Been meaning to post on this Blog for weeks but Facebook has been main vehicle for info so far. It is my 'intention' to post up here every week or 2 after I set off but wilI depend on such variables as time and internet availability. I don't want this journey to become too dominated by head in a computer downloading photos and thoughts to the detriment of the experience........Let's see how we go!
In just a few days, on Saturday 26 April, I'll push my kayak off the beach at Anzac Cove, Gallipoli, push the right hand rudder pedal and head east toward Greece. mediterr année, a 12 month, 15000km human powered circumnavigation of the Mediterranean Sea, will begin.
After so many years in the mind and the planning, it is great to be here in Turkey. Staying at Cannakale (with many thanks to the Turkish Government), I've left a month in Europe behind along with various boxes and bags holding trekking, biking and skiing gear. Now I have only the sea kayak equipment; set for the next 2.5 months along the Greek, Albanian, Montenegran, Bosnian and Croatian coastlines to Slovenia.
On Friday I'll attend, along with a few thousand Australians and Kiwis, the Anzac Day commemorations at Gallipoli. 2015 is the Anzac Centenary and many, many planets - health, weather, political and more - will need to align to ensure I arrive back at Gallipoli by Anzac Day, 25 April 2015.
The busyness of the planning and life in general has left little time for 'how do I feel?' but now, just days away from departure, I'm a little daunted by the task at hand. Sure I've done plenty of long 3-4 month expeditions but 12 months? I have often reflected in the past how explorers only a couple of hundred years ago would disappear for 2-3 years with no communications back to family, friends or sponsors. And return (or not!) to glory (or not!). Even 25 years ago a scribbled aerogramme (those under 20 please Google this) or a 2 hour queue at a Telegraph office to make a phone call home was the go from many countries. Now of course we over communicate (sorry!) and indeed I have dipped my toes into the shark infested waters (unlike the Med itself!) of social media for this little jaunt.
I recorded some thoughts in a 3 minute video last week sat upon a high pass in the Italian Alps. You can view it by clicking on this image
Fundraising for Save the Children.......
Partly this is to raise the profile of and hopefully a load of funds for Save the Children for the work they do with children affected by war in conflict in places such as Syria, one of the 20 countries I plan to travel through (hoping that the terrible situation there eases). I really hope you will consider donating - 100% of all donations go straight to Save the Children. It is as easy as following this link. You can make a donation of any amount or even buy a Country! I'd love to raise $100,000 or more. There is over $25,000 in the bank so far so I hope you can move me toward that target.
Follow the journey.........
There are a few ways to keep tabs on the journey:
Facebook - has been the main portal in recent months for providing snippets of information about the journey. I'll continue to use this as the expedition rolls on. Don't forget that you can look at this page without being a member of Facebook (for all you social media shy types!)
The Blog - I plan, once I set off, to post reports up on this Blog, probably fortnightly or whenever I have a bit of time and a wifi connection. Let's see how it goes!
Track Me - Horror of horrors I plan in the interests of fundraising etc to let you know where I am every day - something I never did for my mother nor do for my wife! People seem to love following moving dots. So to this end I will carry a Spot Tracker. Each day I'll press the button on this and it will mark where I am in the Mediterreanean on the Spot Adventure website. So you can see if I get stuck in a bar on a Greek island for 2 weeks........In the next couple of days there should be a link for this on the website Home Page which i'll also publish on Facebook.
The Website - has lots of background info on the journey, the fundraising, sponsors, me etc. You can also link to the items above from it.
Thanks to everyone who has donated so far, thanks for all the many people involved in the project and of course a huge thanks to my sponsors
I'm off to enjoy what I hope will be a bloody good adventure!
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