To say Stuart Groom is a passionate outdoor enthusiast would be an understatement.
Having recently tackled the demanding hike that is Mt Barney, he has challenged himself to do it again – this time climbing both the east and west peak.
“It was a pretty overcast day; it gives me a challenge to go back to see the view. I know how spectacular it can be,” he says.
When asked if he enjoyed the outdoors, his answer is pretty clear.
“I cannot stand the concept of an office; the ladies I work with laugh at me because come lunch time I’ve got to sit outside under the trees,” he laughs.
As well as working in a warehouse in Jimboomba, Stu is a hot air balloon pilot.
It was through his role as a balloon pilot that Stu, his wife Alison and two daughters, Jessi and Dani, were offered an opportunity to move to Australia from South Africa in 2017.
“When I grew up, my idea of Australia was outback, desert. My first month was spent up in Cairns and it blew my mind that there were tropical forests in Australia. It’s definitely not what I expected.”
“There was a lot of umming and ahhing back and forth; ultimately it came down to the girls, what Alison and I would do for them. Their future is so much brighter here. That was one of the biggest motivators.”
In South Africa, Stu worked as a game ranger and field guide at Pilanesberg National Park for 17 years, taking tourists on tours, safaris and bushwalks through the park.
“We were very blessed with the animals at our fence, rhinos in our backyard. It was pretty cool to grow up there.”
Stu is one of the few lucky people able to say they have met Oprah Winfrey.
“Oprah had booked a three day camp in the middle of the bush for 200 of her friends. In the set up to that she came out to preview the sites, to see what to expect. I got to take her on a safari.”
At this time, his eldest daughter Jessi was all of four days old.
“I said to Oprah, ‘look I’m here when my newborn baby is at home, can I prove why I was not next to her, can I at least get a photo as evidence?’ So, I have this selfie with Oprah now.”
One of the first things that Stu did after arriving in Australia was look for a cricket club to join.
“Cricket was my go-to sport through school, I played it a lot in South Africa, but South Africa doesn’t have a great system following on after school, so once I moved away from the big city there weren’t many opportunities for me to play.”
“When we moved here, the first thing I did when the opportunity came was look for a club.”
Stu joined the Beaudesert Cricket Club and has been playing for six years.
