HJ’s top 10s – heroes
|
|
My heroes are people I’d love to be like, people I can never be like, and I suppose, people who are a bit like me. They are what I respect and hope for in people. And if I can be a bit more like them in some ways, that would be great.
I think you can tell a lot about a man by his heroes.
So tell me, who do you look up to? Who do you really rate? Let’s hear about them.
 1. Sir Edmund Hillary
New Zealand’s most famous and best loved mountaineer, explorer and humanitarian. As a lad he wanted to be first to climb Mt Everest. Once he’d done that, he turned the same determination on helping the people of Nepal.
He’s every Kiwi’s hero for one reason or another but mine because he remained a down to earth bloke who was unchanged by his achievements. That and the fact that he liked winning and was a determined bugger.
He said, “In some ways I epitomize the average New Zealander: I have modest abilities, I combine these with a good deal of determination, and I rather like to succeed."
 2. John Britten
John Britten is a New Zealand hero in the classic mould - the boy from down under who took on the world and won. Not bound by factory convention or design tradition, John was free to dream and design. He designed and built a totally new motorbike which astounded the world and beat the best of international competition in a dream come true for New Zealand. Britten designed and built his amazing revolutionary motorbike with a small team of New Zealanders in little more than a garden shed. Someone who used his freedom, independence and imagination to do exactly what he wanted to.I always say you can tell a lot about a man by the things he loves and hates.
|