adventure

Terri Irwin’s Life With Steve Irwin — And The World’s Most Exotic Wildlife

Bill Thompson
Photo by Eva Rinaldi

Perhaps no person in modern times has purposely sought out the world’s most exotic – and dangerous – wildlife quite like Australia’s Steve Irwin, also known as the Crocodile Hunter.

Whether it was crocodiles, venomous snakes, lions or elephants, Irwin wanted close encounters.

His companion on many of his “meet-and-greets” was his wife Terri. More than just spouses, they were partners as ambassadors to the animal kingdom.

But of course, as we know, in 2006 a stingray brought a sudden and tragic end to Steve’s life when he was just 44.

The following year Terri Irwin published a memoir, celebrating her and Steve’s life together. The book was called Steve And Me, and when Terri went on a book tour to promote it I had a chance to sit down for a few minutes with her

So here now, from 2007, Terri Irwin.

Terri Irwin is 60 now. She’s a naturalized Australian citizen, and along with the couple’s two children still operate Australia Zoo.

High-Flying Adventure: How Two Balloonists Conquered the World

Bill Thompson
Bertrand Piccard – Photo by COP PARIS
Brian Jones – Photo by John Mathew Smith

Hot air balloons, or lighter-than-air craft, have been around for centuries. But it wasn’t until March 1999 that humans were able to circumnavigate the entire world in a single hot air balloon flight.

The two guys who did it were British balloonist Brian Jones and Bertrand Piccard, a Swiss psychiatrist and balloonist.

They co-piloted a massive balloon called Breitling Orbiter 3, which launched March 1st,1999 from Switzerland and landed in Egypt 19 days and 27,900 miles laer.

Get your copy of Bertrand Piccard & Brian Jones’s book

I met them just eight months later, after they wrote a book about their adventure.

So here now, from November 1999, Brian Jones and Bertrand Piccard.

Bertrand Piccard and Brian Jones remain active in ballooning.

And in 2016, Piccard was part of the first round-the-world solar flight in history, piloting the Solar Impulse 2 on one leg of its historic flight.