Beat To Their Own Drum All-Stars, Volume 2

Sandra

Sandra dates back to Scotland. Opposite way hikers insisted I stopped when I got to "this hippy little campground cafe place". I walked up the muddy path and met Sandra, who sat me down amongst chickens and plywood under a sheet metal roof.

Apparently, after spending their money on the land, Sandra and her partner had none left to fight the government from constructing the trail through their property (unfamiliar with ins and outs of Scottish law, but that's what she said). So when life gives you lemons....well they've been providing soup and coffee and a pleasant break to hikers ever since.

Sandra and I discussed my trip and she gave me advice on New Zealand. "Ooh I'm green with envy for ya I am," said in her Scottish Mrs. Doubtfire voice. She took my picture for her new Facebook page and hilariously described her struggles with what to her was novel technology. As I left, she requested I call her if I see her "wee little escaped pigs."

Sandra radiated warmth and compassion. Her ridiculously amazing coffee and genuinely pleasant conversation literally (ok, figuratively) pushed me those extra tough last ten miles of The Great Glen Way. I'm forever in her debt.






Paul

I met Paul on the Gold Coast of Australia as he and his better half secured the winning bid on a 7-figure house auction and then sat on their boat as he sailed us down the bay. But make no mistake, this native Kiwi is truly an every man.

- Our first true interaction was him stopping me from unknowingly ordering a "nancy" beer.

- Paul knows his music and rocked Johnny Cash and the Black Keys early in the night. He tried to pass most bands off as "from New Zealand" as I repeatedly called bullshit. He then put on the Beatles, but simply previewed it as "Let's try this European band."

- Paul knows celebrities. He went to college with Peter Jackson (described him as a dweeb always reading books) and, I forget the exact circumstances, but used to party with "Johnny" Denver.

- He's a man of the environment. As a younger lad, he sailed with GreenPeace far out to remote South Pacific atolls to obstruct and protest French nuclear testing.

- He knows people, as evidenced by his working the crowd at what he called the "grand toilet opening", or a celebration of local yacht club renovations.

- Paul has a friend named Nigel.

- And Paul parties. Long after I had crashed on the air mattress on his living room floor, he stayed up giving drunken life advice to Kat until 2 or 3am. Three hours later he was golfing with Nigel. He would later admit to losing 16 balls in 4 holes!!!!

- My favorite story he shared involved them getting asked to leave a bar. As described earlier, Australian bar/serving rules are incredibly strict. So Paul and his crew were asked to leave and never come back. To paraphrase the conversation, "You're out and can't come back." "No you don't tell me I can't come back, I say I'm never coming back. "That's right you can't come back." "No I said I'm never coming back!" Wish I could do that recollection justice.

Anyway, he was a ton of fun and seemed like a great guy. Invited me back to Australia. Hope to one day take him up on it.



Jin Wook, aka "Josh"

"Men of the Rock Tour" calendar coming soon. Jean-Pierre dominates. He tucked in his shirt like that when I asked him to be in the picture.

Josh was quite simply MVP of our memorable Uluru tour group. The true embodiment of "beat to your own drum", Josh seemed to exist in two realms simultaneously. He delved into ours to bring people joy, but spent much of his time as master of his own domain one universe over.

Josh was a bit of a fashion icon. He rocked a fisherman hat,  sometimes with royal blue mosquito netting flowing under it. He had epic aviator sunglasses and a billowy white shirt, which he often dried in the wind like a bad Enrique Iglesias video. And his tye-dye purple shorts were transcendent.

On hikes, Josh would linger behind stalking a lizard and then seemingly warp to the head of the pack, where he could be seen running up a canyon wall like Bo Jackson. He'd stop to take pictures, his hands often in camera view, presumably taking novelty shots holding up monoliths, etc. He chugged a carton of orange juice on one hike, produced from seemingly nowhere. And on another, he turned to me and softly said, "Mike, I can pull mountain." Bewildered, Saskia and I tried to figure out what he meant. "You feel drawn to the mountain?" "No, I can pull mountain." I believe him.

Josh was a hard worker. He manned the top of the trailer hauling up fire wood. "Too many trees!", he bellowed when we'd gathered enough.

Josh could sing. Our guide Myles clichely ribbed him about "Gagnam Style" since Josh was Korean. Josh's response? Fuck it. He sang the song better than Psy himself. We'd later learn Josh is a wedding singer as a side job, perhaps the least surprising information ever.

We had to drop Josh off early from the tour for his flight. The last few hours after that, our group seemed to be missing something. I'll remember Josh for his easy going demeanor and the expressions of unbridled wonder and awe as we hiked the gorgeous Outback. One of a kind guy. Glad to have met him.