Barry and I have booked our flights to New Zealand. We leave home on 22nd January and arrive in Christchurch on 24th. We’ll start the expedition as soon as we get organised and buy things like food & flares – probably around 25th or 26th. A big thanks to ‘the North Face’ who have not only given us some of their lovely kit to keep us warm, but who are also giving us £2,000 towards the trip. (We’ve just given it all to a travel agents to pay for our flights!). Our kayaks are already half way to NZ thanks to Seakayaking UK and Lendal ( and Shawna and Leon from Body Boat Blade who are helping transport the kayaks from the NDK container to Lendal in Washington). Thanks to all of them.

I’m very excited for this huge challenge in a beautiful place, and I’m also full of anticipation. I’m reading with great interest how Freya is getting on on her circumnavigation of the South Island which is going on right now If you haven’t done so already then check out her blog – she’s not having an easy time of it with dumping surf keeping her off the water for longer than she’d like. http://freyahoffmeister.blogspot.com/

For the next 2 months, I’ll mainly be at home in Wales, starting to edit ‘This is the Sea 4’ ( to be released in late 2008), and getting out in my kayak in surf and challenging conditions as often as possible. I have just found out that I will be going to Israel around 22nd November to help Hadas Feldman out with a symposium that she is organising there, so that will be fun!

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