Moore Or Less The Perfect Existence

Sun Herald

Sunday January 21, 2001

By DEBBIE NEILSON

THE clean sea air and endless sunshine draws hundreds of tourists to Mooloolaba on Queensland's south-eastern coast every year.

Retired rugby league player Billy Moore, who represented Queensland in 17 State of Origins, his country in three international Tests and was a veteran of 211 first grade games (11 seasons) with North Sydney Bears (prior to their merger with Manly), has gone one step further, setting up residence beside the surf beaches and holiday resorts.

But the 29-year-old, who was born and bred on Queensland's Darling Downs, has been living anything but the retirement lifestyle.

He's now filling the shoes of celebrity restaurateur at his new award-winning business venture, a restaurant/wine bar, Earth Bistro a totally new direction but one which reflects his second passion, great food and wine. What would be your ultimate holiday? It would have to be a skiing holiday somewhere in Europe to get the mixture of the culture and adrenalin. I've only ever skied in New Zealand and Australia. Who would you take with you? I would definitely take someone who could ski well and had some first aid knowledge and someone with a love of food and wine. If you could sit next to anyone on a long-haul flight who would it be? Nelson Mandela. Besides a credit card what don't you leave home without? I travel very simply. If I've got my credit card I've got everything. The only other priority would be my toothbrush. Can you describe your worst travel nightmare? I was due in Hong Kong for the North Sydney Bears' end-of-year ball. I had to go from Istanbul to Hong Kong via Rome. When I got to Rome I had to check my baggage which made me late for my connection. I missed the flight but thought I could get on another one straight away. However, there wasn't another flight for four days. I was told the quickest way to get to Hong Kong would be to fly back to London and get a direct flight. So I flew back to London. But the plane was delayed and I missed that connection. I was stuck in London for two days. What would have taken me 18 hours took five days. What are you homesick for most when you travel? Familiar things like my own bed and pillow and my own rhythm of life. Favourite global haunts? Just north of Rome, in a region known as Cinque Terra, is a little seaside town called Manarola. There's a little bar on top of a cliff face. One of the most vivid memories I have is of sitting there with a beer watching the sunset and all the fishermen were coming back in to port with their catch. I would also revisit another little seaside bar in Turkey on the Aegean coast.

How often did you travel when you were playing league?

We were able to go away once a year for four weeks at the end of the season. I went to South Africa, Italy, Turkey, Ireland and America. I also travelled a lot around Australia with family and friends. Once we flew to Alice Springs and did Ayers Rock and the Olgas then caught The Ghan to Adelaide. I used to go up to Byron Bay when I was younger. Pick any town between Coffs Harbour and Noosa Heads and you can't go wrong.

How often do you travel now?

I haven't been on a decent holiday for 15 months. The last trip I made was to the ski fields in September 1999. I expected that setting up a restaurant would take up a lot of time but I would like to have a holiday sometime soon. My next trip will probably be to Melbourne and around Victoria. Before the end of the year I hope to sneak in a trip to Bali and a week in New Zealand to go skiing. My next big trip will be to France, Spain and Portugal but I would need a minimum of nine weeks. I don't know when I'll find the time. What's the tackiest souvenir you've ever bought? A CD I bought in San Francisco. I liked listening to the buskers and I thought one group were good enough to rival U2. But after I played it I threw it out.

What's the funniest situation you've found yourself in? One of my most vivid memories was when I went to Portofino in Italy. We had a long lunch and lots of red wine. Later, I decided to get a haircut back in Santa Margarita where we were staying. I couldn't speak Italian and the hairdresser couldn't speak English so it took an hour just to tell him what I wanted.

How far ahead do you pack? An hour before. I'm always late to the airport or struggling to get there on time. But I no longer beat myself up over it.

© 2001 Sun Herald

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