7NEWS’ Max Futcher shares his Great Day Out

Max Futcher reads the 6 p.m. weeknight bulletin on 7NEWS. He’s had a long career in journalism and covered stories around the world.

When he’s not working, he likes to relax with his family on the Sunshine Coast.

His favourite activities include swimming at the beach, hiking at Sunshine Beach and going for an ice cream.

Read the full transcript of Max Futcher’s Great Day Out below:

Hi I’m Max Futcher from 7NEWS. I present the six o’clock weeknight bulletin with Sharyn Ghidella.

I never set out to be a news reader. I was a journalist for 25 to 26 years, travelling around the world.

Some of the stories I’ve seen have changed my life. I married my wife after being caught in gunfire in East Timor. I decided there has to be more to life and came back home and asked my wife to marry me.

Thankfully, she said yes.

Working in TV can take up a lot of your time Monday to Friday, so when we reach the weekends, a great day out for us is to come to the beach. There’s nothing better than getting down to the beach with the kids to reset.

Particularly on one of those perfect Sunshine Coast days.

For the kids to get up here and get in the ocean, and they’ve done that all their life, I think is really great. Purely from a safety perspective, it is something that’s going to stay with them the rest of their lives.

There’s a spot just down Sunshine Beach where I asked my wife to marry me. And as many weekends as we can, we take the kids for a walk.

So Eva, this is where I proposed to Mummy. Asked her to marry me. Heard that story before a few times? Sick of that story?

We keep coming back here because it’s a special place for us.

I’m not someone who meditates or gets into yoga or anything like that, but going for a walk along Sunshine Beach in those familiar surroundings is as close to meditation as I get. I think it’s important to have that familiar place that we always return to.

What a beautiful day. That’s Coolum down there. See Mt Coolum? And keep going round that’s Mooloolaba down there. Such a clear day — you can see all that way.

Well if the kids are being good, there’s nothing better than having an ice cream or ice block at Sunshine Beach Village.

The village is a great spot, too, because it’s got restaurants and bars and you can find your own little corner. It’s not too busy.

And that’s my great day out.