What is the Question – November

For November’s What is the Question, Roland chatted with 3BA and Power FM Program Director, Garrath Cockerell.

 

What is your name?

Garrath Cockerell

 

What is your occupation?

Program Director at radio 3BA and Power FM.

 

What brought you to Ballarat?

I was in working in Perth on radio and wanted to return to Melbourne. I spotted a job advert for Radio Ballarat which was close enough to my target destination. I applied. I planned to stay two-years. I met my wife, built a home, bought a dog, and the rest is history!

 

What is your favourite spot in the city?

Lydiard Street with the great line of old buildings (the postcard shot); and Alfred Deakin Place, a great space to chill-out at lunch time on a sunny day, or sit when there is an event with food and music.

 

What is your earliest memory?

Christmas or Boxing Day in Perth when I was four years old, riding my new tricycle, and hearing about Cyclone Tracy. I was too young to understand the devastation of Darwin but I knew Santa couldn’t visit.

 

What do you like to cook?

Pasta. It’s not only the eating but what it represents. Baking sourdough bread and croissants. I am drawn to the rustic way of cooking, starting from scratch with flour everywhere, and sliding-out the freshly baked goods from the hot oven. You can’t beat it.

 

What is the most expensive thing you’ve purchased – property aside?

My wife’s engagement and wedding rings. I am not materialistic, but I felt those special occasions were worthy of quality rings to last as long as our marriage – the rest of our days!

 

What is your most treasured possession?

Memories and photographs. It’s the great life experiences which make for a great life, not the shiny items you buy in a shop, or online. My photographs unlock feel-good memories. I take photos which focus not only on the panoramic shots (like from top of the Acropolis), but also on the detail: the cobbled streets of Rome; a wine barrel in Seville; or an old peeling door in Venice.

 

What is the greatest love of your life – apart from friends and family?

Travelling! I love new cultures; watching people and learning how differently they do things. My father worked with an engineering company and the family moved regularly. We lived in the outback as well as the cities. I enjoyed the gypsy lifestyle. I attended eight different schools. I’ve been in Ballarat for ten years, the longest I’ve ever spent in one place.

 

What would you change if you could edit your past?

I wish I hadn’t smoked. I gave it up more than a decade ago.

 

What or who inspires you?

I’m lucky. As a presenter on 3BA – Ballarat Today – I get to interview a lot of inspirational people; those who’ve survived adversity and focussed on pushing-forward in life, regardless. Recently, I spoke to a former Special Operations Police Officer. He was shot fourteen times and survived. Equally, I have spoken with mothers and family members who have lost children through murder and suicide. Somehow, they’ve pushed through their pain to share their message.

 

What is your favourite holiday destination?

Italy! The Italians are aware more than anyone: you are only here once! They live life to the full and have the best art and craftsmanship. Everywhere you look they have carved or built something special. They enjoy their food and drink, and are very passionate. A guy selling some Limoncello (lemon liqueur) gave me and my wife some advice: “Don’t drink it with ice. If you do, you will break-a ma heart!”

 

What television do you like?

A mix! Four Corners and documentaries, to bingeing on Netflix (Ozark, Outlander, House of Cards, and The Crown).

 

What is your favourite quote?

In the end, it’s not the years in your life that count. It’s the life in your years.

 

What person – living or dead would invite to dinner party?

John Douglas who helped establish the FBI Quantico criminal profiling unit. He interviewed hundreds of serial killers for his book, Mindhunter, which became a television series. Jodie Foster’s character in Silence of the Lambs was based on that unit.

 

What qualities do you admire in other people?

Optimism, determination, self-control, the ability to laugh-off awkward situations, and a hungry mind. All the qualities my wife, Helen, has.

 

What was your first job?

Picking-up golf balls on a driving range. I was about nine or 10, and they paid me $5 a bucket.

 

What did you want to be when you were growing-up?

A Pilot. I think it was more about the travel it represented rather than sitting in a cockpit for hours-on-end.

 

What scares you?

Heights. I tried to step into the observation cube at Eureka Towers and was paralysed with fear. Having said that, I made a parachute descent with the biggest smile on my face. I was  ambushed live on air at a previous radio station and given notice of one-hour.