which remind's me that 221 years ago is not that long ago..the pub on the
corner was there when Bligh was around, so you can go and hang at the same
bar and try some Talisker!!
Saturday, July 17, 2010
Bligh's house..
which remind's me that 221 years ago is not that long ago..the pub on the
corner was there when Bligh was around, so you can go and hang at the same
bar and try some Talisker!!
Bligh's Grave..again!
Sunday Chris and I decided to head to the National Maritime Museum to check
out the James Caird replica there while we killed some time before our
flights to Australia..as we left there headed to the airport under GPS..I
said to Chris hey we should have gone to check out Bligh's grave...about 15
minutes later the GPS took us straight past the church..FATE..so we parked
and finally got to sit beside his grave for a few Quiet minutes..it was a
profoun experience I have to tell you. The church just across the river from
Westminster is now the Museum of Garden history and was Previously Bligh's
church..his house is just a few hundred metres down the road..His wife and
children are also in the same crypt. In 1977 the Church was to be demolished
to make way for a car park! The Australian Govt. wanted to save Bligh's
grave and offered to buy it! Eventually it was saved and a few years later
during renovations the Grave was accidentally opened by workers and Bligh is
reported to be a perfect skeleton with Ginger hair. It was immediately
resealed. To have just sailed along side him all that way and then to be
beside him there was a feeling too hard to verbalise?? But it was very
special and I suppose an interesting way to close the loop so to speak on
the entire expedition.
I have put up some links to the CNN online story and the BBC TV. I think the
60 minutes story could go up this Sunday in Australia?
Bit of a battle to get the Talisker Bounty Boat back to Sydney in time for
the Sydney Boat show. I heard this week that the ship may be delayed which
will be a disaster?..anyway should have confirmation this coming
week?..fingers crossed..if it does not make it I will still be at the show
twice a day giving talks about the trip on stage so come in and say Hi!
Chris is now in Sydney looking for work and Dave Pryce is up in Queensland
looking at a new boat! He may be about to sell his "Blizzard"
I head to Australia on Monday and something tells me I will be very
busy?....Don
FW: Talisker Bounty Boat on CNN
CNN have now posted the piece which can be read at http://edition.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/asiapcf/07/14/captain.bligh.voyage/?fbid=JjeOmtaEJCI
It’s a great hit with 35.5 million unique users per month !
Some radio interviews !
Chris and I doing London Radio stations!!
Here are the final versions of the radio edits from last week for your files:
http://www.yousendit.com/download/K0JRc2ZERncwZ2xjR0E9PQ
And the final versions of the audio features (without music) are here:
FW: BBC Breakfast Clips
| ||
| If the above link does not work, you can paste the following address into your browser: |
| 11.07.10 - BBC 1 - 08.50 hrs | ||
| ||
| If the above link does not work, you can paste the following address into your browser: |
Saturday, July 10, 2010
Duke and Duchess Dinner
A big week in England. Spent the first night with Mike Perham and his family and I am happy to report he has put on 8kg since the Talisker Bounty Boat training in in Sydney in Feb and is now fully recovered..he also happens to think Jessica Watson is pretty cute! I have put on 4kg by the way!
The reception by the Duke and Duchess at Chatsworth House was absolutely fantastic, incredibly relaxed and really special. Yes that is me in the dress on the sofa! With the Duchess on my left and the Duke is fourth from the left at the back. Most are holding a ship's biscuit, the very same ones that we had on Talisker Bounty Boat..I had brought them with me to include in the menu. We dined in the private dining room and the conversations were unique. I will never forget this special moment with sponsors, SIF friends and supporters with the Duke and Duchess being so warm, welcoming and really interested in everything that had happened since we were at the country fair ten months ago. I have been to some very regal occasions in the past but this was all of that but more like a dinner with old friends. I am so grateful for everyone’s involvement in this expedition and the kind words that were said that night. We did not leave till after midnight.
Next day I headed to Sheffield with my mate Stuart Keane to meet up with Prof. Pam Shaw to look at progress with the SIF building that is now due to open in Nov. this year. I was stunned. It is so exciting to see it for real. The work spaces are very modern and the work environment will encourage creativity. It is a huge facility and will house 150 researchers. This to me is like watching the logistics of a great adventure fall into place, an adventure simply because it really does have an unknown outcome, but we all know and hope that it will lead to something very special on into the future!
Then it was back to London for media and a presentation to our sponsors Talisker/Diageo at their headquarters. I had to pick up Chris at his home in a little village on the way and I had a better understanding of his “Quiet life” before becoming involved in this voyage..it is a little village with only a few hundred people in it…
Today I checked out a replica of the James Caird in Lowestoft, that has been built for another Australian Tim Jarvis for a future Shackelton recreation, but that is another story?
For now it is back to London and a visit to BBC Breakfast just before 7am on Sunday 11th..we will be on a second time, same day, just before 9am and this will also go to BBC networks around the world and be on BBC online so that is cool!!..we also managed another story on CNN online to 30 million people, so there are a few smiles at Greyling our UK PR company! They and Splendid our Aust. PR company, have been doing a great job. Talisker are all smiles!
Next on the agenda are discussions about the Book and Plans for the Documentary. The eBay Auction planning is underway and looks like the donations for SIF will climb through 100,000 pounds soon which is very exciting. To all who have been helping this fundraising challenge..THANKS..it will continue as part of the Talisker Bounty Boat expedition right through till the book comes out sometime next year.
Dave Pryce has recovered from the teeth issue, Dave Wilkinson arrived in the UK a few days ago with his daughter to go camping and Chris..well he is just in party mode!!..Me??..I am trying to slow my eating now and feel very healthy so life is good..
Saturday, July 3, 2010
Talisker Bounty Boat headed for Sydney Boat Show..another Kidney stone!..See Food diet!
I am in China at the moment just about to board a plane to the UK and the reception at Chatsworth House with the Duke and Duchess of Devonshire..all very exciting in itself but I will also get to catch up with all our friends at SIF and Diageo head office for our sponsors Talisker. Chris will be there too but unfortunately Dave Pryce can’t make it as he is in Hospital in Hobart as I write this having some wisdom teeth extracted under a General anaesthetic..they survived the Voyage..just!!..and Dave Wilkinson has family and Business pressures so will not make it either.
Hey I may have sounded a bit harsh with my comments on Dave at the end of the expedition..but just want to assure you all that Dave W. was a real asset to the whole voyage in so many ways..I really like the guy and could not have asked for a better shipmate. He added so much colour to every day, you have no idea!!. I fully understand that we are all different and no one is perfect..me included..which is the essence of life and the reason I so enjoy meeting new people from all walks of life…Dave pulled his weight in the big picture, so I am happy that he is a person with passion for his family, friends and work..that is something that is lacking in many people and is to be admired…that is the first ingredient to enjoying life…so in a strange way I did not really care that at the end of the day Dave left a little early…I know Chris and Dave felt the same…The differences in all the crew made the voyage and I am sure you all like reading the opinions and the little dramas as they happened. I look forward to sailing with Dave W again one day with real food!!
On that you may be interested to know that during the voyage we all had uncensored access to write what ever we wanted on the Blog without influence from anyone onboard..in fact we made a point of not reading each others blogs…funny part is I have still been too busy to go back and read what the others have said about me if anything!
It feels as if I have been off the boat for a month already so much has happened, but it is little more than two weeks. I am on a SEE FOOD diet wanting to eat everything I see, but now have to be very careful as my Bounty Belly is starting to come back and the voyage is over! I feel great though and happy to report that my Kidneys seem fine…After my last Blog I spent two days in bed with a bad attack of gout, then I had five days of kidney problems that finally lead to passing another 3mm stone. That was a huge relief as I was starting to think for awhile that it was not a stuck stone, but kidney problems! Margie was very keen to get me back to Australia as soon as possible for medical tests but fortunately it worked out OK. I will have the tests latter. Fortunately Chris, Dave and Jane were able to load the boat onto a truck and get it to the wharf as that last day was the worst and I was stuck in the hotel.
The boat then sailed as Deck cargo on a small freighter to Surabaya where thanks to the efforts of Graeme, it was finally loaded into a container and is now headed to Sydney for the International Boat show starting July 29th..Dave Chris and I will be at the boat by the main stage so if you can make it see you all there! We have left the boat as we got out of it so check it out!
The 48 envelopes we carried onboard with Pitcairn Island Mutiny on the Bounty stamps were postmarked Ok in Kupang at the end of the Voyage and the Talikser Scotch bottles survived the voyage so watch out for them when we have the SIF auctions latter this year.
I will be Blogging here every Friday now ( as a minimum! ) so check back for news regularly. I have had a few requests to do some corp. presentations about the Talisker Bounty Boat expedition which I would love to do but it comes down to timing. I am all over the place at the moment. If you are interested you can make contact through the web site here. You will need to make a substantial donation to SIF…I will give 100% of your fee to SIF if you cover all my travel expenses..so let me know if you are interested.
The initial plans for the Documentary series are underway and starting to think about the structure of the book. 60 minutes in Australia now look like running the story maybe on the 11th July in Australia?
Did I tell you that Chinese food is one of my favourites!!! It is so hard to control my desires…!!! Had to buy all new pants yesterday..none of my others fit anymore..My waste has disappeared and when I look in the mirror I still do not recognise myself. When I ran through some of the original video footage of us all the crew at the start..I could not recognise Dave W. and me..wow !! we were porkers!! I know Dave it going to try to keep it off..me too!! Will we succeed??..hope so…all the best..Don
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