WEBVTT

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(gentle music)

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<v ->And when I was a little kid</v>

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imagining and jumping off walls and fences

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and what have you,

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I didn't realise where it came from,

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but I think it was in my DNA.

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(engine sputtering)

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<v Interviewer>In 1989, Gaby Kennard</v>

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was the first Australian woman

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to complete a solo flight around the world.

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She navigated east in her Piper Saratoga

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and took 99 days to complete the journey,

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29,000 nautical miles.

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<v ->Well, I never ever thought</v>

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about being the first Australian woman to fly solo

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around the world.

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Never thought about it.

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It was nothing to do with anything like that.

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It was just me wanting to do my thing

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and I didn't even know that anybody

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would be interested to be honest.

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(plane engine rumbling)

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<v Interviewer>Can you tell us</v>

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about how you made the decision to learn to fly?

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<v ->Oh dear, oh dear. That's a big question.</v>

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I was 32 I think.

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I had recently been divorced

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and then I started to think when I got my divorce,

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"Oh, what is it that I want to do?

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I better get on with what I want to do."

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And for the first time I really thought

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about what I want to do.

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And so the first thing was to learn to fly.

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I was passing by the Aerodrome in Albion Park

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and I thought, "Oh, this is a fabulous place.

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I love this aerodrome."

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And I'd actually been passing it

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for about 10 years

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thinking I should learn to fly. (chuckles)

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Makes me feel quite emotional just talking about it.

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But anyway, I finally got the strength one day to go in

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and say, "I'd like to learn to fly."

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And really, that was huge for me.

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And the first guy that I said that to

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who was the assistant flying instructor said,

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"Oh, no, sorry.

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I don't believe in women flying.

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So I'm not gonna teach you."

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<v Interviewer>Wow.</v>

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<v ->And luckily the receptionist</v>

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who was a really sweet girl

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she said, she got the CFI

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and, who was a chief flying instructor,

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and he came out and I said,

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"Look, I really want to learn to fly."

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And so I flew with him and we had a great relationship.

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You know, we really developed a good relationship

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and he tried to scare the hell out of me

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but it didn't matter what he did. (chuckles)

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He didn't scare me.

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So it was really quite a wonderful experience.

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<v Interviewer>Lisa Tomasetti</v>

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has created this incredible portrait of you.

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Something that struck me about the portrait

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when I first saw it

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was the expression you have on your face,

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this lovely, warm, vibrant smile.

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Do you remember what you were thinking about

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or what you might've been talking about

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with Lisa when the photograph was taken?

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<v ->I don't remember really exactly what I was thinking</v>

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or talking about,

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but it was a moment, a definite moment.

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And I was very grateful for it in retrospect

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because really I hate having my photo taken

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and I was very stiff and not good.

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And I did say that to Lisa.

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I said, "Lisa, I'm sorry

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but it's not gonna be an easy job that you gotta..."

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Anyway, it was funny because there was

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this little interaction between the assistant

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and the makeup person that did the makeup

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and Lisa and myself.

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And it was just a moment

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of sort of connection and mirth really.

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It was sort of a funny little connection,

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a sort of a cheeky connection, really. (laughing)

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<v Interviewer>And there's that little model</v>

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of the plane in the front of the photograph.

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Can you tell us a bit about it?

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<v ->I said to Lisa, because you know, I went to art school</v>

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and I was sort of putting myself a bit in her position,

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and I said to her, "Well how are you going to connect me

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with what I did?"

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And she said, "Well, you know, we talked about it."

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And I said, "Well, you could always use a plane,

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you know a little model plane, or..."

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and I think I had some other suggestions.

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And then I thought to myself,

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"Hey, shut up, you know. (chuckles)

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This is her thing, she's the artist."

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And so she found the plane, the model plane,

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and the guy who gave it to her said,

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"Oh, this is a reasonable representation

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of the plane that Gaby flew."

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But it was a good,

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it was a good way

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of sort of hooking the things up I thought.

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It all worked out.

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And I thought I was so impressed when I saw it hanging

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'cause it's really quite big too. (laughing)

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All I can say is that if you really work on something

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and do your best and keep trying, as Amelia said,

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"You gotta keep trying."

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You know, you will get there.

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And there was this, oh I could tell you

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a whole lot of other things,

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but I had this little plaque and it said,

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"If you can dream it, you can do it."

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And you know, that sounds a bit sort of up in the stars

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but 'cause you've gotta do the work,

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but it's true.

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If you put your mind to it and you work,

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you can do it.

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If I can do it, anybody can do it truly.

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Absolutely.

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You just have to try and you have to be inventive

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and you have to keep going and not give up.

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The hardest thing is to start,

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you know, like to get to the start line in the race,

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to get there.

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That's the biggest hurdle.

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But it's certainly not impossible.

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And I think I've proven that.

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Oh my gosh, I think you've covered

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quite a lot of ground really.

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<v Interviewer>So have you.</v>

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(all laughing)

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(indistinct speaking)