A story About a Boy

If looked slightly west I could see some of the areas where I’d spent a lot of time hunting and fishing but today I was thinking I’d be lucky if I ever spent any significant time there again.

My partner Kieran called out to me that she thought it was time and could I please come and hold her hand. At this point I was a whirlwind of emotions as soon we would be welcoming Jake Nikko Carston into the world and selfishly I thought my hunting and fishing time was going to be severely interrupted by him.

When Kieran unexpectedly announced that I was going to be a father, my initial reaction was to bolt. I planned on running away to the West Coast and becoming a possum trapping, deer hunting whitebaiter. I was even going to change my name to Harvey Wilson (Barry Crump’s name when he had to pay tax) but my love for Kieran stopped this dream. As I held Jake in my arms for the first time – actually the first time I’d ever held any child – I thought he would just have to grow up quick and tag along.

Looking back now, I can honestly say that Jake’s birth altered