Adrian Meyer remembered as a loving ‘quirky’ dad and ‘staunch environmentalist’

The family of a tourist who tragically died on the Great Barrier Reef this week has paid tribute to an avid nature lover and passionate snorkeller.

Angela Henson with her father Adrian Meyer who died during a trip on the Great Barrier Reef.

When Angela Henson first met her biological father Adrian Meyer five years ago, she knew she’d met an amazing person.

“I was adopted when I was five weeks old,” Ms Henson, 45, said.

“He had no idea about me until a few weeks before we first met.

“But we’d never have a phone call that lasted less than an hour after that. It was very special.

“Some people meet their birth families and it’s difficult. But he took me under his wing.”

Ms Henson, who lives in East Kurrajong around 80 kilometres northwest of Sydney, had arranged to meet her dad and other family in Cairns as a belated 70th birthday present.

“This trip was the first time when my brother and my dad, who live in South Australia, were all together at once,” she said.

“He lived and breathed snorkelling and that’s why we were there. He loved nature more than anyone I’ve ever met. He knew the names of fish and coral.

“I just loved his authenticity. He didn’t just say and do what you expected. He had conviction.

“He was into meditation and mindfulness. He did these things innately and had trinkets that he’d collected from all over the world.”

Ms Henson’s half-brother, Nick Meyer said their dad’s passion for coral reefs had led the family to venture north to Far North Queensland together.

“He was a staunch environmentalist,” he said.

“We bonded over snorkelling. The Great Barrier Reef was his mecca.

“He was the most beautiful human being with a heart of solid gold. He was quirky. Just one of a kind, really.”

A doting grandfather, Adrian Meyer (second from left), pictured with daughter-in-law, Simone, wife, Rosalyn and grandchildren Hendricks and Albie.

The treasured and loving patriarch’s tragic death on the Great Barrier Reef this week has devastated the family, Mr Meyer said.

“My mum (Rosalyn) has stage four cancer,” he said.

“Now mum has no carer anymore.”

Ms Henson said her dad’s passion for the sea was so great, he wished it could be his final resting place.

“It’s not even possible but he wanted to be buried in a glass coffin at the bottom of the ocean,” she said.

Originally published as Adrian Meyer remembered as a loving ‘quirky’ dad and ‘staunch environmentalist’