futurism, ancient civilizations, and news stories the mainstream media doesn't cover. Our guests include experts in these topics as well as like-minded individuals who share our passion for uncovering the truth and exploring the mysteries of our universe. We never changed, we just woke up and so can you. Come chill with us every Monday and prepare to take your mind a mile higher!

Kicking off season three with Laura is Carmen Roberts, presenter on the BBC's The Travel Show, who takes us behind the cameras on some of her most memorable assignments.Born in Singapore, Carmen has since lived in Australia, Japan and the UK and visited more than 80 countries.  During the episode, she reminisces about some of her most memorable assignments with Laura, taking us from a bizarre tour bus in North Korea to a devastated Phuket in the wake of the Boxing Day Tsunami. Carmen also reflects on the assignment where everything went wrong in Peru, how a TV project in Scotland led her to some long lost family and what she's recently been up to in Chile.The True Travel Podcast -Instagram: @truetravelpodcastTwitter: @truetravelpodFacebook: The True Travel PodcastCarmen RobertsInstagram:  @carmenroberts_travels Twitter: @carmenlrobertsWebsite:  carmenlroberts.com Buzzsprout  is the #1 podcast hosting platform and made launching  the True Travel Podcast really easy.  As a subscriber, you get tons of guides, from finding the right equipment at the right price to growing your podcast organically; as well as detailed analytics to see how people are listening, tools to promote your episodes, and more.Start your free trial with Buzzsprout now.(Affiliate disclaimer: Following this link lets Buzzsprout know we sent you, gets you a $20 Amazon gift card if you sign up for a paid plan, and helps support the show).Buzzsprout is the #1 podcast hosting platform and made launching the True Travel Podcast really easy. As a subscriber, you get tons of guides, from finding the right equipment at the right price to growing your podcast organically; as well as detailed analytics to see how people are listening, tools to promote your episodes, and more.Start your free trial with Buzzsprout now.(Affiliate disclaimer: Following this link lets Buzzsprout know we sent you, gets you a $20 Amazon gift card if you sign up for a paid plan, and helps support the show).

Do you remember where you were when Lady Diana died? Michael Jackson, Steve Irwin, even Elvis Presley? What about horrible events like 9/11 or the Boxing Day Tsunami? And did you find as the news landed it hit you harder than you expected? Let's be honest, even if someone like any of these people’s death Listen In The post SLP 160: Self Love Quicky – Dealing With Our Grief Of Losing A Celebrity appeared first on The Wellness Couch.

Can you imagine how your perspective on life might shift if a beautiful holiday suddenly turned into fighting for life in the Boxing Day Tsunami? My guest Michelle Mills-Porter had an award-winning business which became the youngest in the UK to achieve Investors in People in the UK. Then that fateful day turned her world upside down. Over the coming weeks, months, and years as she healed from her experiences her understanding of what drives us, what is at the core of our essence and our ability to collaborate through adversity brought a new more elevated purpose and the transition into a greatly admired behavioural expert. Michelle today has built a whole suite of behavioural tools, and her ground-breaking work with organisational leaders and young people has led to major step changes in performance and the wisdom to help others more effectively navigate the world of work. Join us to hear a very powerful story and learn from insights that can help us to navigate our own personal journeys of change and turmoil whilst realising our own magnificence.

Can you imagine how your perspective on life might shift if a beautiful holiday suddenly turned into fighting for life in the Boxing Day Tsunami? My guest Michelle Mills-Porter had an award-winning business which became the youngest in the UK to achieve Investors in People in the UK. Then that fateful day turned her world upside down. Over the coming weeks, months, and years as she healed from her experiences her understanding of what drives us, what is at the core of our essence and our ability to collaborate through adversity brought a new more elevated purpose and the transition into a greatly admired behavioural expert. Michelle today has built a whole suite of behavioural tools, and her ground-breaking work with organisational leaders and young people has led to major step changes in performance and the wisdom to help others more effectively navigate the world of work. Join us to hear a very powerful story and learn from insights that can help us to navigate our own personal journeys of change and turmoil whilst realising our own magnificence.

In episode 3 of ASPI's special series ‘SBY's tears: From managing crisis to managing process in Australia-Indonesia relations since the fall of Suharto', Dr David Engel and Hillary Mansour speak to David Ritchie, Ambassador to Indonesia from 2002 until 2005. During his time as ambassador, David dealt with a number of crises, including the 2004 Boxing Day Tsunami, a terror attack on the Australian Embassy and the arrest of the Bali Nine. They discuss Australia-Indonesia cooperation and how the bilateral relationship changed over the course of his tenure as ambassador. Guests (in order of appearance): Dr David Engel: https://www.aspi.org.au/bio/david-engel Hillary Mansour: https://www.aspi.org.au/bio/hillary-mansour David Ritchie AO: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Ritchie_(diplomat) Background music: "Moonshiner" by Jacob Field Productions: https://soundcloud.com/jacobfieldpr/moonshiner-royalty-free-music

Lauren and Emily are back to discuss the events of December 10-January 10 throughout history: the Brown Dog Riots, the premieres of "Philadelphia" and "Gone with the Wind", the Boxing Day Tsunami, and lots from the Rec Room!(Music by Karl Casey @ White Bat Audio)

For bonuses and to support the show, sign up at www.patreon.com/themidnighttrainpodcast   This week is our Christmas special here on the train. First, we've covered Krampus, Christmas killings, and ghost story Christmas traditions. Then, in keeping with our tradition of crazy Christmas episodes, today, we bring you some crazy Christmas disasters! Christmas isn't immune to crazy shit going on, from natural disasters to fires. Not only that, we're giving you guys a pretty good dose of history today. So with that being said, let's get into some crazy Christmas stuff!   While this first topic isn't necessarily a disaster in the usual sense, it definitely caused nothing but problems. And yes, it's a disaster. In 1865 on Christmas Eve, something happened that would change things for many people in this country and still causes grief to this day. While most people in the u.s. were settling down for the night with their families, leaving milk out for Santa, and tucking the kids in for the night, a group of men in Pulaski, Tennessee, were getting together for a very different purpose. Frank McCord, Richard Reed, John Lester, John Kennedy, J. Calvin Jones, and James Crowe were all officers with the Confederacy in the civil war. That night, they got together to form a group inspired at least in part by the then largely defunct Sons of Malta. While it started as a social club, within months, it would turn into one of the most nefarious groups around, the Ku Klux Klan. According to The Cyclopædia of Fraternities (1907), "Beginning in April, 1867, there was a gradual transformation. ...The members had conjured up a veritable Frankenstein. They had played with an engine of power and mystery, though organized on entirely innocent lines, and found themselves overcome by a belief that something must lie behind it all – that there was, after all, a serious purpose, a work for the Klan to do." It borrowed parts of the initiation ceremony from the sons of Malta with the same purpose: "ludicrous initiations, the baffling of public curiosity, and the amusement for members were the only objects of the Klan," according to Albert Stevens in 1907. In the summer of 1867, local branches of the Klan met in a general organizing convention. They established what they called an "Invisible Empire of the South." Leading Confederate general Nathan Bedford Forrest was chosen as the first leader, or "grand wizard," of the Klan; he presided over a hierarchy of grand dragons, grand titans, and grand cyclops. The organization of the Ku Klux Klan coincided with the beginning of the second phase of post-Civil War Reconstruction, put into place by the more radical members of the Republican Party in Congress. After rejecting President Andrew Johnson's relatively lenient Reconstruction policies from 1865 to 1866, Congress passed the Reconstruction Act over the presidential veto. Under its provisions, the South was divided into five military districts. Each state was required to approve the 14th Amendment, which granted "equal protection" of the Constitution to formerly enslaved people and enacted universal male suffrage. From 1867 onward, Black participation in public life in the South became one of the most radical aspects of Reconstruction. Black people won elections to southern state governments and even the U.S. Congress. For its part, the Ku Klux Klan dedicated itself to an underground campaign of violence against Republican leaders and voters (both Black and white) to reverse the policies of Radical Reconstruction and restore white supremacy in the South. They were joined in this struggle by similar organizations such as the Knights of the White Camelia (launched in Louisiana in 1867) and the White Brotherhood. At least 10 percent of the Black legislators elected during the 1867-1868 constitutional conventions became victims of violence during Reconstruction, including seven who were killed. White Republicans (derided as "carpetbaggers" and "scalawags") and Black institutions such as schools and churches—symbols of Black autonomy—were also targets for Klan attacks. By 1870, the Ku Klux Klan had branches in nearly every southern state. The Klan did not boast a well-organized structure or clear leadership even at its height. Local Klan members, often wearing masks and dressed in the organization's signature long white robes and hoods, usually carried out their attacks at night. They acted on their own but supported the common goals of defeating Radical Reconstruction and restoring white supremacy in the South. Klan activity flourished particularly in the regions of the South where Black people were a minority or a slight majority of the population and were relatively limited in others. Among the most notorious zones of Klan activity was South Carolina, where in January 1871, 500 masked men attacked the Union county jail and lynched eight Black prisoners. Though Democratic leaders would later attribute Ku Klux Klan violence to poorer southern white people, the organization's membership crossed class lines, from small farmers and laborers to planters, lawyers, merchants, physicians, and ministers. In the regions where most Klan activity took place, local law enforcement officials either belonged to the Klan or declined to act against it. Even those who arrested Klansmen found it difficult to find witnesses willing to testify against them.    Other leading white citizens in the South declined to speak out against the group's actions, giving them implicit approval. After 1870, Republican state governments in the South turned to Congress for help, resulting in three Enforcement Acts, the strongest of which was the Ku Klux Klan Act of 1871.   For the first time, the Ku Klux Klan Act designated certain crimes committed by individuals as federal offenses, including conspiracies to deprive citizens of the right to hold office, serve on juries and enjoy the equal protection of the law. In addition, the act authorized the president to suspend the habeas corpus, arrest accused individuals without charge, and send federal forces to suppress Klan violence. For those of us dummies that may not know, a "writ of habeas corpus" (which literally means to "produce the body") is a court order demanding that a public official (such as a warden) deliver an imprisoned individual to the court and show a valid reason for that person's detention. The procedure provides a means for prison inmates or others acting on their behalf to dispute the legal basis for confinement.   This expansion of federal authority–which Ulysses S. Grant promptly used in 1871 to crush Klan activity in South Carolina and other areas of the South–outraged Democrats and even alarmed many Republicans. From the early 1870s onward, white supremacy gradually reasserted its hold on the South as support for Reconstruction waned; by the end of 1876, the entire South was under Democratic control once again.   Now, this was just the first version of the Klan. A second version started up in the early 1900s and later on another revival which is the current iteration of the Klan. We're not going to go into the later versions of the Klan because well…. Fuck 'em! We've already given them too much air time! But… This most definitely qualifies as a Christmas disaster.   Next up, we have a couple natural disasters.    First up, Cyclone Tracy. Cyclone Tracy has been described as the most significant tropical cyclone in Australia's history, and it changed how we viewed the threat of tropical cyclones to northern Australia.   Five days before Christmas 1974, satellite images showed a tropical depression in the Arafura Sea, 700 kilometers (or almost 435 miles for us Americans) northeast of Darwin.   The following day the Tropical Cyclone Warning Center in Darwin warned that a cyclone had formed and gave it the name Tracy. Cyclone Tracy was moving southwest at this stage, but as it passed the northwest of Bathurst Island on December 23, it slowed down and changed course.   That night, it rounded Cape Fourcroy and began moving southeast, with Darwin directly in its path.   The first warning that Darwin was under threat came at 12:30 p.m. on Christmas Eve when a top-priority flash cyclone warning was issued advising people that Cyclone Tracy was expected to make landfall early Christmas morning.   Despite 12 hours' warning of the cyclone's impending arrival, it fell mainly on deaf ears.   Residents were complacent after a near-miss from Cyclone Selma a few weeks before and distracted by the festive season.   Indeed in the preceding decade, the Bureau of Meteorology had identified 25 cyclones in Northern Territory waters, but few had caused much damage. Severe Tropical Cyclone Tracy was a small but intense system at landfall.   The radius of the galeforce winds extended only 50 kilometers from the eye of the cyclone, making it one of the most miniature tropical cyclones on record, according to the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).   Records show that at least six tropical cyclones had severely impacted Darwin before Tracy.   The worst of these was in January 1897 when a "disastrous hurricane" nearly destroyed the settlement, and 28 people died.   However, unlike Tracy, it is thought this cyclone did not directly pass over Darwin.   And while Tracy was reported as a category four cyclone, some meteorologists today believe it may have been a category five shortly before it made landfall.   At midnight on Christmas Day, wind gusts greater than 100 kilometers or over 62 miles per hour began to be recorded.   The cyclone's center reached East Point at 3:15 a.m. and landed just north of Fannie Bay at 3:30 a.m.   Tracy was so strong it bent a railway signal tower in half.    The city was devastated by the cyclone. At least 90 percent of homes in Darwin were demolished or badly damaged. Forty-five vessels in the harbor were wrecked or damaged.   In addition to the 65 people who died, 145 were admitted to the hospital with serious injuries.   Vegetation was damaged up to 80 kilometers away from the coast, and Darwin felt eerily quiet due to the lack of insect and birdlife.   Within a week after the cyclone hit, more than 30,000 Darwin residents had been evacuated by air or road. That's more than two-thirds of the population at that time.   Cyclone Tracy remains one of Australia's most significant disasters.   As Murphy wrote 10 years after the cyclone: "The impact of Cyclone Tracy has reached far beyond the limits of Darwin itself. All along the tropical coasts of northern Australia and beyond a new cyclone awareness has emerged."   Merry fucking Christmas! Damn, that sucks. The information in this section came from an article on abc.net.au   Next up, we are going way back. The Christmas Flood of 1717 resulted from a northwesterly storm, which hit the coastal area of the Netherlands, Germany, and Scandinavia on Christmas night of 1717. During the night of Christmas, 1717, the coastal regions of the Netherlands, Germany, and Scandinavia were hit by a severe north-western storm. It is estimated that 14,000 people died. It was the worst flood for four centuries and the last significant flood to hit the north of the Netherlands.   In the countryside to the north of the Netherlands, the water level rose up to a few meters. The city of Groningen rose up to a few feet. In the province of Groningen, villages that were situated directly behind the dikes were nearly swept away. Action had to be taken against looters who robbed houses and farms under the fraudulent act of rescuing the flood victims. In total, the flood caused 2,276 casualties in Groningen. 1,455 homes were either destroyed or suffered extensive damage. Most livestock was lost.   The water also poured into Amsterdam and Haarlem and the areas around Dokkum and Stavoren. Over 150 people died in Friesland alone. In addition, large sections of Northern Holland were left underwater and the area around Zwolle and Kampen. In these areas, the flood only caused material damage. In Vlieland, however, the sea poured over the dunes, almost entirely sweeping away the already-damaged village of West-Vlieland.   We also found this report from a German website. It's been translated, so our apologies if it's wonky.    "According to tradition, several days before Christmas, it had blown strong and sustained from the southwest. Shortly after sunset on Christmas Eve, the wind suddenly turned from west to northwest and eased a little. The majority of the residents went to bed unconcerned, because currently was half moon and the next regular flood would not occur until 7 a.m. At the time when the tide was supposed to have been low for a long time, however, a drop in the water level could not be determined. Allegedly between 1 and 2 a.m. the storm began to revive violently accompanied by lightning and thunder. Between 3 and 4 o'clock in the morning the water reached the top of the dike. The current and waves caused the dike caps to break, so that the tide rolled over the dike into the flat land with a loud roar of thunder. Many only had time to save themselves in the dark on the floor under the roof. Most of the time there was not even time to take clothes, drinking water and some food with you. Numerous houses could not withstand the rising water and the current. In the higher and higher water and the increasing current, windows were Doors and entire walls dented. Allegedly the hurricane and the storm surge raged against the coast for three full days, so that it was not until December 28 that the water fell so far that one could come to the aid of one's neighbors with simply built "boats." In many places, the dykes had been razed to the ground, which meant that in lower-lying areas, every regular flood caused renewed flooding. At the places where the dykes were broken, deep valleys, some of which were large, formed. In many places where the dike is led around in a semi-arch, these walls, also known as pools or bracken, are still visible and testify to the force of the water. At that time, many people are said to have believed that the march was forever lost. In the low-lying areas, the water was later covered with ice floes, sometimes held up for months. Up until the summer months, bodies were said to have been found repeatedly during the clean-up work on the alluvial piles of straw and in the trenches. Many people who survived the flood later fell victim to so-called marching fever. New storm surges in the following years ruined the efforts for the first time to get the dike back into a defensible condition, and many houses, which were initially only damaged, have now been completely destroyed. Numerous small owners left the country so that the Hanover government even issued a ban on emigration."   Looks like the Netherlands got a proper Christmas fucking as well! Some towns were so severely destroyed that nothing was left, and they simply ceased to exist. Damn.    Cyclones and floods… What else does mother nature have for us? Well, how's about an earthquake! On Friday, December 26, 2003, at 5:26 a.m., Bam city in Southeastern Iran was jolted by an earthquake registering a 6.5 magnitude on the Richter scale. This was the result of the strike-slip motion of the Bam fault, which runs through this area. The earthquake's epicenter was determined to be approximately six miles southwest of the city. Three more significant aftershocks and many smaller aftershocks were also recorded, the last of which occurred over a month after the main earthquake. To date, official death tolls have 26,271 fatalities, 9000 injured, and 525 still missing. The city of Bam is one of Iran's most ancient cities, dating back to 224A.D. Latest reports and damage estimates are approaching the area of $1.9 billion. A United Nations report estimated that about 90% of the city's buildings were 60%-100% damaged, while the remaining buildings were between 30%-60% damaged. The crazy part about the whole thing… The quake only lasted for about 8 seconds.   Now I know what you're thinking… That's not Christmas… Well, there spanky, the night of the 25th, Christmas, people started to feel minor tremors that would preface the quake, so fuck you, it counts.   We have one more natural disaster for you guys, and this one most of you guys probably remember. And this one was another that started last Christmas night and rolled into the 26th, also known as boxing day. So we're talking about the Boxing Day Tsunami and the Indian ocean earthquake in 2004.    A 9.1-magnitude earthquake—one of the largest ever recorded—ripped through an undersea fault in the Indian Ocean, propelling a massive column of water toward unsuspecting shores. The Boxing Day tsunami would be the deadliest in recorded history, taking a staggering 230,000 lives in a matter of hours.   The city of Banda Aceh on the northern tip of Sumatra was closest to the powerful earthquake's epicenter, and the first waves arrived in just 20 minutes. It's nearly impossible to imagine the 100-foot roiling mountain of water that engulfed the coastal city of 320,000, instantly killing more than 100,000 men, women, and children. Buildings folded like houses of cards, trees, and cars were swept up in the oil-black rapids, and virtually no one caught in the deluge survived.   Thailand was next. With waves traveling 500 mph across the Indian Ocean, the tsunami hit the coastal provinces of Phang Nga and Phuket an hour and a half later. Despite the time-lapse, locals and tourists were utterly unaware of the imminent destruction. Curious beachgoers even wandered out among the oddly receding waves, only to be chased down by a churning wall of water. The death toll in Thailand was nearly 5,400, including 2,000 foreign tourists.   An hour later, on the opposite side of the Indian Ocean, the waves struck the southeastern coast of India near the city of Chennai, pushing debris-choked water kilometers inland and killing more than 10,000 people, primarily women and children, since many of the men were out fishing. But some of the worst devastations were reserved for the island nation of Sri Lanka, where more than 30,000 people were swept away by the waves and hundreds of thousands left homeless.   As proof of the record-breaking strength of the tsunami, the last victims of the Boxing Day disaster perished nearly eight hours later when swelling seas and rogue waves caught swimmers by surprise in South Africa, 5,000 miles from the quake's epicenter.   Vasily Titov is a tsunami researcher and forecaster with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Center for Tsunami Research. He credits the unsparing destructiveness of the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami on the raw power of the earthquake that spawned it. The quake originated in a so-called megathrust fault, where heavy oceanic plates subduct beneath lighter continental plates.    "They are the largest faults in the world and they're all underwater," says Titov.   The 2004 quake ruptured a 900-mile stretch along the Indian and Australian plates 31 miles below the ocean floor. Rather than delivering one violent jolt, the earthquake lasted an unrelenting 10 minutes, releasing as much pent-up power as several thousand atomic bombs.   In the process, massive segments of the ocean floor were forced an estimated 30 or 40 meters (up to 130 feet) upward. The effect was like dropping the world's most giant pebble in the Indian Ocean with ripples the size of mountains extending out in all directions.   Titov emphasizes that tsunamis look nothing like the giant surfing break-style waves that many imagine.   "It's a wave, but from the observer's standpoint, you wouldn't recognize it as a wave," Titov says. "It's more like the ocean turns into a white water river and floods everything in its path."   Once caught in the raging waters, the debris will finish the job if the currents don't pull you under.   "In earthquakes, a certain number of people die but many more are injured. It's completely reversed with tsunamis," says Titov. "Almost no injuries, because it's such a difficult disaster to survive."   Holy fuck… That's insane!   Well, there are some crazy natural disasters gifted to us by mother nature. So now let's take a look at some man-made disasters… And there are some bad ones.    First up is the 1953 train wreck on Christmas Eve in New Zealand. So this is actually a mix of mother nature fucking people and a man-made structure failing. This event is also referred to as the Tangiwai disaster. The weather on Christmas Eve was fine, and with little recent rain, no one suspected flooding in the Whangaehu River. The river appeared normal when a goods train crossed the bridge around 7 p.m. What transformed the situation was the sudden release of approximately 2 million cubic meters of water from the crater lake of nearby Mt Ruapehu. A 6-meter-high wave containing water, ice, mud, and rocks surged, tsunami-like, down the Whangaehu River. Sometime between 10.10 and 10.15 p.m., this lahar struck the concrete pylons of the Tangiwai railway bridge.   Traveling at approximately 65 km per hour, locomotive Ka 949 and its train of nine carriages and two vans reached the severely weakened bridge at 10.21 p.m. As the bridge buckled beneath its weight, the engine plunged into the river, taking all five second-class carriages with it. The torrent force destroyed four of these carriages – those inside had little chance of survival.   The leading first-class carriage, Car Z, teetered on the edge of the ruined bridge for a few minutes before breaking free from the remaining three carriages and toppling into the river. It rolled downstream before coming to rest on a bank as the water level fell. Remarkably, 21 of the 22 passengers in this carriage survived. Evidence suggested that the locomotive driver, Charles Parker, had applied the emergency brakes some 200 m from the bridge, which prevented the last three carriages from ending up in the river and saved many lives. Even still, 151 of the 285 passengers and crew died that night in the crash.   This information was taken from nzhistory.gov.    Next up is the Italian Hall disaster.    Before it was called Calumet, the area was known as Red Jacket. And for many, it seemed to be ground zero for the sprawling copper mining operations that absorbed wave after wave of immigrants into the Upper Peninsula.   Red Jacket itself was a company town for the Calumet and Hecla Mining Company, a large firm that in the 1870s was known as the world's largest copper producer. For a time, C&H had the world's deepest copper mines.   But the company wasn't immune from the organized labor push that swept across the Keweenaw Peninsula and other parts of the U.P. in 1913. Miners in Montana and Colorado had unionized, and in July of that year, the Western Federation of Miners called a strike against all Copper Country mines. According to a mining journal published that year, they were pushing for a $3 daily wage, 8-hour days, safer working conditions, and representation.   "The strike took place in a very complicated time in American history," said Jo Holt, a historian with the National Park Service's Keweenaw National Historical Park. "We had all these different things coming together. An increasingly industrialized country was grappling with worker's rights, gender issues, and immigration. We were moving from a gilded age into a progressive era, and recognizing the voice of labor.   "We see this event happen in the midst of that struggle."   "The reason it resonates today is we are still having these conversations. How do we create a just economy that functions for everybody? ... We are still, almost hundred and 10 years later, in the midst of these conversations."   As the strike wore into fall and the holiday season, a women's auxiliary group to the WFM organized a Christmas Eve party for the miners' families at the Italian Benevolent Society building, better known as the Italian Hall.   It was a big, boisterous affair, researchers have said. The multi-story hall was packed, with more than 600 people inside at one point. Children were watching a play and receiving gifts. Organizers later said the crowd was so large that it was hard to track who was coming in the door.   When the false cry of "Fire!" went up, pandemonium reached the sole stairway leading down to the street.   "What happened is when people panicked, they tried to get out through the stairwell," Holt said. "Someone tripped or people started to fall, and that's what created the bottleneck. It was just people falling on top of each other."   The aftermath was horrifying. As the dead were pulled from the pile in the stairwell, the bodies were carried to the town hall, which turned into a makeshift morgue. Some families lost more than one child. Other children were orphaned when their parents died.   One black and white photo in the Michigan Technological University Archives shows rows of what looks like sleeping children lying side-by-side. Their eyes are closed. Their faces were unmarred. The caption reads: "Christmas Eve in the Morgue."   After the dead were buried, some families moved away. Others stayed and kept supporting the strike, which ended the following spring.   Rumors emerged later that the Italian Hall's doors were designed to open inward, preventing the panicked crowd from pushing them outward to the street. Those were debunked, along with the suggestion in Woody Guthrie's "1913 Massacre" song that mining company thugs were holding the doors shut from the outside that night.   Damn… Mostly kids. On Christmas. That's a tough one.   Here's another touchy one. A race riot erupted in Mayfield, Kentucky, just before Christmas 1896. Although slavery in the U.S. ended after the Civil War, the Reconstruction period and beyond was a dangerous time to be black. Things were awful for non-whites in the former Confederacy, amongst which Kentucky was especially bad for racial violence. In December 1896, white vigilantes lynched two black men within 24 hours of each other between the 21st and 22nd, one for a minor disagreement with a white man and the other, Jim Stone, for alleged rape. A note attached to Stone's swinging corpse warned black residents to get out of town.   In response to this unambiguous threat, the local African-American population armed themselves. Rumors spread amongst the town's white people that 250 men were marching on the city, and a state of emergency was called. The whites mobilized, black stores were vandalized, and fighting broke out between the two sides on December 23. In the event, three people were killed, including Will Suet, a black teenager who had just got off the train to spend Christmas with his family. It was all over on Christmas Eve, and a few days later, an uneasy truce between the races was called.   Ugh! Y'all know what time it is? That's right, it's time for some quick hitters.   Many of us enjoy the Christmas period by going to the theatre or watching a movie. In December 1903, Chicago residents were eager to do just that at the brand-new Iroquois Theatre, which had been officially opened only in October that year. 1700 people in all crammed themselves in to see the zany, family-friendly musical comedy, Mr. Bluebeard. But just as the wait was over and the show started, a single spark from a stage light lit the surrounding drapery. The show's star, Eddie Foy, tried to keep things together as Iroquois employees struggled to put the curtains out in vain.   However, even the spectacle of a Windy City-native in drag couldn't stop the terrified crowd stampeding for the few exits. These, preposterously, were concealed by curtains and utterly inadequate in number. When the actors opened their own exit door to escape, a gust of wind sent a fireball through the crowded theatre, meaning that hundreds died before the fire service was even called. 585 people died, either suffocated, burned alive, or crushed. The scene was described in a 1904 account as "worse than that pictured in the mind of Dante in his vision of the inferno". Next up, the politics behind this ghastly event are pretty complicated – one Mexican lecturer described the massacre as "the most complicated case in Mexico" – but here's an inadequate summary. The small and impoverished village of Acteal, Mexico, was home to Las Abejas (the bees'), a religious collective that sympathized with a rebel group opposing the Mexican government. Thus, on December 22, 1997, members of the then-ruling Institutional Revolutionary Party crept down the steep hill slopes above the village. They chose their moment to attack carefully as people gathered at a prayer meeting when they finally slunk into Acteal.   Over the next few hours, assassins armed with guns executed 45 innocent people in cold blood. Amongst the dead were 21 women, some of whom were pregnant, and 15 children. Worst of all, investigations into this cowardly act seem to implicate the government itself. Soldiers garrisoned nearby did not intervene, despite being within earshot of the gunfire and horrified screams. In addition, there was evidence of the crime scene being tampered with by local police and government officials. Though some people have been convicted, there are suspicions that they were framed and that the real culprits remain at large.   -Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house, not a creature was stirring… except the Soviet Union. The Marxist-Leninist Khalq and Parcham parties had ousted the Afghan president in April 1978. Still, communism was so unpopular in Afghanistan that the mujahideen succeeded in toppling them just over a year later. So Khalq and Parcham turned to the Soviet Union for help, and on Christmas Eve that year, they obliged by sending 30,000 troops across the border into Afghanistan by the cover of darkness. Bloody fighting ensued, and soon the Soviet Union had control of the major cities.   The Soviets stayed for nine years, at which time the mujahideen, backed by foreign support and weapons, waged a brutal guerrilla campaign against the invaders. In turn, captured mujahideen were executed, and entire villages and agricultural areas were razed to the ground. When the Soviets finally withdrew in February 1989, over 1 million civilians and almost 125,000 soldiers from both sides were killed. From the turmoil after the Afghan-Soviet War emerged, the Taliban, installed by neighboring Pakistan, and with them Osama bin Laden. This indeed was a black Christmas for the world.   -How about another race riot… No? Well, here you go anyway. Although, this one may be more fucked up. The Agana Race Riot saw black and white US Marines fight it out from Christmas Eve to Boxing Day, 1944. Guam was host to both black and white US Marines in 1944. But instead of fighting the enemy, the white troops elected to turn on the all-black Marine 25th Depot Company. First, the white Marines would stop their fellow soldiers from entering Agana, pelt them with rocks, and shout racist obscenities at them. Then, on Christmas Eve 1944, 9 members of the 25th on official leave were seen talking to local women, and white Marines opened fire on them. Then, on Christmas Day, 2 black soldiers were shot dead by drunken white Marines in separate incidents.   Guam's white Marines were decidedly short on festive cheer and goodwill to all men. Not content with these murders, a white mob attacked an African-American depot on Boxing Day, and a white soldier sustained an injury when the 25th returned fire. Sick of their treatment by their fellow soldiers, 40 black Marines gave chase to the retreating mob in a jeep, but further violence was prevented by a roadblock. Can you guess what happened next? Yep, the black soldiers were charged with unlawful assembly, rioting, and attempted murder, while the white soldiers were left to nurse their aching heads.   One more major one for you guys, and then we'll leave on a kind of happier note. This one's kind of rough. Be warned.    In late December 2008 and into January 2009, the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) brutally killed more than 865 civilians and abducted at least 160 children in the northern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). LRA combatants hacked their victims to death with machetes or axes or crushed their skulls with clubs and heavy sticks. In some of the places where they attacked, few were left alive.   The worst attacks happened 48 hours over Christmas in locations some 160 miles apart in the Daruma, Duru, and Faradje areas of the Haut-Uele district of northern Congo. The LRA waited until the time of Christmas festivities on December 24 and 25 to carry out their devastating attacks, apparently choosing a moment when they would find the maximum number of people altogether. The killings occurred in the Congo and parts of southern Sudan, where similar weapons and tactics were used.   The Christmas massacres in Congo are part of a longstanding practice of horrific atrocities and abuse by the LRA. Before shifting its operations to the Congo in 2006, the LRA was based in Uganda and southern Sudan, where LRA combatants also killed, raped, and abducted thousands of civilians. When the LRA moved to Congo, its combatants initially refrained from targeting Congolese people. Still, in September 2008, the LRA began its first wave of attacks, apparently to punish local communities who had helped LRA defectors to escape. The first wave of attacks in September, together with the Christmas massacres, has led to the deaths of over 1,033 civilians and the abduction of at least 476 children.   LRA killings have not stopped since the Christmas massacres. Human Rights Watch receives regular reports of murders and abductions by the LRA, keeping civilians living in terror. According to the United Nations, over 140,000 people have fled their homes since late December 2008 to seek safety elsewhere. New attacks and the flight of civilians are reported weekly. People are frightened to gather together in some areas, believing that the LRA may choose these moments to strike, as they did with such devastating efficiency over Christmas.   Even by LRA standards, the Christmas massacres in the Congo were ruthless. LRA combatants struck quickly and quietly, surrounding their victims as they ate their Christmas meal in Batande village or gathered for a Christmas day concert in Faradje. In Mabando village, the LRA sought to maximize the death toll by luring their victims to a central place, playing the radio, and forcing their victims to sing songs and call for others to come to join the party. In most attacks, they tied up their victims, stripped them of their clothes, raped the women and girls, and then killed their victims by crushing their skulls. In two cases, the attackers tried to kill three-year-old toddlers by twisting off their heads. The few villagers who survived often did so because their assailants thought they were dead.   Yeah...so there's that. We could go much deeper into this incident, but we think you get the point.    We'll leave you with a story that is pretty bizarre when you stop and think about it. But we'll leave you with this story of an unlikely Christmas get-together. This is the story of the Christmas truce.    British machine gunner Bruce Bairnsfather, later a prominent cartoonist, wrote about it in his memoirs. Like most of his fellow infantrymen of the 1st Battalion of the Royal Warwickshire Regiment, he was spending the holiday eve shivering in the muck, trying to keep warm. He had spent a good part of the past few months fighting the Germans. And now, in a part of Belgium called Bois de Ploegsteert, he was crouched in a trench that stretched just three feet deep by three feet wide, his days and nights marked by an endless cycle of sleeplessness and fear, stale biscuits and cigarettes too wet to light.   "Here I was, in this horrible clay cavity," Bairnsfather wrote, "…miles and miles from home. Cold, wet through and covered with mud." There didn't "seem the slightest chance of leaving—except in an ambulance."   At about 10 p.m., Bairnsfather noticed a noise. "I listened," he recalled. "Away across the field, among the dark shadows beyond, I could hear the murmur of voices." He turned to a fellow soldier in his trench and said, "Do you hear the Boches [Germans] kicking up that racket over there?"   Yes," came the reply. "They've been at it some time!"   The Germans were singing carols, as it was Christmas Eve. In the darkness, some of the British soldiers began to sing back. "Suddenly," Bairnsfather recalled, "we heard a confused shouting from the other side. We all stopped to listen. The shout came again." The voice was from an enemy soldier, speaking in English with a strong German accent. He was saying, "Come over here."   One of the British sergeants answered: "You come half-way. I come half-way."   In the years to come, what happened next would stun the world and make history. Enemy soldiers began to climb nervously out of their trenches and meet in the barbed-wire-filled "No Man's Land" that separated the armies. Typically, the British and Germans communicated across No Man's Land with streaking bullets, with only occasional gentlemanly allowances to collect the dead unmolested. But now, there were handshakes and words of kindness. The soldiers traded songs, tobacco, and wine, joining in a spontaneous holiday party in the cold night. Bairnsfather could not believe his eyes. "Here they were—the actual, practical soldiers of the German army. There was not an atom of hate on either side."   And it wasn't confined to that one battlefield. Starting on Christmas Eve, small pockets of French, German, Belgian, and British troops held impromptu cease-fires across the Western Front, with reports of some on the Eastern Front as well. Some accounts suggest a few of these unofficial truces remained in effect for days.   Descriptions of the Christmas Truce appear in numerous diaries and letters of the time. One British soldier, a rifleman, named J. Reading, wrote a letter home to his wife describing his holiday experience in 1914: "My company happened to be in the firing line on Christmas eve, and it was my turn…to go into a ruined house and remain there until 6:30 on Christmas morning. During the early part of the morning the Germans started singing and shouting, all in good English. They shouted out: 'Are you the Rifle Brigade; have you a spare bottle; if so we will come halfway and you come the other half.'"   "Later on in the day they came towards us," Reading described. "And our chaps went out to meet them…I shook hands with some of them, and they gave us cigarettes and cigars. We did not fire that day, and everything was so quiet it seemed like a dream."   Another British soldier, named John Ferguson, recalled it this way: "Here we were laughing and chatting to men whom only a few hours before we were trying to kill!"   Other diaries and letters describe German soldiers using candles to light Christmas trees around their trenches. One German infantryman described how a British soldier set up a makeshift barbershop, charging Germans a few cigarettes each for a haircut. Other accounts describe vivid scenes of men helping enemy soldiers collect their dead, of which there was plenty.   One British fighter named Ernie Williams later described in an interview his recollection of some makeshift soccer play on what turned out to be an icy pitch: "The ball appeared from somewhere, I don't know where... They made up some goals and one fellow went in goal and then it was just a general kick-about. I should think there were about a couple of hundred taking part."   German Lieutenant Kurt Zehmisch of the 134 Saxons Infantry, a schoolteacher who spoke both English and German, described a pick-up soccer game in his diary, which was discovered in an attic near Leipzig in 1999, written in an archaic German form of shorthand. "Eventually the English brought a soccer ball from their trenches, and pretty soon, a lively game ensued," he wrote. "How marvelously wonderful, yet how strange it was. The English officers felt the same way about it. Thus Christmas, the celebration of Love, managed to bring mortal enemies together as friends for a time."   So much more can be said about this event, but that seems like an excellent place to leave off this Christmas episode! And yes, when you really do stop and think about it… That's a pretty crazy yet fantastic thing.   Greatest disaster movies of all time   https://www.ranker.com/crowdranked-list/the-greatest-disaster-movies-of-all-time

On Tuesday, the 28th of September, my memoir Personal Effects – What Recovering The Dead Teaches Me About Caring For The Living, was released by Macmillan / St Martin's Press. After spending most of my adult life responding to major disasters, both in the military and as a civilian I am switching gears and focusing on sharing the lessons learned. This book is part of that process.  It is my second book; my first was published in 1999 and is a forensic textbook. I have tried to approach writing and speaking for that matter as a storyteller – transporting the reader to different places, times, and experiences, bringing to life the events I have seen firsthand. With the goal of highlighting key lessons, I have observed — in leadership, crisis management, and transitioning through life-changing events to a new normal. These disasters included OKC Bombing, Bali Bombings, Boxing Day Tsunami, 2010 Haitian Earthquake, Grenfell Tower Fire, 911 attacks, and sadly so many others. I have also written an op-ed for USA today, as well as different pieces for other publications. Along with those, there are a series of print/audio/tv interviews. If you want to see those or what I am writing about they are here on this website under media.

Welcome to the Financial Secrets Revealed podcast episode where Amanda Cassar introduces Peter Baines, a global speaker, charity founder, consultant and author.Amanda first heard Peter speak at a conference many years ago, introducing how we went from forensic cop working the aftermath of the Boxing Day Tsunami to starting the charity Hands Across the Water, supporting orphans in Thailand.Over the years, their paths crossed distantly as friends became more involved and participated in the 800km bike treks through Thailand raising money for the children; until Amanda won a trip to the Thailand with Hands, assisting with demolishing a home in the Khlong Toey slums, ready for rebuilding by locals and helping out in the homes for the children with pet projects required. Peter has experienced firsthand some of the world's largest disasters and crisis scenarios; shares how he navigated his own personal dramas and what his view of money enables him to accomplish today, not just for his immediate family; but for those in need as well.“Work hard, invest, take advice but, above all of that, make the time and space to enjoy what you're creating around your wealth.” – Peter Baines.LinksHands Across the Water : Home  (Company Website)  DONATIONS WELCOME!PETER BAINES (Speaking Website)Peter Baines OAM | LinkedIn (LinkedIn profile)(20+) Hands Across The Water | Facebook (The Hands Group Facebook page)Offer Purchase your copy of Financial Secrets Revealed on Amazon: Financial Secrets Revealed: Cassar, Amanda: Amazon.com.au: BooksPurchase your copy of the book on Booktopia:Financial Secrets Revealed, Collective Wisdom from Business Gurus, Financial Geniuses and Everyday Heroes by Amanda Cassar | 9781925648546 | BooktopiaPurchase your copy of the book on Barnes & Noble:Financial Secrets Revealed by Amanda Cassar, Paperback | Barnes & Noble® (barnesandnoble.com)Follow Catch up with Amanda Cassar, host of Financial Secrets Revealed on Twitter and Instagram @financechicks or on LinkedIn at Amanda Cassar | LinkedInWebsites: https://amandacassar.com.au/ https://www.wealthplanningpartners.com.au/ (company website)https://trustedagedcare.com.au/ (company website) Or you can find Peter Baines and the Hands Group on Twitter at @peter_baines and @HATWAustraliaSupport the show

Multi-Hazard early warning systems for potential disasters can mean the difference between life and death for local residents. Dr. Bapon Fakhruddin, an expert who has been involved with implementing these early warning systems in more than 25 countries, is on the Multi-Hazards podcast today to tell us all about it. This is an essential part of reducing disaster risk, adapting to climate change and ultimately keeping communities safe. Have a listen! Study Guide here (on left where it says "PDF"): Topics include: * Why has Bangladesh been important in the Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) field? * How did Dr. Bapon Fakhruddin get involved in DRR? * Why should Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) and Climate Change Adaptation (CCA) be "merged" in many ways? * What's the global risk assessment framework (GRAF)? * Emergency or early warning systems in Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR): What are these? And why are they so complex? * What does "multi-hazards" mean? How do multi-hazards relate to warning systems? * What is the Sendai Framework and what's its recommendation of "people-centred multi-hazards early warning systems? * What are the eras of early warning system development? * What are early warning systems connection to the military? * What's the newest definition of "hazard" from the United Nations Disaster Risk Reduction office and the International Science Council? * What does the 1981 punk song by The Clash "Should I Stay Or Should I Go?" have to do with early warning systems? * Risk communication: What's this in a nutshell? And how does this relate to emergency warning systems? * Why are tsunami warning systems so expensive? * After an earthquake, how many minutes will it take before a tsunami comes? * Why is "indigenous knowledge" so important for Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) and science in general? * Why does Dr. Bapon Fakhruddin appreciate indigenous cultures so much? * Why are people sometimes reluctant to heed early warning signals? * Why is trust in authorities a big factor for early warning signals and risk communication? Dr. Bapon Fakhruddin's Bio: Dr. Fakhruddin is an expert climate change risk assessor with 19 years' global experience in working on disaster risk and climate resilience projects. This experience is a major advantage in climate change adaptation and mitigation strategy development. His key areas of expertise are climate and multi-hazard risk assessment, disaster preparedness, early warning and emergency response and coastal community resilience. He has designed climate change and disaster response projects in more than 25 countries in Asia and the Pacific. During his career, Dr. Fakhruddin helped to design major international multi-hazard early warning systems for floods, cyclones and tsunamis to save lives and stop property damage. His most high profile work has been developing multi-hazard warning systems including a tsunami warning system for Indian Ocean countries following the deadliest one in history - the 2004 Boxing Day Tsunami. Dr. Fakhruddin was appointed by the Government of New Zealand to develop a national climate change risk assessment framework. Dr. Fakhruddin graduated in civil engineering and has a Masters' in Water Engineering and Management from AIT, Thailand. He has a PGD in Integrated Water Resource Management from Canada's United Nations University and a PhD in Water Engineering and Management from Italy's Politecnico di Milano. He is a certified Instructor of Incident Command System (ICS) for disaster response from United States Forest Service (USFS). Dr. Fakhruddin is currently working as a mentor and supervisor for postgraduate study in disaster risk management in University of Auckland (UoA). He is a Steering Group of the Global Risk Assessment Framework (GRAF) of UNDRR. Co-Chair for the Disaster Loss DATA and Risk Interpretation and Applications (RIA) Working Group of IRDR of ISC/UNDRR. He is also Co-Chair CODATA task group FAIR Data for Disaster Risk Research. Bio is from LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bapon/ Intro: "Ten Inch Spikes" by Jeremy Korpas on Youtube Audio Library Outro: "Caribbean Hide & Seek" by Carmen María and Edu Espinal on Youtube Audio Library Episode Photos: Tsunami Warning System Electronic sirens: Photo by Telegrafia on Wikimedia Fijian woman: Photo by Giorgia Doglioni on Unsplash Children Playing: Photo by Sasin Tipchai on Pixabay Coastline: Photo by Damon Hall from Pexels Bamfield Tsunami Hazard Zone sign: Photo by Mimigu on Wikimedia Child at Comunidad Wiwinik, Nicaragua: Photo by David Viñuales on Flickr

In this episode of Get Good® At Presenting The Podcast - speaker and presentation coach Lee Jackson https://leejackson.org/ interviews keynote speaker, tsunami survivor and people reader Michelle Mills Porter (aka MMP). Lee and Michelle talk good and bad storytelling, reading audiences and a lot more in this honest and inspiring interview. Michelle's story is amazing.   Lee's guest:  MMP - Michelle Mills Porter is an award-winning Speaker, Author, Master Behaviour Profiler and one of the Top Recommended People on LinkedIn, where she received Platinum Status. She is a multi-award-winning business owner and creator of “The People Reader – the bulletproof system for winning new clients.” Her first business was achieving huge success and making a mark in the industry as the only marketing company in history to be paid on results alone. Winning award after award and enjoying a queue of clients waiting to get onto her books, Michelle decided to celebrate with a couple of exotic holidays and found herself in the middle of the Boxing Day Tsunami. You can find her at https://mmp.uk.com/ 

On this week's podcast I speak with Peter Baines OAM. Peter started his career as a police officer in the streets of Cabramatta in the late eighties. Becoming a specialist in forensic crime scene investigations, he was called upon to bring his skills to the Bali bombings in 2002. But it was the 2004 Boxing Day tsunami that forever changed the direction of his life.In response to the needs of children were left without a home from the Tsunami in Thailand, Peter left his job as a forensic Police officer and founded the charity Hands Across The Water. Now 15 years on, Peter has raised over $20 million dollars to help disadvantaged children in Thailand.Peter is now known as a global speaker, charity founder and business consultant. He imparts many lessons and his wisdom, kindness and charitable efforts are something everyone should take the time to listen to.

How well are you communicating with others? For Michelle Mills-Porter, she was already an expert in communication, specializing in non-visual and non-verbal communication. But when she found herself in the middle of one of the biggest natural disasters in history, the Boxing Day Tsunami in 2004, with little time to think, it opened her eyes to discover the magnificence in humanity. She witnessed the power of true motivation and the limitless possibility of collaboration. In a digital age, we are overwhelmed with so many ways to connect. But with all these options, are we really doing it in a way that unleashes our true potential to connect with others? And do we have to wait until we face adversity to make a change? Through Michelle's own recovery, she worked to capture what she learned, eventually creating a suite of analysis tools that unleashes people power to help you to uncover your magnificence. Join the conversation when this speaker, trainer, author and a leading light in the neuroscience of human behavior shares her story and infinite possibilities with host Hilary Russo. Michelle is also offering a free essence analysis to HIListically Speaking listeners. Connect with her at www.mmp.uk.com. If you’ve turned your mess into your message, your trauma into your triumph and want to share it on The HIListically Speaking Podcast with Hilary Russo, let us know. You can get in touch with us here:  https://www.hilaryrusso.com/guestformpodcast Interested in working with Hilary personally on your health and wellness journey? Just set up a free Discovery Call and put the power of emotional healing in your own hands.  Be the first to know about future guests, upcoming episodes, giveaways and speaking engagements/events and join the Thrive Hive:  www.hilaryrusso.com/podcast HIListically Speaking with Hilary Russo Created/Hosted by Hilary Russo. Produced by Alan Seales Music by Lipbone Redding Connect with Hilary Join The Thrive Hive Instagram: @HilaryRusso Twitter: @HilaryRusso  Facebook: @HilaryRusso Website: www.hilaryrusso.com Connect with Alan Seales Listen to Lipbone

Most dentists are familiar with the vast variety of disciplines and specialities that exist within our profession. However, one less known speciality is that of Forensic Dentistry. We are joined today by Dr. Jeremy Graham who will take us through his journey as a Forensic Dentist. You'll hear some incredible stories about his involvement in the 2004 Boxing Day Tsunami, Black Saturday Bushfires, and the MH17 disaster. His reflections on these events are certainly inspiring and it's amazing to see the ways in which our profession can contribute to a greater cause. This is Season 2 Episode 3.0:00 Intro and Backstory06:15 Forensic Dentistry 07:50 A Day at the Coroner's Court15:05 How a 3 day course turned into a career change 16:50 Boxing Day Tsunami, Black Saturday Bushfires, MH1742:10 Reflections on the challenges and rewards of doing work for the families46:30 Reflections on Teaching and LecturingThank you Jeremy for joining us on the show!

On December 26th 2004, Maria Belón and her family were on vacation in Khao Lak, Thailand. Their picture perfect trip would soon turn into a nightmare when they were struck by a wave that reached over 100 ft high. While the waves that had consumed entire buildings engulfed them, the Belón family fought to stay alive and find their way back to each other. 

On 26th December 2004 at 7:58:53am an earthquake measuring 9.1 on the richter scale struck 80 miles off the north coast of Sumatra. In the coming minutes and hours it generated a Tsunami that destroyed the coastline of 11 countries and killed 228,000 people. With no early warning system in place, most people carried on totally unaware of what was to come. Facebook/Instagram @robotsforeyespodcast Twitter @robotsforeyes podbelly.com elyucateco.com retrovague.com Code robots for 10% off    

Stumbling across a dead body is the stuff of nightmares. For Mo Oliver, it’s all in a day's work. That’s because Mo Oliver identifies human remains for a living. It’s a job that’s taken him to some very dark places; from mass graves in Bosnia to Sri Lankan beaches clogged with the bodies of the Boxing Day Tsunami. We talk about the challenges of his work and how it feels to reunite the lost with the living.

Today we are talking about the Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami. On December 26th, 2004, a massive underwater earthquake triggered a tsunami, quickly becoming one of the most deadly natural disasters in modern history. Instagram: disastrouspodcastTwitter: disastrouspodCWebsite: disastrouspodcast.com

Sharon Mascall-Dare interviews Timor, Indonesia and Middle East veteran, Phillip Condoleon. Life on the Line tracks down Australian military veterans and records their stories. Sergeant Phillip Condoleon is currently serving in the Australian Army in the 1st Psychology Unit. He enlisted in the Royal Australian Infantry in 1994 as a reservist and became full-time in 1999. Phillip deployed to Timor in 2000 as a rifleman. He spent time as a Linguist, including a deployment to Indonesia after the 2004 Boxing Day Tsunami. In 2008, he became an Examiner Psychological, and is currently deployed to the Middle East with Joint Task Force 633 in this capacity. He spoke to Sharon Mascall-Dare about his deployment experiences, family and psychology work in the ADF.  To see photos related to today's interview, visit our website - www.lifeonthelinepodcast.com - or follow us on social media: @lifeonthelinepodcast on Facebook and Instagram, and @LOTLpod on Twitter.

December 26, 2004 a 9.1 earthquake hit in the Indian Ocean creating a 100 foot wave. Killing 230,000 people and hitting 14 countries this was a moment that changed history. I hope we can all take a moment and remember those that lost their lives, the heroes and the missing. Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/themysterykidspodcast/ Website, resources, photos, books and more. https://themysterykidspod.wixsite.com/mysite/14-boxing-day-tsunami

David Dare Parker joins us from Margaret River on the show. We talk about what photo journalism is like in a war zone, and also his work on feature film sets. We also learn about his personal experience (very much on the ground) in the 2004 Boxing Day Tsunami, in some ways we wish we didn’t, things got very real shall we say... Christian and I really enjoyed this episode and it was my personal favourite so far. Thanks so much David. Carwyn.

The gang is back this week and more anxious than ever!Join Abby and Shawna as they discuss the craziness that is life inside Oregon fire apocalypse 2020 and what they've been up to on their time off.Then Shawna regales the crew with the mysterious tale of Baba Vanga, AKA Nostradamus of the Balkans, a Bulgarian psychic who became well known for her eerily accurate predictions for the 20th century and beyond.Listen in as the gang discusses Baba Vanga's predictions about events like 9/11, The Boxing Day Tsunami, and of course, the end of the world.Credits:WikipediaThesun.co.uk Yahoo NewsYoutube.comMusic By:Brokeforfree.comEdited By:MichaelNetwork:www.theoracl3network.comWebsite:https://anxiousandafraid.com/Consider supporting our sponsor:Vaer is offering our listeners 15% off if you use the code podgo15. Go to Vaerwatches.com to learn more and get your new timepiece today! Support the show by purchasing our merch!https://www.teepublic.com/stores/anxious-and-afraid-the-pod?ref_id=13121You can also support the show by becoming a Patreon!Join today and get early episode releases and a shout out on the show as well as a cool sticker!https://www.patreon.com/anxiousandafraidArtwork mentioned at the beginning of the show by Allison Engel, Instagram: Allison.e.engelSupport the show (https://www.patreon.com/anxiousandafraid)

On this episode of the Butt Rock Number Ones, our lovely trio of Matty, Gavin, and Alex are joined by Rose and special guests Nolan (@toomuchprotein) and Jack (@Bacon_Dick) of the One Star podcast to talk (almost) every #1 Billboard Modern Rock track from the launch of Facebook to the Boxing Day Tsunami.  Playlist of […]

When the Boxing Day Tsunami happened in Thailand and the Bali Bombings occurred, Peter Baines was the man they called to forensically investigate and identify thousands of bodies. From tragedy he created hope and opportunity for many children orphaned or abandoned by disaster in Thailand by creating Hands Across the Water. Hands Across the Water started in 2005 and now cares for over 350 children across 7 projects in Thailand. This podcast is brought to you by http://www.ethicalchangeagency.com (Ethical Change Agency).

"when you are in the face of adversity you see straight through into the core of a human being" - You'll here quite the story on this episode! Michelle Mills-Porter is not only a communication expert and keynote speaker but a survivor of the 2004 Boxing Day Tsunami.Michelle share's her story of waking up to crashing and banging to find her hotel was submerged in water and then tells of her journey of survival over the next 7 days to stay alive and what she learned about:Connecting with your core values.Recalibrating ourselves after adversity and learning what it meaningful in our lives.Common global enemies causing us to come together such as the Tsunami and Covid-19.The beauty of collective compassion.How vulnerability connects us.Allowing ourselves to evolve.Living with fulfilment.

I talk to broadcast news journalist Martin Geissler about his illustrious career to date, his slightly unconventional early steps in the industry, and about some of the standout stories Martin has reported from directly, including the Boxing Day Tsunami and Robert Mugabe’s Zimbabwe. We also discuss potential life after coronavirus lockdown. Will governments relinquish their newly acquired powers and Should we be concerned? Is it all a bit Orwellian or are these measures and their continuation necessary for our health and safety? We give our thoughts.Support Blethered on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/join/BletheredContact: seanmcdonald.podcast@gmail.comTwitter: https://twitter.com/seanmcdonald01 See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

In this very special ep, we have the pleasure of welcoming Mark Bradley to the mic. Mark has helped people all over the world who have suffered from acute stress reactions to highly traumatic events including the Boxing Day Tsunami and the war in Afghanistan. Paul and Oliver talk to him at length about how his experience can give valuable insight into how we can cope with the current crisis and come out stronger on the other side

Gary Raymond worked some of the highest profile and most challenging cases in NSW policing in living memory, including the brutal abduction and murder of Anita Cobby and the drive-by shooting of 5-year-old Tess Debrincat. He was also deployed to assist Sri Lankan authorities in body recovery after the 2006 Boxing Day Tsunami. His life outside of policing is unlike any we’ve heard described on the podcast before.Warning: please be advised this episode contains graphic content.Show notes for Episode 152:Your hosts are Meshel Laurie and Emily WebbWith thanks to Gary RaymondRead Gary's storyLike us on Facebook ​Follow us on Instagram or TwitterSupport us on PatreonVisit our BookshopListen on Apple PodcastsListen on Google PodcastsListen on SpotifyIf you have any information on the cases covered by this podcast, please contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.Thank you for listening! See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

  Today I am joined by Chris Miller, an experienced past Queensland Police Officer who worked with the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and on counter terrorism exercises and planning work to name a few of her many duties. She has a vast knowledge and hands on experience working as a pandemic planner for the Australian Government as well as recovery work following the Bali and London bombings and 2004 Boxing Day Tsunami. Chris now works as a business continuity manager and in this podcast discusses how she is preparing and responding to the current COVID-19 pandemic, how she transitioned from government work to her now role and how she has coped with downtimes by creating her second business Chris Miller Jewellery.

Laura Turner spends an hour with Brett McLeod – an award-winning journalist, radio presenter and TV news presenter at the Nine Network, Brett has covered many major news stories in Australia and overseas including the Boxing Day Tsunami and terrorist attacks in Europe.

Small Biz Matters – a half hour program each week where you can work ON your business rather than IN it.with Alexi Boyd, broadcaster, advocate and small business owner.Date: 4 February 2020 There aren’t too many of us who, in our early 30’s could’ve said we had founded a successful, world renowned social enterprise, travelled to a third world country multiple times & been inspired in business, had billionaire mentors, and then had it all crashing down around us, only to pick ourselves up & spoken publicly all over the world about that journey. But Adam Long certainly can. He’s earned the title as the Ethical CEO through all these challenges. A powerhouse of the social enterprise world. Adam Long is cofounder of Conscious Step: Socks That Fight Poverty, the founding CEO of Smarter Drafter, and as The Ethical CEO finds revenue for businesses that matter, such as Humanitix - a name synonymous with doing good in the events world. He’s going to share with us his journey - and it is not always warm and fuzzies smooth sailing in the not for profit sector. Welcome to the show Adam. Topics we’ll be covering: Adam’s Experience Industrial design student pushing back against the structured education at uni & arguing that the resolution to the problems they posed wasn’t a “thing” but changes in policy, social constraints are the solution. The Boxing Day Tsunami triggered many years of depression. To cope with the depression, Adam started volunteering with Rotary and then Engineers Without Borders in the Philippines. You met Jacobia, a little girl in the village in which Adam was volunteering, who wasn’t in school. Her story showed you that small things can make a big difference. Adam’s first attempt to change the world was a sustainable 3D-printing business called BeeHive, founded with investment from Small Giants, the family office of Daniel Almagor (who founded Engineers Without Borders). Adam discovered that he didn’t have the skills to run a business – and it ran out of money in under 12 months. Adam had to let go two people on Xmas eve, the negativity around the feeling of losing your own and someone else’s money was awful. We are lucky for the support network in Australia (i.e. Centrelink), which gives us a chance to fail – and try again. So what is impact investing? Looking for “shareholder value” that actually matches to values, rather than just a financial return. Business is the vehicle for social change. What’s the difference between social enterprise & NFP? Self sufficiency vs dependency on donations Examples – Conscious Step & Humanitix Journey of Conscious Step – idea, testing, from Glebe markets in Sydney to being worn by Matt Damon, Al Gore and Jane Goodall. Learning from Adam How can you be sure the self-sustaining model of your social enterprise is working? The business model matters – the social impact has to be inherent in the operations of the business, not something that happens only when the organisation makes a profit. Profit can be “made to disappear”, so social impact must be made an operating cost. For example, Conscious Step donates to charities for every pair of socks made (not sold – it’s up to Conscious Step to recover the funds). What are some of the mistakes you made along the way that made you stray from your path? Knowing what skills you’re lacking and who to engage with others to help, teach or be that person – for Adam it was marketing and learned lots of different businesses and different models So you want to start a social enterprise? Start Up Top Tips A social enterprise is no different to running any other business. People won’t buy your product just because it’s ethical. It needs to be the same quality, or better, and it needs to be the same price, or better. It’s why Humanitix is succeeding. Address root causes. You don’t want a business that is dependent on the problem staying a problem, or oppressed people staying oppressed. Make outrageous asks everyday – that’s how Humanitix partnered with Canva and Atlassian. Adam continues to work with businesses that matter on their strategy and marketing. To find out more go to his website: TheEthicalCEO.com And if you want to use his staff discount to buy socks from Conscious Step, use the code “ADAMSENTME”.

Boxing Day 2004. It’s a day that many Australians remember, not because of how bloated they were feeling or who Australia played in the Boxing Day cricket test at the MCG - but because of the Boxing Day tsunami that struck 14 countries and killed more than 230,000 people.So what happened when the wave hit? What was the aftermath like? And how did it change the way Australians viewed the world? 15 years on, the Indian Ocean Tsunami as it is now known, is still one of the deadliest Tsunamis in history. And journalist John Burfitt joins Stephen now to discuss it...Your host is Stephen DownieThe Executive Producer is Elissa RatliffSubscribe to Investigates here: https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/investigates/id1344649849 See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

In this episode we interview David Kerrigan and discuss his book MAN DOG BIKE. Man, Dog, Bike is a travel memoir about a disenchanted musician challenging the notion of familiarity. The author rides a motorbike across India with a dog, and presumed dead after a near miss with The Boxing Day Tsunami, his brother travels to India to find him. Purchase: https://www.amazon.com.au/Man-Dog-Bike-Between-Heart-ebook/dp/B071DQFH69

In this episode we interview David Kerrigan and discuss his book MAN DOG BIKE. Man, Dog, Bike is a travel memoir about a disenchanted musician challenging the notion of familiarity. The author rides a motorbike across India with a dog, and presumed dead after a near miss with The Boxing Day Tsunami, his brother travels to India to find him. Purchase: https://www.amazon.com.au/Man-Dog-Bike-Between-Heart-ebook/dp/B071DQFH69

Rebekah Giles is one of Australia’s top lawyers and non-executive directors, an Ambassador for the Fertility Research Clinic at The Royal Hospital for Women Foundation, a mother, and a survivor of the 2004 Boxing Day Tsunami.15 years ago, on the 26th of December 2004, a rupture along two tectonic plates - the Burma Plate and the India Plate, caused an undersea megathrust earthquake that shook the earth for a staggering ten straight minutes.The resulting Tsunami waves were up to 30m high and some traveled up to two kilometres inland destroying everything in their path.Millions of people were displaced, and over a quarter of a million people were killed.In the aftermath, a global outpouring of support and compassion followed - the world putting politics aside and rallying around those affected by the most devastating natural disaster in modern history.In the days and weeks that followed, looking for some good news out of the seemingly near ending horror of the situation, stories of heroism and survival started to filter through.Rebekah’s is one such story.She came to my house a while back, and even though she’s a partner at a law firm, gave up hours of her time to share her story with us, and the lessons she learned along the way.I’ll let her take you through it - however I’ll tell you this.I hope you and I never, ever have to experience what she went through - however what she has to share about living now, living the life she got back to live again - it’s something I now carry with me every day, and I hope you do too.If you like what you hear, let her know on IG @rebekahgilesEnjoy this conversation with Rebekah Giles. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Sally Warhaft and Tim Costello For decades, Tim Costello has been among Australia's most outspoken voices on issues of social justice and global inequality. Through his work as a minister, as a lawyer and as the mayor of St Kilda council, he's tackled pressing social issues – from gambling and homelessness to gun control. He's perhaps best known to most Australians, though, for his 15-year tenure as CEO of World Vision – a job which took him to conflict and disaster zones across the world, including to Darfur and to several countries affected by the Boxing Day Tsunami. In his new memoir, A Lot with a Little, Costello reflects on his life and varied career. He reflects, too, on how his experiences have shaped his views on questions of equality, liberty, faith and community. With Sally Warhaft, he discusses the book, his ongoing work and the confronting and complex work of tackling global inequality. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In the week the world remembered and honoured those lost in the 9/11 terrorist attacks, the ladies battle through some sound issues to reminisce and discuss the historic events that have felt momentous to them and have defined the very way we live our lives today. Included are the highs of the London Olympics; The Royal Wedding & the Millennium to the lows of Princess Diana’s tragic and untimely passing, the Boxing Day Tsunami and of course 9/11.Get involved and tell us about the events that you feel have defined history – we’d love to hear from you! Our email address is expertsatnothingpodcast@outlook.com and you can contact us via our Instagram, Twitter or Facebook pages. Like, rate, subscribe & share and join our revolution of being….Experts at Nothing

Stumbling across a dead body is the stuff of nightmares. For Mo Oliver, it’s all in a days work. That’s because Mo Oliver identifies human remains for a living. It’s a job that’s taken him to some very dark places; from mass graves in Bosnia to Sri Lankan beaches clogged with the bodies of the Boxing Day Tsunami. We talk about the challenges of his work and how it feels to reunite the lost with the living.www.kenyons.co.uk

15 years ago Kelly lost her partner in the Boxing Day Tsunami in Asia. After years of enduring Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome, and with the help of a brilliant therapist, Kelly has been able to recover and renew herself. Kelly now leads a full and active life as a mother, an advocate for mental health and a trained life coach. In this episode Kelly tells the story of her heroic journey and what she has learned as she has moved through the dark back into the light.

What were you doing on Boxing Day morning in 2004?  Sarah Ayles was on a beach in Sri Lanka, putting on a mask about to go snorkelling with her business partner and ex-boyfriend, when her life changed forever.  The Boxing Day Tsunami was caused by an earthquake in the Indian Ocean and experts say it had the energy of 23,000 Hiroshima-type atomic bombs.  227,898 people lost their lives across Indonesia, Sri Lanka, India, and Thailand but Sarah survived. And now, she’s going on Australian Survivor to push herself even more... Click here to subscribe to No Filter. Listen to Sam Bloom's inspiring story here: https://omny.fm/shows/no-filter/an-extraordinary-tale-of-tragedy-and-beauty  CREDITS: Host: Mia Freedman  With thanks to special guest Sarah Ayles. You can watch her on Survivor now.  Producer: Elissa Ratliff GET IN TOUCH: Call the PodPhone on 02 8999 9386. Email the show at podcast@mamamia.com.au Find any book mentioned at apple.co/mamamia No Filter is a podcast by Mamamia. Find more shows here.   See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

What were you doing on Boxing Day morning in 2004?  Sarah Ayles was on a beach in Sri Lanka, putting on a mask about to go snorkelling with her business partner and ex-boyfriend, when her life changed forever.  The Boxing Day Tsunami was caused by an earthquake in the Indian Ocean and experts say it had the energy of 23,000 Hiroshima-type atomic bombs.  227,898 people lost their lives across Indonesia, Sri Lanka, India, and Thailand but Sarah survived. And now, she’s going on Australian Survivor to push herself even more... Click here to subscribe to No Filter. Listen to Sam Bloom's inspiring story here: https://omny.fm/shows/no-filter/an-extraordinary-tale-of-tragedy-and-beauty  CREDITS: Host: Mia Freedman  With thanks to special guest Sarah Ayles. You can watch her on Survivor now.  Producer: Elissa Ratliff GET IN TOUCH: Call the PodPhone on 02 8999 9386. Email the show at podcast@mamamia.com.au Find any book mentioned at apple.co/mamamia No Filter is a podcast by Mamamia. Find more shows here.   See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

What were you doing on Boxing Day morning in 2004?  Sarah Ayles was on a beach in Sri Lanka, putting on a mask about to go snorkelling with her business partner and ex-boyfriend, when her life changed forever.  The Boxing Day Tsunami was caused by an earthquake in the Indian Ocean and experts say it had the energy of 23,000 Hiroshima-type atomic bombs.  227,898 people lost their lives across Indonesia, Sri Lanka, India, and Thailand but Sarah survived. And now, she’s going on Australian Survivor to push herself even more... Click here to subscribe to No Filter. Listen to Sam Bloom's inspiring story here: https://omny.fm/shows/no-filter/an-extraordinary-tale-of-tragedy-and-beauty  CREDITS: Host: Mia Freedman  With thanks to special guest Sarah Ayles. You can watch her on Survivor now.  Producer: Elissa Ratliff GET IN TOUCH: Call the PodPhone on 02 8999 9386. Email the show at podcast@mamamia.com.au Find any book mentioned at apple.co/mamamia No Filter is a podcast by Mamamia. Find more shows here.   See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Season 2: Episode 1: 2004 Boxing Day tsunami. Short podcast on the factual event.

While you might not be familiar with the work of Peter Bains OAM many of you will clearly remember where you were when you heard about the Bali Bombings in 2002 or the Boxing Day Tsunami in Thailand in 2004. The identification of victims of both of those disasters fell to those who were first on the ground, in many cases Australians including Peter who was one of the team leaders. In this podcast, Peter speaks with Samantha McLean about motivating teams and leading with innovation especially through times of uncertainty and even crisis, including the role that culture and shared experiences play in both situations.

On December 26, 2004, an earthquake measuring approximately 9.1 on the seismic scale struck just off the west coast of Sumatra in Indonesia. It was the third largest earthquake ever recorded. The shaking lasted between 8 and 10 minutes. The quake jolted the seafloor displacing hundreds of billions of gallons of water. The death toll was enormous, at 280,000 people. Fatalities took place in 14 countries when oceans waves pushed inland, crushing and flooding everything in its path. The tsunami also caught by surprise thousands of western tourists who had flocked to those coasts to enjoy their beautiful beaches.

Sue Black spends much of her time with dead bodies. As one of the world's leading forensic anthropologists she has encountered death in many forms, leading British expeditions to Kosovo and to Thailand following the Boxing Day Tsunami. She tells Andrew Marr what ancient cadavers and recent corpses can teach us about mortality. Medieval depictions of death and injury don't shy away from the grotesque, says art historian Jack Hartnell. The mutilated bodies of saints and martyrs were often on display in medieval buildings, but these blood-spattered images were meant to inspire hope and faith. A devastating loss divides a couple in award-winning novelist Kit de Waal's new book, The Trick to Time. As an expert in fostering and adoption, she has also helped both adults and children cope with the lifelong impact of tragedy. A courageous child sits at the heart of composer Mark-Anthony Turnage's latest opera, Coraline, a dark fantasy based on Neil Gaiman's tale. The heroic Coraline finds a magical world in her attic and steps inside. But this world's Other Mother is not to be trusted and Coraline must fight to restore her real family. Producer: Hannah Sander.

Jimmy and Heather teach you about tsunamis and why they are scary.

Jimmy and Heather teach you about tsunamis and why they are scary.

The Level Market is the premier marketplace for aid and relief supplies. Stephanie Cox grew up looking at National Geographic with her grandfather. “I knew I wanted to travel the world when I was 6, 7, 8 years old,” she explains. After graduating from college, she traveled the world as a freelance journalist. In 2004, she had a near death experience during the Boxing Day Tsunami that killed more than 230,000 people. She worked in Nepal and in Eastern Europe during times of conflict. But, she found it difficult to make a living. Her family encouraged her to return to the United States to find her way forward. Stephanie moved to Colorado to attend graduate school. While there, she pitched an idea to iDE, a global organization that creates market-based solutions in agriculture, water, and sanitation. Stephanie offered to travel to Tanzania to document the impact of iDE’s efforts. Using her skills as a journalist, Stephanie says “I spent three months in the back of a pickup truck.” Her efforts paid off. She landed a full-time role with iDE, where she remained for 13 years. In 2014, ten years after the Boxing Day tsunami, Stephanie received a call from a colleague in Sierra Leone. He shared how difficult it was to find aid and relief supplies. Stephanie offered to help. Although she had many connections in the aid and relief space, she also struggled to find supplies. She compared her experience with finding relief supplies with her experience shopping on Amazon or Alibaba. She knew that there had to be a better way. Stephanie thought, “If no one’s going to do it, a single mom in her PJs will do it.” That was the genesis of The Level Market. The Level Market connect buyers and suppliers of products such as solar lights, shelter, and cooking stoves around the world. The Level Market’s site allows government agencies, relief agencies, and nonprofits groups to purchase goods for those on the front lines. According to Stephanie, “They can come to our site and find quality, top notch aid supplies.” Social Entrepreneurship Quotes from Stephanie Cox “Today, we’re in the worst humanitarian crisis since World War II.” “We were looking at the problem of discovery and distribution.” “There was never a hub to connect buyers and suppliers of these products.” “It was a fragmented and broken industry.” “We were very specific as to who could sell their products on our marketplace.” “I always wanted to be the first female president.” “I knew I wanted to travel the world when I was 6, 7, 8 years old.” “I was always interested in words, ideas, and communication.” “I was in Eastern Europe during the time when it was very unstable.” “I grew up in a family where my mom was a Democrat, and my dad was a Republican.” “I spent three months in the back of a pickup truck.” “They can come to our site and find good quality, top notch aid supplies.” “I got to understand the pain of entrepreneurship.” “If no one’s going to do it, a single mom in her PJs will do it.” “Get your heels firmly in the mud.” “If you do donate find out specifically what it is that they need.” Social Entrepreneurship Resources: The Level Market: https://www.thelevelmarket.com/ The Level Market on Twitter: https://twitter.com/thelevelmarket The Level Market on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thelevelmarket The Level Market on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/9318912/ Book: Crazy Good Advice: 10 Lessons Learned from 150 Leading Social Entrepreneurs: https://tonyloyd.com/book  

A tired sounding Russell and David discuss the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami (known in Britain as the Boxing Day tsunami), the events of the day, the reconstruction, the charity effort, and the unexpected outcomes. David also reveals his yearning to own a fez as his podcasting hat and we invite our listeners to send us recordings of themselves saying "Old News" for us to use as links. If you would like to send us an "Old News" record it in any way you like, in any file format, and e-mail it to us at oldnewspod@gmail.com **This episode was recorded two weeks ago which is why there is no mention or condemnation of current events**

Peter Baines is an Australian leadership expert having road tested it the hard way -spending 22 years with the NSW Police leading teams in response to acts of terrorism and natural disasters on a scale not previously seen. Peter led teams into the Bali Bombings and the Boxing Day Tsunami. During these times his leadership theories were tested in trying environments. Deeply touched by the number of children left orphaned by the disaster he was inspired to set up an organisation that could make a significant difference to the lives of these children.  Hands Across the Water is an amazing charity, raising millions without spending one cent of donors' money on admin since its inception.   LINKS   Peter Baines http://peterbaines.com.au   The Mojo Radio Show http://www.themojoradioshow.com   The Mojo Radio Show on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/TheMojoRadioShowPodcast/   The Mojo Radio Show Answering Machine 08 7200 6656 08 7200 MOJO   The Mojo Radio Show copyright Gary Bertwistle & Darren Robertson    Products or companies we discuss are not paid endorsements. They are not sponsored by, nor do we have any professional or affiliate relationship of any kind with any of the companies or products highlighted in the show.... sadly! It's just stuff we like, think is cool and maybe of interest to you our listeners.   “Life should not be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside in a cloud of smoke, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming "Wow! What a Ride!” ― Hunter S. Thompson, The Proud Highway: Saga of a Desperate Southern Gentleman, 1955-1967  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

​The Great Wall of China is the largest man-made structure ever built, stretching for over 4,000 kilometres from central Asia, across the Gobi Desert, through the remote, cold mountains of northern China to end on the shores of the Pacific Ocean. Nathan Hoturoa Gray, a young New Zealand lawyer, wanted to be one of the first Westerners in history to walk the entire length of the Great Wall...In 2000 he looked over the Gobi desert with an unlikely group of traveling companions including a Buddhist Monk, a Mormon golfer and an Italian recording artist. He saw a flash of light in the distance. In a landscape where the wall often disappeared into the sand for miles, he knew that light would be the first guiding point on what would turn out to be an incredible two year journey.In this episode, Nathan talks about his incredible adventure and his book: First Pass Under Heaven - One Man's 4000km Trek along the Great Wall of China. A Penguin best seller, the book is available worldwide.EPISODE HIGHLIGHTSHow to travel through the desert for days carrying only 750 ml of waterUnderstand how group conflict can bring bad juju on the pathThe familiarity of being somewhere you've never been beforeCultivate your ability to see signs and navigate using your inner compassTrust you can get what you need as long as you aren't too greedy and are in harmony with yourself, with others and with the environmentThe deeper reasons behind building the Great Wall apart from defensive strategyWhat does the Great Wall have in common with the Camino and the pyramids?For more about this episode go to: www.leaderscalltoadventure.com/1Visit Nathan's website: www.greatwalldvd.comTRANSCRIPTLori: [INTRO]What possessed you to walk the entire length of the Great Wall of China?Nathan: Well, basically, I mean, if I'm completely honest it was all ego initially. I just had this call up with this invitation to go and be the first westerners in history to walk the length of the Great Wall. My kind of ego reared up and thought, ‘Yeah, cool, I'll give that a crack.’ That was probably the initial impetus, but if I'm really honest, I was working as a lawyer in Alaska and I was visiting this gallery one time and it was a photo gallery of all these glaciers in the area but there were these two photos of China and they just stood right out from all the other photos and I just had this very very strong draw to these two photos. I had no idea that I'd go to China later on in the future, but I just knew at that moment that there was something going on and I would be in that country. I didn't have any desire to go to China at that stage. About six to eight months later, I got this first email from a friend who was working with my twin brother in London on an aerial theatre danceshow called De La Guarda. He'd been invited by a Buddhist monk who had come up with the idea to walk the wall and was basically trying to find other members to complete a documentary on this guy's walk. That's when the invitation came to me. Initially, it was like I had a lot of fear and I didn't really want to do it, but then when he said we'd be the first group of westerners, then my ego was like, ‘Yeah, man, ok, I'll give this a crack.’ Essentially, that got us out there in the first place - that whole ego thing. That was a whole month of hemming and hawing and preparing and being scared pretty much out of my wits with the whole idea of the journey. Once we got out there, it was quite different because we took a two-day train from Beijing and we'd been in Beijing for about three weeks preparing, just learning as much language as we could just to get a little bit of the language so we could survive out there. I didn't know any Chinese at all before we got to China. I had traveled through about fifty countries before that stage. I was used to being around other cultures and being in one place one day, another place the next day and I very much enjoyed that type of lifestyle, but in terms of taking on this whole new sort of alien culture, it was completely new. We just kind of had to prepare. When we got out there, that two day train ride and I was sitting at the very first watchtower for the Great Wall, basically, to put it into a context, you've got the Himalayas right in back of the south of you. It's stretched as far as the eye can see to the south. Then, in front, you've got the Gobi desert and it spreads out as far as the eye can see. The Great Wall, it kind of comes down this black mountain that you're on top of and it weaves out into the sand and about two kilometres later, it disappears like a worm in the sand. So, you just don't know where to go. It just stops. And so, I was just looking at this vista and the other guys were down in the bottom, just sort of hanging around in the middle of the day. I was sort of saying to myself, ‘Now, do I really want to do this? What am I here to do? ‘ And, I just made this promise that I was going to walk all the way to the ocean and as soon as I said that little promise to myself, there was this flash of sunlight on this rocky outcrop, far, far, far to the north right in the heart of the desert. I just saw it and I knew that in that second that was the direction we had to head. It was kind of like a sign or what we called a tohu that our Maori ancestors would have looked at when they were about to embark on their massive sea or land migrations. In the early days, they discovered New Zealand or traveling through the country back in the old days in the last thousand years or so. It really felt like that kind of connection so I just had this very strong clear sense that was the direction we needed to head. So, I went down the mountain and caught up with the other four guys and they were not too sure what to do. We then go back to the hotel and I said, ‘Nobody is going to head this way. We just walk straight into the desert.’ And then, by the end of the day, when we reached the rocky outcrop, there were these three tents basically filled with Chinese irrigation workers. I think they were fixing up some sort of pipe set-up. It was basically a way of getting some food and then they invited us and we had or tents, but they fed us and gave us this opportunity. There was no way that I knew that those people were going to be there, but that calling was so strong and then we were looked after. And that's basically what the first three months of walking the Great Wall of China was like. It was like going into the heart of the Gobi desert so you don't know exactly where the next village was where you're going to survive. The maps we were using, the villages were so small, that they didn't point them out on that map so we had no idea. We could just work out vaguely where that wall would go or that was there and just keep on following it in faith and then just keep on walking until eventually we came across a village and we could get our next meal. We did have some food that we carried with us like scroggin, fruitand noodles too. It was quite light food. We couldn't carry too much stuff. So, we were pretty reliant on the hospitality of the Chinese peasants as we went. But, it was, pretty much one of the journeys of, you don't know where the next village is, you just gotta keep on going. And just have faith in the wall - that it will provide. That was the whole initial experience of going through the Gobi desert.Lori: Right, now, in the Gobi desert, would the wall just sort of disintegrate and then you wouldn't know where it connected up again? You'd look in all directions and you couldn't see it and then you just had to get some sort of sense, is that how it worked? Piece by piece?Nathan: Yeah, it's pretty much. That was quite interesting because usually what they would have is that there would be a watchtower on the horizon and as long as you could see that watchtower, then you'd walk towards that watchtower and then you'd generally be able to see the next one. And, so, a lot of the wall in between would have dilapidated with either sand dunes had gone over it or had just over time withered away. And so, we pretty much, tried to climb one watchtower and then we'd be able to spot the next one at the next horizon and then sort of head in that direction. And then see the next one and the next one. So, that was generally the way that we went across the Gobi. A lot of the time, we just couldn't see the wall for three days, three or four days. It had just all gone. The thing was after we're walking this wall for quite a few weeks, you just kind of tune into that energy of where it would have been. Because, the way they built it was always the most beautiful places. It was kind of like...it was almost as if you felt building a big ley line across the place.Lori: Yeah, yeah. I found that fascinating, that part of your book where you talked about, ‘The strategic reasons for the Wall being built probably weren't the reasons.’ Maybe you could just expand on that a little bit because I really found that interesting.Nathan: Yeah, totally. Basically, the superbrains behind the Wall, they needed to get the money from Beijing from the emperor to complete the Wall building. Actually, it was the Mongolian presence up north, people like Genghis Khan, archenemies who would come through and invade and raid the Chinese villages that fell around where the Wall was before that time, but they needed the money to build up those walls to protect those villages. So, that's how they got the money, but there are so many places that the Wall was existing that really served no protective purpose at all. That kind of got us thinking, especially as we got really deep into the journey as to ‘Why? Why did they build this here? There's no way for Mongolian hostiles to go over that mountain or just go around here.’ There was just no point to it. It just really felt like that the superbrains were just marking a line across it. As you were walking, especially in the desert, you'd sort of look up at the stars and you'd see how the watchtowers would be all marked out and they'd line up with the stars. These are some of experiences I've had, experiences like at the Camino de Santiago in Spain and the pyramids in different places. It was kind of like little power spots. The thing was, when the Wall wasn't there, after about six weeks of walking, we just knew where it would be. We'd just feel the best path to take and sure enough, three days later, the wall would appear again. We would've been right on track. We found where it was. There are probably a lot of reasons why that was the case. In some cases, it was the energy of the building. In other cases - the Wall is also the world's longest graveyard - so you had a feeling that a lot of men perished in those areas as well and feeling their energies. It was kind of you had that sense of being guided across wherever it was and sort of being looked after.Lori: How about water? I mean, you're going through the desert. What sort of distance are we talking about between these watchtowers? Was it ever an issue that you could run out of water?Nathan: Yeah. I mean, that actually was really kind of interesting, because, the thing was, one of the walkers, my partner from Italy, all he carried was a one litre water bottle. All I had was one litre water bottle and a 750 ml water bottle. It was just nothing really to walk in the...Lori: That's really nothing, no. That's not even a day's worth of water.Nathan: Not even a day's worth of water. And, the thing is, we learned that the water is very precious. Water is literally like gold. We would drink it very, very carefully. And, only when you came across a village and had a chance to refill with the locals in terms of they'd give us some water or they'd go to a well and we'd get some more water that way. So this was a key element of the journey.Whatever we needed, as long as we didn't ask for too much, as long as we weren't greedy or we lived in harmony with our environment, then whatever we needed would just come. Water, it seemed someone would just come, out of the blue and you saw someone in the desert. You couldn't see that many people near you. You knew you had to meet that person and that person was going to be helping you out in some way. Then it would often lead to giving you some water to survive on or giving you some food that you needed or telling you a piece of information so that you would avoid a potential catastrophe that was hanging out a little further down the line that you couldn't see yourself, but you felt like you were being looked after.Lori: Interesting. Were there any times that let's say, the energy of the group was off because you did start this journey as a group of five, correct?Nathan: Yeah.Lori: Did you ever find that the experience, that maybe, you know, something was up in the group and that the energy was off and therefore the experiences that you were attracting were also reflective of that dynamic? Did you experience that as well?Nathan: Really interesting question because the five of us initially....well, I had a good friend of mine from New Zealand and I knew the Argentinian photojournalist who I'd met a couple of times before the trip. But, the other two, the monk and the man from Italy, I hadn't met until we went to Beijing and it turned out we all had quite different ideas on how we felt the journey would transpire. Even though we all had that desire, that willingness to go walk the Wall, as it turned out, once we got out there, it was like, a couple of guys were far more interested in doing a doc(umentary) for National Geographic. A couple of us were far more interested in just walking the Wall and feeling that experience, more of just having that spiritual walk. It was almost like some were writers; some were filmmakers. The Buddhist monk, he was much more interested in just visiting all the temples around the whole area to see how much religion had re-emerged since the times of the Cultural Revolution. We actually had different ideas on it. We were actually only all together for ten days and then the monk disappeared and then after 21 days, the four of us split into two and two - which, as it turned out, was actually a much easier way to walk the walk. Much less pressure on the peasants - when you are going to a village and you find big guys coming in and they are needing to be fed and haven't eaten and had just walked 30, 60 ks or whatever - when there were two of you, it was a much easier way to have that experience. But, it was actually quite hard emotionally, especially to realize that for people that you've known for a long time in your life, the journey wasn't going to work very well with those particular relationships. So, once we kind of split up on our different ways, the journey was so much better in many ways. But, also...I mean, there were still amazing experiences on every level, but we had to be true to whatever our calling, our intention was on that trip and once that happened then the journey was able to unfold more easily.Lori: That's an interesting piece though. I mean, there's that clarity and the ability for you to follow through on the clarity of your intention of your experience and then things sort of conspiring to work for you versus when you're not clear, maybe you're going along with some dynamics in the group are not necessarily true to your own inner compass, then things can go awry. Would that be a fair thing to say?Nathan: Completely, yeah. Like, for example, there were times as well when we split up as a group and then the trouble really started to begin and lots of experiences like - a couple of guys got detained by police and army. I had a situation where there was…I came across quite bad luck energy where there was a stabbing and murder experience as well.Lori: Yeah, right.Nathan: These things tended to happen when within ourselves we weren't working as a group, when the split and our egos were taking over too much. We were trying to be so - all about ourselves and all about winning the race and getting there first or whatever. Then, the Wall or China was giving us quite hard lessons to say, ‘No, this isn't the way to go about it. You need to try and work as a team if you can and be more communal in approach.’It was quite a good strong teacher in that way even though the lessons were quite harsh. But, once we learned our lessons, the journey unfolded in a more positive way. So, yeah, it was pretty interesting in that way.Lori: Mmmhmm. Very interesting. Yeah. One of the questions I had written down for you (reading the book), was when you talked about a situation where, ‘If you are anxious about getting to your destination, you're in for a hell of a ride.’ This thing, right? The sorts of people you attract, it seems, are equally stressed out. It seems like we're on that track here - where you are basically attracting that kind of thing. If you're not in a good place yourself, you're getting that also in your experience. So, that you found that when the group was able to gel and were able to surrender, I guess to the experience rather than have their agendas running, that things went well for you, yeah?Nathan: Yeah, definitely. Actually, I learned that the first time I was really hitchhiking properly in my travels. I was up in Vancouver Island and I wanted to go hitchhiking up the west coast. I was waiting at the side of the road. It was really interesting. I got dropped off. And, there was this bridge and I thought, ‘Ah that would be kind of cool experience actually to be able to walk across the bridge to see what's below it and there's a nice spot straight after there where cars could stop and it would be quite a good place to stop and pick up hitchhikers.’ This was before I did the Great Wall experience.So, I started to walk across the bridge and I got really anxious about not being able to get to my destination. I put my thumb out as I was walking out to the cars that were coming past. And so, one car screams right past, but the second car actually stops and I thought, ‘Man, I don't want this ride. I've missed out on this experience of walking across the bridge and just seeing what's below it and seeing that view and just taking my time.’ And so, the lady that picked me up in her car - she was really stressed out and she had had a car accident with one of her mates the day before. She drove really fast and I just, I got out of that ride and I was a little bit shaken up and I thought to myself, ‘No, you just gotta take your time and just have faith that you'll get there in the end. Don't worry about it. Don't get too anxious.’  I got off that ride and said, ‘That's ok.’  I sat down and had some lunch and bike riders came. It was an amazing experience watching at the riverside just like watching that movie called ‘Mask’ which starred Cher and just have this little scene unfold. They finished their lunch and they went off and it just felt like a nice time for me to go back to the road again and sure enough, boom, I went back on the road and there was my ride. So by having those experiences and using that wisdom to apply that to the Great Wall experience was super helpful. Lori: Yeah. That leads actually into another question that I have here about this conversation that you have with Paolo about mental manifestation. You want to tell that story?  Because, I thought that was fantastic. (It's) about ‘What would you eat if you could have anything right now?’Nathan: Yeah, he was a very interesting character. Spending these long days in the desert walking and having just to pass the time (these) were the sort of conversations that you'd have. They could be quite deep and very interesting on a philosophical level. One time we were walking and he just asked me, ‘So, what would you like to eat?’ And, I'd make a joke or whatever, just sort of used to that. We kind of worked out a consideration of what was available in the environment that we were in and then I think I just said, ‘Noodles and I'd like an apple. Maybe some biscuits - would be so cool.’ Then, later on that day, we'd totally forgotten about that conversation and we came across a village and then you're getting fed these noodles and there are some apples, some biscuits (laughing). It was such a miracle. Every time it was like, ‘Oh my God, this is so amazing! This is such a miracle.’ After awhile, it was not such a miracle anymore, it's actually just life. It's just what happens. And, in the desert, you don't have the distractions of the big city with all the people around you or lots of thoughts, lots of ideas or lots of chaos. When you're out in the desert, there's no distraction. You just notice how your thoughts manifest and that was the power of that walk through the Gobi for those three months. I know they talk about Jesus going into the desert for 40 days. I don't know exactly too much about what transpired, but it really felt like that sort of learning was going on in terms of what we have as human beings, what power we really do have which is beyond that of say people who just focus on making lots of money and that's what it's all about and pour all their energy into that process. You don't have to worry about the route to get there.  It became more direct, straight to the source. Lori: Hmm, that's interesting. Would you say that the power in that is basically the ability to not be distracted and to be very clear in your intentions or what is it? What's the magic in that?Nathan: Yeah, I think that's exactly what it is. It's just not being distracted and very clear on your intentions, just as you said, and then just remembering that intention. That's the challenge. For example, when we met the people of the Gobi, the Chinese peasants over there, money didn't exist. The concept hadn't even gotten there. We were like the first western minds to be bringing those concepts. They just barter their food, grow their crops, passing food between their neighbours and live in this way. These people are pretty much the happiest people I ever met in my life. I mean, they were amazing. They were so present, so conscious, so giving - incredible. Really awesome morals. Not necessarily religious, but they just knew how to be good human beings, knew how to treat strangers and incredibly happy and full of self-worth. These people were the people we were living off for that first three months. It was such a different world where we would go to give them some money after they'd look after us and they'd just look at us with, ‘What's this? It's not about this.’ The connection was through looking at each other in the eyes and passing across the energy in that way. It was about the experience of sharing our culture. That's the payment. That's the transaction.Lori: Wow! So, there's a real acknowledgement of worth, of your own individual worth as a human being in that culture then, would you say? It's not about the currency, it's about knowing that the connection, the ability to connect with others and to know the value of just being alive. It seems a lot more present. Nathan: Yeah. That's a perfect explanation. The way I look at it, it's the way of the ancients. It's the way they've been doing things the last 2000 years. The human species has gone through massive changes the last few hundred years which has kind of taken us off that old path. There's nothing wrong with whatever path. It's all learning and experience, but if you look at a lot of the crises and the financial problems that are going on, that was eventually going to come to a head because that system isn't so sustainable anymore.Lori: Absolutely, yeah.Nathan: Yeah, it doesn't work. The ideas don't work. Lori: Yeah.Nathan: But, other than that, these people were just so inspiring to give us that sort of teaching so that when we did come back to the bigger cities like Beijing, it was such a great shock to the system.Lori: Yeah, what happens in the cities then? What happens to people, the nature of life? What do you think? What's the key factor that keeps people sort of disconnected from themselves in that urban environment? What is that?Nathan: I don't know. I think there are so many different influences and so there are so many different varying ways to move this way and move that way and each conversation, I know my experience, well, I'll go do this, I'll go do that. It's very difficult to stay very focused on one thing; to remain very strong in the direction that you are going.  But a lot of the time, it's just like if you put it in a conceptual level, it's like you've got this nucleus of the atom and there's millions of atoms in the nucleus just buzzing around, buzzing off each other, feeding off each other's energies, generating stuff, building buildings, whatever is happening at the level of society and then outside that nucleus of atoms, you've got these kind of more rare individuals, like electrons for example and they're just cruising around the nucleus and they'll come in from time to time to feed and maybe get some money to sustain whatever the activities are outside the nucleus and then they'll go back out and travel. And, so you've got those people. Then somebody's got a motorbike and he can go further out. So, he'll go maybe two levels of electron out if you're looking at it in an interplanetary context. So, they'll have their experiences and be broader minded in terms of what they see, what they do. And, then you'll have people who are kind of just like asteroids and they are just cutting through nucleus after nucleus which is what we were like on the Wall. We'd come to one village. As you come into the centre of the little village, you'd see all the old people sitting in the market square and that's what they do most of the day. The other bodies would be running around and exploring as much as say we were. You'd feed off their energy and they would make a comment on you and you could tell what they were seeing was quite strange to them because those kind of experiences didn't come by too often. Then we'd leave their village and we'd come out and be meeting the people who owned a motorbike and sort of explore further out. Then, boom, then you'd be gone from that energy all together and eventually you'd just be in nature and then you'd come to the next village and you'd come to the next nucleus. It was kind of like that idea. You're like asteroids going through these mini planets in that sense. Sounds a little bit out there, but it's the kind of experiences I found there. Just the learning that I got from having that kind of explorer-type experience and going from culture to culture and just feeding from each different sort of mindset really impacts the way that I look at the world now and how I function and how I hold myself in these various environments whether I'm in or out of the society or not. Lori: Interesting, yeah. Your ability to transition through different places. Nathan: Yeah. To be honest, when I first came back from China, I had break, quite a long break. I was about 3000 kilometres through the trek then. I really pushed my body to it's actual limit so I had to come home and recover and I did recover and I found it very, very difficult after being in the wild - on the Wall for so long - to readapt to the western world and life that I originally lived. I used to be a lawyer and had this driven, competitive sort of lifestyle. What I'm finding now is when I cross between both sides, between the wild and the more educated realms I am getting more used to making those adjustments. It's part of your life experience; know what works for you and what not to do after you've made those mistakes and just to better fit in so you don't ostracize yourself out if you've been out in the wild for awhile. So, in that way, I'm a lot more balanced. When I was walking the Wall, I really did take things to the uttermost extreme in terms of getting out there, but not going too far that I couldn't come back.Lori: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Looking at this thing that I noted down here. I think it's important to mention this at this point about your sense of the vastness of the planet when you're out there. You said that your ‘mind became diffuse, expanding through the landscape.’ I love that. I love that statement. Tell us about that. Nathan: Yeah, totally. For example, every two weeks we'd come across a city. You'd be walking for two weeks and just come across these little villages. Some would have a hundred people. Some would maybe have fifty people. Some might have a thousand. Then, you'd just be in nature for a few days and just nothing. Then, you'd see this city in the distance. It would be fifty kilometres away. The city would have three million people, it would be almost the size of New Zealand but in the context of where I'd been going through all those mountains and deserts, you come and you see this city as a little tiny fragment, it's like a little paua shell, abalone shell just on the beach. That's how small it was reflecting off the sunlight in the far, far distance away.  Okay, there are a lot of us. There are seven billion of us now on the planet. Compared to where I've been in this sort of holy, untouched natural world, we just seem so small and it made me feel so insignificant, but at the same time having walked those experiences, having walked that history, having walked what was built all that way, all that distance, that's what made you realize what human beings are capable of and was so mind-blowing. It's kind of interesting. It's good to hold on to that humility and know that, know your place. But, at the same time it informs us of our strength and what we can achieve. Lori: Yeah, so, in other words, still have faith in humanity in order to find some solutions to the current issues on the planet mainly in terms of how to forge a sustainable future where we can all thrive, that the earth can remain intact and in integrity and a place of beauty and resilience. Nathan: Yeah.Lori: Yeah.Nathan: On that note, I learnt a lot from the people in the Gobi. They had such few resources. It's a land with very little water. Whatever they could scratch together to have for food, they managed to do that, but they managed to survive despite having no resources. And, if the planet wants to go down that road where two thirds of the planet was to desertify, reach desertification levels where we've really drained the resources of the planet. It was amazing to see how our species can adapt and can do things. Hopefully, we won't have to go down that road. We can be a little bit more forward looking and realize we don't need that much to be happy, really. We just limit our desires and coming down to a psychological level of just sort of...Lori: Well, yeah. That's very interesting about how this quest for more, more, more, it comes from an internal inability to acknowledge our own value and therefore, we are looking on the outside for more. What you're bringing up here in the people that were out there and their simple lives. They don't need a lot to be happy. There's this sort of understanding of what real value is. If you'd like to comment on that, I'd love it. Nathan: That's exactly what it was. They were very special. I really felt like I was so privileged to have spent that time with those people because when I did go back to Beijing after three months walking through the Gobi....to put it in context, my Chinese walk was one where we were communicating by simple gestures and just looking each other in the eyes and staring. You're almost reading each other's minds to communicate for most of our needs, just because my language at that stage, at that early stage in China was so limited. Then, I'd gone into Beijing and it was so interesting. Back in the city, back where people are cutting deals and they're trying to outdo the other and I'd just look at these guy's faces and it was so glaringly obvious when people were lying or had some agenda.  I could so clearly read what was going through their minds because that's just the way I was communicating for all those months. The thing with the people who are out in the desert is that there just wasn't an agenda. They just were (for want of a better word) the ‘natural human animals’. There was just no personality or agenda to taint what they were doing. There's no deviousness. In big cities it's about making the money to get whatever you needed for whatever  your goal was. You could see that deviousness. You could see those agendas. They were fairly obvious after that amount of time. It was so fascinating how it all works. Lori: I would almost at this point like to jump to this statement or summary. ‘The farther that you get away from your connection to nature, to the human animal that you are, the harder that it really is to understand what your value is as a human being.’ Nathan: Yeah, that's a really interesting question because for some people, they'll use their culture. I know that a lot of my Maori friends and cousins and brothers, they'll really stick to their Maori culture as their form of identity and their way of being. Many times in my life, I know I will stick to those values just to find my sense of self-worth and value as a human. Other people will stick to their religion whether it's Christianity or Buddhism or Islam and that's their beacon of direction and what can be conceived of value and for others its money, or wealth or material well-being. For another person, it may be getting a girlfriend or whatever. Everyone has their own type of ‘religion’ that makes them feel like whatever truth it is they’re exploring. It's hard judging anyone. If you start to judge other people because of what they're doing because it's different to you then you gotta ask yourself the question, ‘Well, why am I thinking that what I'm doing is right?’ as opposed to their way. That's when conflict arises - so it’s a matter of having that awareness. I learned a lot through the fifty-five countries or whatever it was of traveling, being around those different cultures and realizing they are different, they are different type of animal that is fascinating and I'm really interested and I'll learn what I can from it. Some parts of that animal, I'm not going to like. I just haven't been brought up that way. But, there will be some parts which are really amazing and I'll think those are really cool values and I'm going to try and bring that into my life and change myself that way. I guess all of my travels have influenced me, hopefully for the better in that way of being open enough to take on what other people have to share with me. Lori: Or to identify different parts of yourself maybe that you didn't know were in there, but seeing that in the external world, was that (it)??Nathan: Completely. Lori: Yeah.Nathan: When I was traveling through the Middle East and Europe and Asia and in South Africa, Africa as well where it was like ‘Whoa’. It was almost like a sense of comfort like I had already been there especially when the awe of places like Wadi Rum in Jordan had this overwhelming effect of peace on me.  The first half of the Wall which I felt like, I'd been there too. Well, not me per say, but my ancestors had walked through those parts. The place and journey just flowed so well and I felt that. The second half of the Wall, I knew nobody had been there of my ancestors or anyone because I was forging that path for the first time and it was so hard - difficult months of experience to reach that. It really felt like I was forging it for the first time. When I look back at the history of the people, what was happening was that they had walked all the way through China, come down through the Middle East, down through Asia, come down through the Himalayas, down to South East Asia and said ‘We should go in the canoes’ to the Pacific Islands. Then around 800-1000 A.D. made their way to New Zealand. You kind of sense that whole migration route and sense the new places where they hadn't been. Those kinds of experiences, just being sensitive enough to feel those old energies is why you get this draw to go there. It brings up a lot of questions and it could be past life stuff or it could be migration routes, what your ancestors were up to and having their knowledge as part of your genetic code or muscular, deep body understanding. Lori: Wow! That's incredible. I would say that this sort of awareness that you embody -  I don't feel that a lot of people know that they have access to that. Can you talk about that? Your own ability to feel these energies and to see the signs; to be supported in your life by life itself? Can you talk about how you do that; how you use your own inner compass to navigate your life?Nathan:   It's something that I have been working on for years.  I can remember when I first went to UC Davis as I had got a scholarship from New Zealand to complete the last year of my law degree in California and all of a sudden I had so much more freedom than I was normally accustomed to what with the life pathways of going to school and being herded almost like a sheep through all these channels and phases.  I actually really liked it as I worked hard, took instructions well and excelled and had a very successful early career because I followed those (for want of a better word) 'fences' very well.  And then I got to the stage in life where I was like in a big open paddock and I could go anywhere and I would be like so where do I go?  So I would be on my bike in UC Davis and could go right or left down different streets towards University so I would spend the time choosing which way to go by listening to what way did my intuition want to go?  So I did a lot if work on this particular 'skill' of reading my intuition, especially when I was travelling because of all this freedom I now had to open myself up to these type of experiences.After a while I found that I was so in tune with my intuition it would really serve me, especially when trying to access food on the Great Wall.  For example if there was a gap in the Wall and I had the choice to walk on either side if I followed my intuition I would often come across an opportunity to get some food and when I didn't I would look back when coming across the next gap in the Wall and would see that there was a group of people that I had missed that I could have secured food from.So I'm not too sure exactly what it is that is guiding us but there is something in our human capabilities that if you tap into it, can put you at an advantage as to what is available out there to help you achieve your dream or journey, or experience.This is definitely something that one can work on and tap into if you are open to this particular power, in that way.Lori:  Yes it is what a lot of leaders do and this is the leaders call to adventure right?  I feel that a very important quality of leadership is to follow your own inner direction and use that to take a stand because if you are leading, how exactly do you lead, you know? You're not following if you are leading, you're leading right!? So what informs your decision?Nathan: Yes and that is what comes down to the huge challenge in life because you are not always going to be the leader so you need to know how to follow in order to learn how to be a good leader as well and thus be effective in both roles or jobs.I know that there is a lot of times in my life where I'm going 'what am I doing next, where am I going?' and I really need to have that time with myself to really connect with who I am and where I want to be going and then re-identify with what my calling is, because it is very easy to jump on someone else's bandwagon whether it be a corporate structure, a person that inspires you or a family member or whatever it is that you feel you would like to be following for a bit, but I find that if I start to do that for too long I start to get a lot of warnings or signs that tell me I can carry along with that path if I want but it's not necessarily going to be in your best interests with what life perhaps has planned for you or wants you to be doing. So knowing your internal compass is naturally very important, but I do enjoy both following and leading overall and essentially is what works best for you at the time.Lori:  What was it that got you through to the end of this 4000 km walk?Nathan: I think at the end of the day it is just probably blind obsession as it was the only thing that I could really ever think about with regards just achieving that goal and thus was completely motivated towards that particular objective and it really took that to be able to get to the end.  Even when I came home for a break when I was about 3000 km through the journey and my body had been so battered, even when I was technically 'resting' I couldn't get that journey out of my mind, so it really was like an obsession which in many ways was the compulsion to get me there.  This is not necessarily such a healthy thing because to be focused on that one sole thing for such a long time can close you off from other experiences, but for this particular journey I just really needed that particular drive and blind level of focus to get there and it was the same with writing the book as well.  It required such sacrifice of every other life option at the time just to get to the end, to the extent that in some ways were I to do that type of experience again I would do it differently because there wasn't enough balance - it was too driven and too focused that I missed out on a lot of other life experiences around that time, but having said that I got the journey done and got the book done and they are two achievements that I am very proud of and the sacrifices that they took were of no comparison to the enormous benefit of getting the book out there and completing that particular journey because they were definitely the two biggest accomplishments of my life at this stage. So to put it all into context on the Great Wall journey itself, you would be walking and you would come up to a mountain and you'd see the last few days of walking where you had been, you'd see all the pitfalls, the villages where you had eaten at, the spot where that guy had told us to go round this way to avoid this steep gully and basically all the past you had encountered and then you would turn around from the top of that mountain and you would look to see the Wall head out to your future and you didn't know exactly what was going to happen as it was still your future but you would have an idea or feeling after so much walking of what was going to kinda happen, and that's when I started to tune into reading signs and omens.  For example, sometimes I would see some birds flying and I would question ‘why are those birds there?’ and as you are on your own are wondering what possible meaning those birds could be?  So you are forging ahead with your life path with the Great Wall in front of you as the journey (which was the plan) but you didn't know exactly what was going to happen but you could get insights and ideas of what was coming from warnings or good feelings so it was an interesting mindset to be adopting, especially going through all these experiences and building on them as I faced this challenge, it also became easier to want to finish the entire trip because you did not want to give up knowing all that you had gone through already. So I had one experience on my own where I had been caught by the Chinese army and it was full on and I didn't know what was going to happen with that experience but when I got through it and then the hundreds of mountains all around me that I had to travel through and over, it just gave me this strength knowing all that I had already achieved to tackle the next challenge along the path.  It just the same as when you are say building a house or putting a case together for court you just have to take it all step by step and that eventually gets you to this massive destination.  So it ultimately brings things right back to simplicity of being in the moment and making the most of that particular moment and doing it the best you possibly can so you are in the best possible position to carry on and make the most of the next opportunity that comes up during the next stage of the journey.  So you have this collection of days, 9 months of them in all, and eventually you look back and you have 4000km of them behind you from the top of the mountain and it's such an empowering feeling because as the Wall comes to the end at the ocean you own all of that journey. So for example when I went back to cover the Beijing Olympics many years later and I would see snippets of the Wall of that journey I knew I had been to all those places and that was a part of who I am, it's a part of my mana, or my status or destiny.It was a proud realization and not the reason that I had taken the journey for, but was an extra additional benefit nonetheless.  So what we go through in our lives is what we become as people and that's what you carry to the next challenge you take on, so having that 4000km behind me for example there's not too much that can faze me too much anymore because I know in myself that I have gone out there and completed something that was seemed conceivably impossible in my mind when I first set out to do it.  So for the two full years the entire journey took I realized that if I can apply myself to achieve that I can just put my head down and be humble and take things step by step and I will eventually get there with whatever I choose to do next so it just gives you this inner strength. Lori:  Yes because your life was at risk a number of times out there wasn't it?Nathan:  Yes, the whole point of the journey in that you didn't know when or where you were going to get your next meal and in some cases didn't eat for a couple of days, there's lots of snakes and the heat is 45 degrees centigrade, and right down to -20 degrees and we didn't really have the polar gear to really stay alive in such extreme temperatures so we were basically just walking to stay alive and finding shelter in the middle of the day if we could or places where we could swim and cool off in the summers so we were really relying on our own wits because we had no support crew, because those that have that have a completely different type of experience when at the end of the day someone is out there looking out for you, so we didn't have that , we just went out there with faith really, just a will to walk the Wall and that will alone saw us through and that's paying huge credence to the Chinese people because  they were phenomenally generous in hosting and looking after us, they really did propel us along and keep us going.  I wouldn't have been able to walk 5% of that wall without their support, kindness and generosity.Lori:  They were your support crew. You had to surrender to their support really.Nathan: That's exactly what it was. And that was the most humbling thing about the trip was having these people be so amazing to us.Lori: Especially the fact that they were willing to share everything with you.Nathan: That was the amazing thing as it was this mutual sharing in each other's cultures, especially with the kids who hadn't seen white people face to face before so you'd know that when you walked passed them and witness the sheer shock in their facial expressions that you had just expanded the boundaries of their cerebral awareness in that very second. It was at moments like that where you realized there was this huge responsibility as they were forging their perception of the 'white man' or the 'foreigner' in that very encounter and they were going to hold that for potentially the majority of their lives given it was so remote. So we went out there and learned over time to give across as much love as we could possibly muster and just be so giving and kind so if that was the one representation they were going to have in their lives it was going to be a bloody good one. This was the responsibility that we held having this cultural exchange.  The same would happen when you had walked 30km to come into a village and you are so exhausted and these people are feeding you, and you are so grateful, like I've never been so grateful, and the food had never tasted so good, and the company so savoured, and you would have the whole village coming into this family's home to just sit there and stare at you all night, and you're exhausted but you'd just look straight back at them and we would be exchanging this energy by all this staring, and our two cultures were attracted to each other.  I just don't know how that journey would have worked if our cultures weren't attracted to each other. I know in Australia for example there are a lot of problems between the local Aboriginees and the British colonists and there wasn't that sense of mutual attraction so there were a lot of issues between those races, where Chinese and Europeans have a lot of connection so it opened a lot of doors for us, and that's what pretty much kept me alive in that sense so we were really lucky in that way as well.  So our nights were just sitting and staring at each other in awe and the next morning we would be on our way carrying on to the next village. So it was a real privilege to have that opportunity to experience this right at the time when those areas around the Great Wall had just been opened, and being some of the first people to go through there in a very long time.   Lori:  It took you a lot of years to complete the journey and the book.  How did you manage financially and fit it all in with you career?Nathan:  Yes, good question.  I started walking in 2000 and ended it exactly 2 years later in 2002 which in itself encapsulated 9 months of walking overall.  I would sustain myself during that time as well as the three years that it took me to write my book and another year on top of that to get it published by Penguin - what I was doing is that I would do a three month working contract at a law firm or a legal government agency to save some money.They also have an artist scheme in New Zealand which enables you to basically get the same as being on the unemployment benefit without doing employment finding programs and dedicate all your time to doing your art which I utilised for two of the years that I was writing my book.  I was literally living off $140 a week - just enough for my rent and a little bit of food.It was interesting living in this way however because when I would go into the supermarket it was the same life as being on the Wall in some ways because all the supermarket deals would just come along my path so I could afford everything.  Yet when I really started to make money, those deals were no longer there anymore and things were more expensive - so I started to notice that even in the Western world there is that same flow, that same kind of energy as in China so it was a matter of taking those skills I had learned on the Wall journey and applying it to my current reality. Hence by keeping my intention to complete the book - life was still trying to help me out so long as I was not too greedy and living in harmony with the environment.  So I had more than enough to get me through.  It wasn't a great time such as running round 5 star resorts and having a superstar lifestyle, it was hard knacker but there was just enough to enable me to get to the end as long as I followed through on that intention.  Again if your intention was good, then life would seem to help you out, but if your intention wasn't, then trouble would often occur.Lori:  Indeed that will certainly keep you on track - the struggle teaching you where you need to change yourself - inevitably.Nathan:  During the promotional period of the book all the energy that I had invested in its creation came back as it turned into a best seller and reciprocated to the time spent.  It was more like a delayed series of experiences rather than going to work each week for a set salary so that I would get paid a similar amount later down the track.Lori:  What has life been like for you since you got your book out there - you're still travelling but what is your next big adventure or idea that propels you forward now?Nathan:  I had already been to 50 countries and my goal was to get the book done before traveling again as my new challenge which upon completion my travels transformed from solely exploratory  into more like an extended book promotional tour which saw me go through Australia, China, USA and the UK for the next two years in the build up to the Beijing Olympics and also writing stories for the magazines that I have been working for freelance over the past 12 years on the side.Stories that interested me were looking at the Tsunami Recovery Program in Thailand as I had been in Thailand in 2004 when the Boxing Day Tsunami hit and I missed it by just one day so I had that emotional attachment to that absolute tragedy.   I also wrote about the changes to China from 2000 through till 2010 as infrastructurally, psychologically and culturally it had changed so much over this incredibly historic time in the country. For example, Beijing had built over 7000 sky-rises in the lead in to the Olympics which totally blew my mind with regards how much the country was progressing and then last year I went to the Soccer World Cup and covered that in South Africa and the main reason was because I was an exchange student there in 1993-4 when I was 18 during the build up to their first free democratic elections and I had never been back s so returned exactly half a lifetime later.That trip was a very strong flow as well as three of my friends were in the New Zealand Soccer team going over there so I wanted to support them as well as writing about how much the Apartheid system had changed since I was there during the build up to Nelson Mandela's key election victory.  It was great to see how much positive change there had been in that timeline. So basically I get driven by ideas that involve travel but have a certain political issue, world event or competition attached to that place which deepens my experience.  For example there is the Rugby World Cup here in New Zealand so I am back home getting engaged with what is going on around the country during this historic time for New Zealand.  Its nice and is what kind if dictates my life at present but I know, being 37, that I will get to that stage where I will start to think about having a family and finding a partner - so those dreams are slowly becoming more of a priority and that is where my body is wanting me to be.  So I'm not stressing about that kind of particular direction, I'm still very much following my desires and staying in the moment of each day - but I have got this sense that based on the experiences I have had I know that the right people will come along at the right time so long as I stick to my laurels, goals and dreams and just let everything fall into place.  So I believe that things will come at the right time and if they don't then they are just life lessons as well so it's all good. Lori:  Is it always your passion pushing you forward or is it you just being open to life and the signs that prompt you along - especially looking at your South Africa trip - what is the deciding factor? Is it you, and then things start falling into place or is it that circumstances align in a certain way and then you think that you are interested in that and just go with that.  How does it work for you?Nathan: It's an interesting question.  With the South Africa trip I had wanting to go back for a really long time because I had had such an amazing year there on exchange, such a profound experience watching the rise of Mandela and the build up to those first free democratic elections.That was the first year that I had definitely 'lived history' in my life.  I was almost too scared to go back, and I was still in touch with some of my friends there, some of whom were rugby Springboks and rugby players I had caught up with in the UK and I was planning to go there the year before but it just wasn't the right time. I could sense it, like having a strong spiritual warning not to go there yet, and waiting till the next year for the Soccer World Cup it was so the right time - but that trip was definitely coming from my original intention.  But there are a lot of times when I simply don't know what to do next so those are times that I try to stay grounded and save some money and do the basics in life, so that when the exploration opportunities do arise then I have the means to be able to capitalize on this.  There is a reason and purpose for everything I think so it is more of a balance of my own desires and more external forces the latter of which was certainly the Great wall trek.  So my view is whatever is meant to be will be so just go about it as humbly and with your best possible effort and hopefully I am happy with how it all pans out. Lori:  You've accomplished so much via this receptiveness to your own life really - the openness to just observe and see and respond - essentially giving your life a chance to show you.Nathan:  Exactly. It's a really great way of putting it.  Like with the Wall for example I was really attached to the outcome to the extent that I was blindly driven so that I couldn't be a happy person until I had achieved that goal, and by going through that process I have learned that you don't have to be that blindly attached to something, it's not necessarily that healthy.  You'll get there, in the end, you'll get there.  Just be patient, let things unfold in their own time, don't be so regimented and restrictive with regards time, as its not necessarily the best way to go forward, so I've learned to be a lot more relaxed in the last say 4 or 5 years than I was in my early twenties where we had been brought up in our late teens in such competitive environments.  Indeed there is nothing wrong with that at all, as it can get things done and lead to some really positive results but the journey through China really changed me and made me realize that there are other ways to follow your dreams and learn your lessons. Lori:  On that note, because we all have our different calls and things that we are compelled to do our life shows us what we are meant to do right? With your wisdom and guidance how can other people answer their inner calling in a way that makes sense and has some level of comfort in that - how would you advise people to do that?   Maybe they would love to do something tremendous like you have done but they do not even know what their thing is to do?  How would you guide them in figuring that out?Nathan:  I have a lot of time in my life where I don't know what to do next.  Without a doubt I think that this is part of the human condition.  You're just lost, you have no idea or inspiration, you are like, 'oh man what do I do?' and I have that a lot, without a doubt.   For example when walking the Wall it just gave me this place to be everyday and was quite a nice journey to set my intention to as I didn't have to think much about what I was going to do next for the following couple of years.  Yet if I am really lost I just have to be on my own and go to a quiet place and let me come back into me, so I am not too influenced by too many things out there, and just try and see where I am at, where my body is at, what it is kinda wanting at this particular stage of life just for my own mental and physical well-being, to find that core gravity and if I can find that feeling clearly - then when I go back out into the world I am still responsive to what is around me, but that time has made me stronger in myself and my convictions to what sort of journeys I will go on because what I have learned in my travels, I do recognize flow very quickly, for example I will be working on a show that my twin brother is creating and be totally engaged with what that journey entails, and as soon as I finish that job, the very second that relationship is cut off then the rugby world cup, which is my latest work project will immediately become fore and centre of my life.  So I will start to notice a lot of tourists that are visiting the city and I get to make a decision whether or not I am ready to jump on that flow and get my camera out and start taking photos, whatever it is that I want to do around that particular experience, and then I will cut myself off from that and be with a friend or partner and have that particular time with them, if am needing a romantic experience, and as soon as that terminates then my twin brothers show work will appear again. Hence my career is simply jumping from these different flows whether it be tourism work, connecting with people etc.  Sometimes its enough to do one's head in looking at all these varieties of energy coming into my life and going with them, but I think that the important thing is during that time on your own is to have developed enough inner strength and sense of self that this gives you the ability to make the best choices that arise in these encounters which are ultimately best for you.  There's no right or wrong, it ultimately is what it is, however although this is the way that I operate today this is certainly not the only way to operate and I am certainly no master on these matters.  Life's an ongoing inquiry and there is always a lot of learning going on down the road...Lori:  I think that's really interesting about taking that time, because you have the answer from within, it's just that need to suss it out and keep looking for that quest of what I should do or what other people would want me to do instead of taking that moment to connect in with yourself and determine what is good for me and what message is my body telling me that I need to do.   That's a very important guide - our body!Nathan:  Yes I think that's vital. I can remember when I was 23/24 and working in the law offices and I enjoyed it, as it was a really good experience, but my body was so eager and I was constantly looking outside the window thinking 'oh man I want to be out there'.  So I listened to my body's needs and was so happy as I essentially changed my career to being more of a journalist because it was more conducive to being out there.  Its like my body wanted to be experiencing all these cultures, witnessing environmental degradation, poverty, over population, ultimately seeing life; and now it takes a lot more effort for me to have the passion and ability to do all those things so I will still keep it in my life (that freedom piece) for say three months a year, but it is not the be all or end all that it was throughout my twenties.  The body now doesn't mind doing the job in the office, connecting with my community etc.as a guide it has kept me relatively happy, as even though a lot of my friends have high level legal roles and are stuck there, I have all this variety and just simply have no regrets.  So by following my body I was more aware of my lifespan and how there are times to certain things and time not to do them.The body has an innate wisdom that our minds take a while to come around to but if you do have the fortune and freedom to be able to follow these whims then they seem to end up ultimately good for you and your health, which is definitely the most important thing overall.As long as you are happy and doing what you want your blood flow will be healthy and you are unlikely to be picking up cancers and diseases which often stem from conditions like depression,which often happens if you are living a life you were not designed to be living.  I certainly can feel it when my depressed thoughts are impacting my body.Lori:  So you think your body freaks out when it is going against its inner wisdom? Is that what happens?Nathan:  If I am putting myself under massive stress and doing things that I can put up with for a while, (like the Great wall trip where I put my body through enormous stress from the sheer undertaking and really knocked myself around), and so I learned the hard way through that trip, (fortunately I didn't kill myself or go all the way), and when I took the time I needed to recover from that journey I learned that you simply don't have to be that blindly driven - you are still going to get there - but there is a more balanced way, a more middle way of doing it. And this was my own personal way of learning my own limits and working around them, and so that now when I take these journeys and do travel, instead of having some outlandish idea and taking it all the way I tend to take my time to the half way point, and it is such a more pleasant experience, a nicer way of approaching it in my life.  So I am just going with where my body and mind is at - at that time, and being in tune with that, even if it means retreating into myself to meditate and help make it easier for me to find that place.  Yeah, so that's just my way, but I am sure everyone has their own way of finding out what calls to them most.  If you can follow your passions and what feels right, it's probably a good

Interview with Frank William Hampster, who has been crafting comedy since 2011. Frank describes himself as "a standup comedian, connoisseur, conspiracy theory expert and general bon vivant". He is also the Executive Producer of The Elegant Universe Radio Show, which you can catch 4pm to 6pm on Fridays on 94.1FM, and also on You Tube.  Frank was in the Australian Army until 2011 and this interview contains very open discussion about his Army experiences and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)*. We discuss: PTSD (shell shock and war neurosis), jumping at shadows, the phenomenon of symptoms disappearing when Frank is on stage, being in the 4th year of a "comedy apprenticeship", Frank's breakdown in 2008, being in and out of a mental health facility, the Boxing Day Tsunami, preparation for warfare vs military response to civillian crises, humour as a defence mechanism, Oscar Wilde quote, philosophy re comedians telling the truth, occasional not-so-good gigs due to soldier-mode aggression, feeling of normailty on stage, Anti-Depressants, the slow return to work, "face leakage", stigmas in the Army, survival reason for protecting women and children first, sharing his view of Black Saturday, Psychiatrist and medication, benefits of exercise, coffee and cupcakes, eating habits, sleeping habits, relationships and MH issues, nightmares, not believing in ghosts but finding a way to cope with seeing them, middle name "Darling", empathy, understanding, tollerance and patience, recognising triggers, concern about soldiers not having access to mental health support ... slight interruption by colleagues following Frank's re-enactment of a trigger at Brisbane Airport ... Charity organisation Soldier On (check out their Facebook page), 'fight or flight' doesn't include flight in the Army, noise cancelling headphones, being proactive, avoiding self pity, reaching out to friends, cuddle/hugs therapy, strength inside comedians and love of the craft, killing and dying, connectedness within the comedy community, unhelpfulness of hearing "Harden the F@$% Up", Generation X saying No to child abuse and gender inequality, resilience, love of children, Rosie Batty, comedy for coping and wellbeing, views on PSOs, Key message: Be tollerant and patient, just SMILE, working miracles, and the craziness of under-funding mental health. *WARNING: This podcast includes graphic discussion about war/battles, the Boxing Day Tsunami, and the Black Saturday bushfires.  If you need to speak with someone about how you feel after listening, please call Lifeline on 13 11 14.

Tim Hulsman is a self taught singer/songwriter with a unique perspective on life. His honest reflections upon his experiences are both personable and gripping.   Tim’s strict religious upbringing, the rejection of his family’s ideal that he should dedicate his career and life to the church and ultimately the rejection of his faith has had a strong and lasting impact upon his life and music.   Tim’s account of his experience during the 2004 Boxing Day tsunami is a powerful story of survival and resiliance. The cathartic influence of music on his own ability to recover from the trauma of the event and help the communities to recover and rebuild is a moving story and well worth a listen.   Tim's website is here: http://timhulsman.com/   The Geoscience Australia report about the 2004 Boxing Day Tsunami mentioned in the show is available here.   Connect with the show via Facebook and Twitter.    Thanks for listening. 

Mark Cunningham – known as Marko to the locals in Thailand – is a Kiwi from Upper Hutt. Marko survived the Boxing Day Tsunami in 2004 and joined local volunteers to collect bodies. These days Marko is an English teacher by day, and an Emergency Medical Technician by night with Bangkok's volunteer rescue charity. Nan Sirisamphan is in Bangkok to learn more about this altruistic Kiwi.

Jan Buchanan was canoeing with her husband in Indonesia, when the 2004 Boxing Day Tsunami hit, she tells the gripping story of her survival, and the sad loss of her husband. She now works with Aids orphans in South Africa with YWAM. This is a must listen.

When the earthquake and tsunami of December 2004 hit Indonesia, over 130,000 people died. Dendy Montgomery was living in the city of Banda Aceh which was laid waste by the disaster. Photo:People in Banda Aceh try to save a man from the waters of the tsunami. AFP

What use is an F-call? Recently I was sitting on a plane talking to a person whom I had just met. We were discussing our interests and experience and the subject of Amateur Radio came up. There was the obligatory CB radio comment and some discussion about marine radio, but the discussion boiled down to this: "What's the point?" I eased into the subject by observing that as a hobby I found it to be technically challenging without it having a direct relationship to my day-job in IT. We discussed the ideas that embody the hobby, non-commercial use, experimentation, discovery, camaraderie. We talked about the natural disasters like Hurricane Katrina, the Boxing Day Tsunami, the Earthquake and Tsunami in Japan and the subsequent issues with their nuclear power plant. I explained about making contacts and exchanging information, call-signs, signal reports, dealing with electricity and backup batteries and the like. The conversation went for about an hour, we talked about the SES, about HF long distance contacts, the solar cycle, the ionosphere, experiments and the development of technologies like the mobile phone. The thing that struck me during this conversation, looking at the topics we discussed, some in passing, some in-depth (well, to the depth of my eclectic knowledge at least), that Amateur Radio touches a lot of aspects of society. I used to think that IT was the only field that impacted the world every where in every which way. Now I'm not so sure. Amateur Radio to me appears to have dibs on a large chunk. I supposes I'm saying that Amateur Radio has a public relations issue, people don't know it exists, yet it affects their lives in ways that most never even notice. Perhaps all this just relates to my better understanding of the Radio Frequency spectrum and my personal part in the puzzle, but I think society would benefit from at least a smidgen of the understanding that comes with having an Amateur License. If you have thoughts on the matter, I'd love to hear from you. I'm Onno VK6FLAB

Perrin Rowland on the history of the restaurant in NZ, Thom goes to the Cat Show and Damian goes back to Banda Aceh, Sumatra 5 years after the Boxing Day Tsunami hit. Original interviews are here:Perrin Rowland: http://publicaddress.net/system/topic/2705Cat Show: http://publicaddress.net/system/topic/2389Boxing Day Tsunami: http://publicaddress.net/system/topic/2213

What use is an F-call? An article in the local paper caught my eye. It described a scenario where a local amateur with a 15m antenna mast was in the process of dealing with a local council who apparently changed their mind about the rules which govern the installation of the mast. There were quotes from neighbours who didn't like the eye-sore and it looks like this might be a challenge. While I'm not a neighbour of this amateur, I did wonder if their community was aware of the wider community role that amateurs have to play in all manner of situations. I thought about the Boxing Day Tsunami, Hurricane Katrina and the Japanese Earthquake and subsequent Tsunami. In each of these disasters critical infrastructure such as power and communications was wiped out in the affected areas. In each of these areas local radio amateurs provided critical assistance for search and rescue and other life extending situations. I wondered if the local community where this amateur lives was aware that amateurs can, have and will provide these critical services in case modern infrastructure ceases operation and I wondered if we as amateurs pro-actively go outside and talk to other members of the community and share some of this knowledge and information. If we ignore these pushes for removal of so called eye-sores, there will come a time where the local amateur radio enthusiast is unable to assist their community because they simply have no infrastructure left to operate their station. One day the question will come: "Where are all the amateurs?" As a foundation class licensee you have access to a whole raft of information, skills and if you have your kit, hardware, to communicate this to your local community. As a group, we amateurs have skills that might seem outdated, obsolete and out of touch with the Internet connected world today as seen from the perspective of an uninformed public. The reality is that this community of amateurs can and will step in to assist that community if and when the need arises. In case you're wondering how what you do on air relates to any of what I'm talking about, making contacts, exchanging information, dealing with changing conditions, setting up your station, and doing the things you do as an amateur radio enthusiast, are immediately relevant to emergency communications. You may not be aware of it, but you are uniquely qualified to assist where communications are essential. Just because the mobile phone network works today, doesn't mean that it will continue to work across all situations. I regularly take my kit on the road to setup my station, in fact, my station is designed to be portable for exactly this reason. Each time I setup my station I learn a little more about things to consider, spares to have on hand, cables I should remember to pack, etc. If you have the ability, I highly recommend that you take your station outside and set it up with limited infrastructure. I'm sure you'll learn something which will be of use at some time in the future. I'm Onno, vk6flab

This week, we discover how the 2004 Boxing Day Tsunami is the latest in a history of tsunamis in that area, why elephants who avoid roads to avoid poachers could be causing problems for the species as a whole, and a new system of lenses that allows us to take 360 degree photos inside our bodies! Plus, why Saber-Tooth Tigers hunted in packs!