Each day on The Great New Zealand Road Trip, we catch up with a notable and noteworthy New Zealander, posing to them the same nine questions. Today we hear from Olympic rowing legend Rob Waddell - gold medalist at Sydney in 2000.
What’s one word to sum up your mood right now?
Buoyant.
What do you wish that people knew about where you live?
It’s not that bad! Hamilton gets a pretty bad rap and tends to be the butt of a few jokes. I drove past a Tui Beer ad in Hawke’s Bay many years ago that said “let’s go to Hamilton for New Year’s - Yeah Right”.
But we really like living here. It’s close to a number of fun lakes and beaches, heaps of space, great schools for the kids, awesome for sport, nice people, and there’s a lot to do if you’re looking for some weekend adventures. Also, it’s the home of the Chiefs – Go the Chiefs.
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What are your passions?
Family first – Sonia and I are very committed parents, and it’s been a privilege to be part of the kids’ lives as they have grown up. They’re great kids and we’re really proud of them.
Second to that would be my work, which is forming partnerships between charities, schools, NFP organisations and businesses. There is so much need out there and we love to help. A great outcome for us is high social impact and the business being thrilled to be involved.
For me, it started off being a trustee for a few causes while I was still competing (Grassroots Velodrome, Halberg Foundation and the Te Awa Cycleway) and it’s grown from there into a full-time role. I love the outcomes of what we create but I’m also really fascinated by business and the personal development I’ve had to go through. Every day I’m excited to get into it and I hope that lasts a long time.
Which New Zealander (alive or dead) do you most admire?
A few come to mind – Sir Peter Blake because of the remarkable way he united a nation to achieve something so vast that helped so many (environmentally, professionally and economically) – and the legacy it created after he had left. To me, he epitomised leadership at its finest.
What is your idea of perfect happiness?
Of course, some terrible things are going on globally at the moment, which we’d all love to change, but I’ll keep this answer simple and contained to my small world. Perfect happiness for me would be “those whom I love and care for leading healthy, happy and fulfilled lives and achieving their highest potential”
What is your greatest fear?
It’s an obvious one – but losing someone near and dear.
What is it that you most dislike?
Probably cafe music! – with my work, I often spend time meeting clients outside of the office, and I generally find cafe music to be distracting and very uninspiring – more akin to elevator music and holding music for overloaded phone lines!
What is on your bucket list?
We love the outdoors in NZ and have done a number of the Great Walks and bike rides as a family. Keen to get a few more of those done.
Sonia and I spent lots of time travelling when we were competing, and then we’ve been committed since then with family, mortgages, life etc! I’d love to do some more travelling overseas with our son and our family, but to several places we’ve not yet been.
What do you hope/ think NZ will look like in 10 years?
I’m really proud that NZ is a world leader in so many areas, including innovation, sport, integrity, business and the environment. There’s a unique opportunity for us to keep those all growing and developing to an even higher level.
At the same time, I’m saddened by some of our bad statistics. I’d really like to see us solve some major societal problems we have with family violence, homelessness, mental health, addiction and our overwhelmed health care system. It would be a dream for us to reverse these problems altogether. Ten years won’t be long enough to make a total change, but it’s enough time to start turning the ship.
Editor-at-Large Shayne Currie is one of New Zealand’s most experienced senior journalists and media leaders. He has held executive and senior editorial roles at NZME including Managing Editor, NZ Herald Editor and Herald on Sunday Editor.