TRUNKEY Creek identity Sam Westwood looked a satisfied man on Tuesday.
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“Would you think I was 100 years old today?” he asked the Advocate as he sat in the sun outside his home on the outskirts of the village.
The World War Two veteran and long-time district resident was preparing for a trip into the village pub, the Black Stump Hotel, that night for a function to celebrate his milestone.
“They’re catering for 200 people,” he said. “I don’t know where they are coming from.”
But on Saturday will come the main event: when he jumps out of a plane over a property about a kilometre up the road to mark his century not out.
It might be a reason for nervousness if Mr Westwood wasn’t already an old hand when it comes to skydiving.
Back in 2007, the then 89-year-old jumped out of a plane for the first time after being dared by the Black Stump publican Craig Lusby.
A skydiving company left some brochures in the pub and Mr Lusby cheekily made mention of the activity to Mr Westwood.
“He said you would not be game, would you?” Mr Westwood remembered. “I said you pay for it and I will.”
And that’s what happened: Mr Westwood jumped out of a plane at Bathurst Airport not long after.
Having got the first one out of the way, he jumped a second time with a group of friends to celebrate his 90th birthday – and now a 100th birthday skydive is beckoning.
Mr Westwood, who was born and grew up in St Peters in inner Sydney, served in World War Two and spent years as part of the workforce on the gargantuan Snowy Hydro Scheme, among other jobs, retired to quiet Trunkey Creek about 35 years ago.
He lives on his daughter’s property, but remains self-reliant.
“I look after myself,” he said. “I do my own washing and ironing, cooking, whatever.
“I keep the place reasonably tidy.”
His 13-year-old dog, Toby, is good company.
“He’s my best mate. I have had him since he was five days old,” he said.
He has a vegetable garden that he tends and an orchard for fresh fruit and a rural view he says others can only envy.
And the chances of him going for another skydive when he hits 110? They might be better than a lot of people would think.
“I have got no intention of dying for a while,” he said.
Where others put their longevity down to healthy eating, regular brisk walks or a daily wrestle with the crossword, Mr Westwood has a more down-to-earth prescription.
“Plenty of sex and plenty of grog,” he said.