At 81 years old, Sam Cavallaro has lost none of the sense of adventure he has carried with him throughout his life.

The Cavallaro name has been a constant presence in the region since his parents, Joe and Angelina, moved to the area from Sicily over 100 years ago.

The couple were married when Angelina was just 15 years old, and she had Sam, their only son, when she was 16. They are now at rest in Mossman Cemetery.

Sam's family home opposite the airfield on the Captain Cook Highway between Port Douglas and Mossman sits on land the family purchased, and painstakingly cleared by hand to begin farming cane crops.

"When Mum and Dad bought the farm I said 'I'll work for nothing and I want to join the permanent Army'. It took a long time to pay the farm off. I never ever got paid.

"Dad decided to buy this place, and we cleared most of the land here. It's only 85 acres and we bought another 335, and then we cleared another block up in Julatten.

"In them days we were quite happy to clear the ground. The first lot of ground we cleared, we picked up all the sticks by hand and threw them into little heaps...in the afternoon before you knocked off you'd light them all up. Grace (Sam's wife of almost 50 years) picked her share of sticks too."

When he wasn't on the farm, Sam, then 16, and his friends used to go fishing in Dickson Inlet, sometimes using unorthodox methods to catch their dinner. He recounts one fishing trip in particular which didn't go quite to plan.

"I had two friends...We were blowing up fish, you know, dynamite. I'm standing on the snag with a spear, in only a pair of shorts, and a straw hat.

"As he threw the dynamite in, the branch I was standing on broke and I went straight through the snag, on top of it.

"I knew I was in trouble. As it went off...I came back up through the same hole.

"This is what makes me think we're all here for a purpose. I shouldn't be here," he said.

His death-defying acts continued when he purchased an ex-World War 2 motorbike in 1948. Sitting in his kitchen 65 years later, Sam demonstrates his favourite stunt that would often see him get pulled up by the local police.

"I could stand up on the seat, on one foot, straight up, with both hands out, going 35 miles per hour. I could do it anywhere - my balance was unreal.

"I didn't have to have a second go, it was on the first attempt. I heard they could do it in Cairns but I'd never seen it done, so I thought I could do it too.

"I've lost count how many times I've done it. There are still people alive that's seen me do it."

(At this point Grace adds that the only time Sam ever hurt himself was when he was riding in the normal sitting position on the motorbike.)



This love of adventure and sense of freedom soon saw Sam take to the skies, taking flying lessons with a local pilot without his parent’s knowledge.

Having clocked up half-a-dozen hours of flying in his early twenties, Sam took a break before returning to the skies in his sixties, and now has over 2300 hours of flying to his name including over 60 trips to Atherton.

A photo on his wall taken around six years ago depicts a moment in his flying career that would no doubt have caused Grace's heart to skip a beat, along with everyone else's who witnessed the feat.

A group of friends had gathered for wedding celebrations when Sam had an idea.

"Sam said 'take me back to the strip and I'll do a couple of fly pasts', " Grace recalls. "I said 'be careful of the power lines' and he said he'd fly under them but I didn't hear him."

Sam interjects; "I can get under them, I said. Don't worry. It's very easy you know."

Not once, but twice, the crowd saw the light aircraft fly just above the cane fields, under the power lines, and come out safely on the other side.

But Sam is proudest when he talks of his annual duty as flag bearer at ANZAC Day services in the region.

"The president of the Mossman RSL asked me one day (to be flag bearer) so I don't know how many years I've been flag bearer, but I'm really proud."

Sam and Grace have become regular travellers to Ireland where they meet up with friends - their fifth trip is planned for later in the year where Sam will no doubt partake in more than one of his favourite drinks.

"I usually have a Guinness, but I like to have a go at their moonshine. It's got no colour, it looks like water, but by gee it's got some grunt," he said.

Below: Sam plays a Slim Dusty tune - one of 45 in his repertoire.