Charles

Think the Magic Faraway Tree, Bedknobs and Broomsticks and Xanadu, think of what can happen when you dream beyond the realm of the immediate. This is what I think of when I think of Charles. Endless possibilities. He lives by this unspoken motto: life is about being able to get back up one more time than you're knocked down. 

Charles is your consummate modern man. He can ride a vespa in a pair of chinos while simultaneously participating in a teleconference through the helmet’s bluetooth. Yes, you read correct. He can multitask. He’s an entrepreneur and likes doing things on his own terms. Does it mean he’s a control freak? No, on the contrary. It’s just he’s not partial to organisational parameters or structured thinking. He’s always looking to collaborate, to capitalise on an idea and promote an innovation. We catch up for one of our occasional coffees in the Melbourne CBD. He’s staring at the towering buildings and muses aloud whether the windows could be plied with solar laminate panels (he calls it nano something or other) to generate power. His mind is constantly working overtime to the point you can almost see the cogs turning over. If I could invest shares in the product of his mind I would. I’m sure Yuval Noah Harari, author ofSapiens, will know someone who knows someone who could find a way.

He’s also a highly competent and skilled Jack of All Trades. From a young age he’d always had an entrepreneurial bent. When he finished high school his parents convinced him to consider more ‘traditional’ pursuits in the event of a recession (think COVID-19…) But work experience with his aunt, a GP in Nimbin NSW, put rest to that idea. He vividly remembers one particular presentation when he witnessed a sight he simply cannot un-see (it involved a Prince Alfred). The image has clearly scarred him because his face crumples at the recollection. He subsequently undertook a business degree and has branched out having at various times invested in property, hydroponics and starting up a business that helps senior citizens set up their IT systems. When he was thirty he embraced an opportunity to invest in mining in PNG. This involved purchasing a helicopter and investing in community sustainability initiatives. The venture was not so successful from a financial perspective but the social capital was significant in circumstances where efforts were redirected to ferrying locals to otherwise, unattainable medical appointments. When is all and said and done he can honestly say he’s left it all on the field. He now wants to focus on doing one thing well, so he’s sticking to property. 

I’m writing some notes on the back of a shopping docket during our discussion after having charged my phone in the ‘VIP section' (aka pokie section) of the Coogee Pavilion. I’m typically disorganised and am fortunate enough to have found a pen after rummaging around in my bag amongst the litter of books and invoices. He’s making nachos for dinner and tells me can multi-task (circle back second paragraph). He’s talking while chopping and arranging corn chips in a more artistic fashion than you’ll ever find on the cover of your Old el Paso kit. He and his wife have two gorgeous girls, twins in fact. When the girls were little he would sit them up at the kitchen bench and teach them how to count. It’s reflective of his eagerness to impart knowledge and instil in them a love of learning and sense of enquiry. I write ‘little’ tentatively because ‘young’ would be more apt as Charles is 6ft 3 in the traditional measure and his wife is also very tall. By 12 years of age they’ll surpass me in stature for sure (if they haven’t already). 

Fatherhood seems to have brought him full circle. He and the family moved from Melbourne, away from the hustle and bustle, to Mt Eliza so the girls can live a more wholesome childhood. I get it. What I haven’t mentioned yet is that Charles and I both went to the same primary school in Sale. I fully appreciate the sense of community and the luxury of space that comes with living in a more regional precinct. We also share a passion for the Melbourne Football Club and have experienced the trials and tribulations that comes with supporting the Demons. As we talk about the girls and their aspirations, he comments that it wasn’t until he became a father of girls that he realised how gendered careers were portrayed in the media/society and the potential for it to influence young minds. Then he laughs recounting a pivotal moment at St Mary’s. You see not only do we both support the Dees, but we also played footy together. He was a flashy centre-half-forward and I was your typical honest back flanker. During one lunchtime game I got caught up in a Charles tackle (surely high) resulting in a broken arm which cost me a netball premiership. ‘I saw the player, not the gender’ he says laughing. The great irony is I think we were more concerned about what our mother’s would say, as both are formidable women in their own right. 

I’m one of his biggest fans. He has a wonderful, boyish grin and has struck that delicate balance of being easy-going but also having a sense of urgency and zip when the moment requires. He’s emotionally intelligent, a great conversationalist (he could probably make a eucalyptus divulge a secret) and above all else he’s kind, he’s so kind. He also understands that in life there are many roads that will get you to where you want to go, we’re not confined to the one most trodden. He admires his best mate and the godfather of one of the twins. ‘Jim’ realised early on that school was not for him and carved out his own niche to become one of Gippsland’s most respected livestock agents. Charles respects this quality and determination in others to choose the road less travelled.

His family and friendship circle continue to expand. They now have Hugo the labradoodle and Charles has joined the ‘Icebergers' a group who oceanswim without wetsuits early on Saturday mornings. He hasn’t lost his sense of inquiry and says he wonders what it would be like to establish a water world park on the bay, but then pauses… it could be problematic should a water slide detach and float into the ocean. The risk mitigation requires a little more work perhaps. One of the testimonies on the Icebergers website describes the experience as ‘invigorating’. I think Charles is invigorating. What a great word. He’s inspiring, fascinating, probably wouldn’t know what ‘a rut’ is if it hit him in the head, and I’m proud to call him my friend. I’d run onto the field of battle with this centre-half-forward any day.