The Long Road
Adventure is worthwhile – Aristotle
The Australis is now anchored in Fortuna Bay revelling in some cracking good weather. While we’re enjoying the sunshine and ridiculously mild 8 degree temperatures – the weather up where Tim, Baz and Paul are could be different. The weather patterns here are notoriously difficult to predict. Just minutes ago the wind was gusting at 45 knots from the west, a few seconds later it was blowing 5 knots from the south – a real Jekyll and Hyde act.
The trio of troopers have passed Breakwind Ridge (yes that is the real name of their current location and no, it never stops being funny) and are now heading towards Stromness – the final port of call in this epic expedition. At times, I am sure they would have had a head filled with doubts about why they are doing this. Despite the physical and mental hardships endured, the dark hours and times of desperation, it would be easy to forget that adventure indeed is worthwhile. But that’s the thing about challenges – at the time it may seem an impossible trial to get through but upon reflection it almost always seems like the finest hour of life. Perspective does that, it’s a real softener. At the time, it’s like you’re viewing events under a harsh microscopic lens, but in retrospect the very same event appears in soft focus. It may take these guys a while (and a few drinks) to get to that stage, but I am confident they will, at some point.
In an expedition with more twists and turns than a game of snakes and ladders, it’s been hard to forecast anything. I’ve long since given up trying to predict any outcomes, however I feel safe in saying that the arrival of Tim, Baz and Paul into Stromness is imminent. I just spied them through some binoculars – they are but tiny specks in the distance but they are all together and moving in the right direction. Stay tuned for further updates!
- by Jo Stewart, Shackleton Epic blogger
Amazing news!!! Just incredible. Many, many, many congratulations
By the time I send this the team will have arrived in Stromness. What a wonderful achievement full of grit and determination, I can,t wait to see the whole story on video. My congrats to all concerned. GB
Just bursting with pride I am on the verge of crying because of the the reality of what these men have achieved is of overwhelming enormity!! The worldwide Media should hang their heads in shame at their lack of coverage of this Historic re-enactment!! Not only are there 2 Australians involved, one of them is my son Paul Larsen, but also 4 other courageous men ALL worthy of worldwide recognition! Enjoy the Shackleton Whisky you fantastic ADVENTURERS .
Ann Larsen
CONGRATULATIONS………. Knowing how hard you have all worked you deserved to succeed. Now send my husband home- I’ve got a list of jobs round the house waiting for him lol
Congratulations to all: a wonderful achievement in memoriam.
Congratulations to the brave adventureres! Well done, Fantastic Five! Bravo! Good show, everybody! Enjoy the Shackleton Whiskey! Raise a glass and give a toast! Three cheers! Hip! Hip! Hurrah!
An amazing achievement and fantastic kickoff for the upcoming 100th anniversary of Shackleton's Endurance expedition. HUGE congratulations to Tim and his very impressive team!
Congratulations, fantastic effort. Well done.
I too am bursting with pride at what Tim and his amazing team have achieved. CONGRATULATIONS to all six of you. I agree fully about the worldwide media, particularly the British media who should be running this story with patriotic pride – let's hope they sit up and take notice now. And a HUGE thank you to Jo for the wonderful blog which has been a daily tonic and lifeline for me and the boys as we sit here in Adelaide, and which has turned what could have been such a stressful and worrying time into an exciting journey for us as well. With warmest and proudest love from Elizabeth, William and Jack (and Tim's mother-in-law!).xxx
We were so delighted (and relieved) that you, Baz and Paul made it safely to Stromness. Our congratulations to you and the whole team on a marvellous achievement. A superb and fitting tribute to Shackleton of which you should all be proud.
Congratulations to Tim, Baz, Paul and the rest of the AS crew"! Have really enjoyed following your adventures since leaving Elephant Island – Top men all!!
Having just arrived home in Chesterfield from North Wales and driven over the Peak District in very snowy and near whiteout conditions, at times not sure whether we would make it home, and dashed upstairs to logon to Shackleton Epic, this brilliant news is a very fitting end to the day.
The courage and tenacity of Tim and Barry to push on in such extreme conditions is something to behold, and what a good bloke Paul must be to go back up and join them to support the effort. Very very well done boys, the world is not such a bad place when people are inspired to do things like this.
And what a brilliant job Jo Stewart has done too. Your updates, pictures and blog have been really superb, your emotion really comes through in your writing and those quotes every day have been so fitting, can I have a copy of them all!
Well done to all the team and all involved, just wish I could be there when they come in!
Howard Lancashire
It inspires me to know that there are still adventurers out there with the vision, zeal and fortitude to make this happen. Very impressive! Congratulations to the whole team!!
Tim,
I had no doubts you'd do it….and do it well….. well done !
Gov
What an amazing acheivement! Well done to the whole team – very inspiring stuff!
The first ever successful reenactment of the open boat journey and the crossing of South Georgia, and not until 97 years after the original event – what a tremendous world-class achievement! You men are the real deal! Congratulations to Tim, his crew and all the support personnel too! Simply remarkable!
Well Done!!!
You guys are amazing! What an effort!
You had me wondering from start to finish whether you could replicate Shackletons amazing rescue effort under the same conditions using the same equipment as he did…
Me and a few mates back in Oz had wondered a couple of times whether this would be the last time we saw our great mate Paul Larsen. After all he has achieved lately, fulfilling his life long speed sailing dream we thought he had flipped his lid, bitten of a bite too big??…., I mean how much adventure can one man have in a lifetime? Plenty
Well done to Tim, Nick, Paul, Barry,Seb, Ed and Paul…you made it!! A great team effort along with all the support crew and special dibs to Jo who opened up this world of adventure for us!
Macklinlay's all round!
Colin Ure, Healesville, Vic, Aust.
Jolly good show men!! I have been folowing your progress three or four times a day on your site since leaving Elephant Island and just thrilled to come home from mass and see the photo of Tim and Barry in Stromness. A toast of Shackleton's Whiskey to the six adventurers, the Australis crew, your support team, and all who lent a hand in this EPIC!! "The Boss" is surely smiling from above.
Congratulations to everyone involved – an amazing achievement all round. Looking forward to celebrating upon your return to Adelaide!
Heartfelt congratulations to Tim, Baz, Paul, Seb, Nick and Ed for this incredible achievement. Big thanks to Jo for the wonderful updates and photos, and the behind the scenes support of the Australis crew: Ben, Skye, Magnus + Dr Alex + the RAW TV team + literally 100s of others. I'm in huge admiration of what you have achieved. It's such a phenomenal centennial tribute to Sir Ernest Shackleton and his men – when you bring fine leadership, determination, commitment, patience, passion and a lot of love together in an extraordinarily beautiful precious location – so much is possible! A big toast to you all and your families! I look forward to celebrations in Oz.
If Tim's vision can achieve this – of course we can tackle climate change – we just gotta get on with it!
My fellow school-mates and I have been following your progress for some time! Here in the United States, we are very proud of your accomplishments! Keep it up, it is truly an inspiration!
Tim. Congratulations from everyone here in Adelaide to yourself and your amazing team for this incredible journey and phenomenal challenge. We are all very proud of you all and very pleased now everyone is safe and well.
Congratulations lads …
Brilliant result. I have followed the expedition all the way. A truly remarkable journey. My one sadness is you have, from what I have seen, is your journey has not been well reported in the British press hopefully in the next few days your achievement will be recognised.
Oh guys….absolutely wonderful news…i am so so happy for the six of you! You are the finest and the best. What a challenge is has been and now you have completed
it with so much determination….thank you for sharing with us all your daily news…Shackleton understood the importance of leaving a legacy for the generations to come
and now you have completed your most important task which is to have risen awareness about the Antarctica. You are in the news all over the world…and we saw Seb
in the local Kidderminster Shuttle and Nick in the Echo Daily. I am not sure about the rest of the British Media….but i have seen reports about Tim in the Australian Times.
So glad to hear from you in this glorious manner…now to eat and wash and rest lol…and to enjoy the 8 degrees of today! Today you are in glory the six of you….enjoy
your Shackleton Whiskey and don't forget a little do in his honour as it is his birthday on the 15th of February (1874). Tim, Baz, Paul, Seb, Ed and Nick you are the heroes
of the day…now the documentary! with all those glaciers and icebergs, with all those mountains with funny names…they were given names by Shackleton…and the fauna
and flora that awaits world attention…yes…perhaps now the MEDIA of the world will throw light of the Antactica to the whole planet and thanks to you we can save it and
heal it…thank you Tim….thank you Baz….thank you Peter…thank you Seb….thank you Ed…thank you Nick…All love and blessings….it s great to show such a monmentous journey.
The same for Jo, with the amazing recounts of the day and for the Camera Crew, Dr. A. Kumar and the rest of the Australis Crew….marvellous achievement….x x x x x Seb
we send you all our love and support, you and friends will be fine…take good care of yourselves…all our love son…x x x x x
Congrats gents! A great end to an epic journey. What an inspiration to everyone.
Thanks for sharing your adventure with us.
Congratulations to all the team,what a fantastic achievemen! Despite being in some remote areas of Tanzania with some dubious internet connections, we followed your progress throughout. B and James McGill
EXCELLENT…what a fantastic achievement….well done to all! Toasting you with the Macinlays even though it's 10AM in the UK…!
Enjoy the trip on Australis to the Falklands – it was a real pleasure to meet you all.
Nigel
Many congratulations to Tim and his crew – what a fantastic achievement and fitting tribute to Shackleton. Have followed Jo's amazing blog daily, thank
you so much. Hope The British Press give some coverage and recognition to the journey these six brave men have undertaken and completed – we are all so proud of you.
Tim, Nick, Paul, Barry,Seb, Ed and Paul - CONGRATULATIONS!!! A massive, brave effort. Epic and inspiring indeed. Good work.
Congratulations Tim and all the crew. An amazing feat…Tim, we look forward to having you back home in Adelaide. Looks like you need a good feed ! Michael has a nice glass of red waiting for you… Love from Jo, Michael and the boys xxxxxx
Congratulations to you all,
a gripping re-enactment of a truly inspiring survival story executed with absolute professionalism, dedication and sheer passion for Shackleton's achievements.
A job well done.
Tim, Seb, Baz, Ed, Nick and Paul.
Congratulations on this monumentous achievment.
I can only imagine how fine that whiskey tastes right now!!
Enjoy it, you all deserve it.
CONGRATULATIONS TIM to you and your team, hugh achievement under such difficult conditions. To be the first team to successfully re-enact the boat journey and the mountain climb in one go is truly amazing. I can't wait to see the full story on film.
Tim and the team – warmest congratulations on achieving the goal – a truly wonderful feat. We are greatly relieved and look forward to catching up in due course and hearing everything first hand. Well done again.
Many congratulations to Tim and his crew – what a fantastic achievement and fitting tribute to Shackleton. Have followed Jo's amazing blog daily, thank
you so much. Hope The British Press give some coverage and recognition to the journey these six brave men have undertaken and completed – we are all so proud of you.
Many congratulations to Tim and his crew – what a fantastic achievement and fitting tribute to Shackleton.
We have followed Jo's amazing blog daily, thank you so much.
Hope the British press give appropriate coverage and recognition to the journey that these six brave men have undertaken and completed.
We are all so proud of you.
Why didn't Shacklton sail to Stromness?
Hi Tom,
Stromness is on the northern side of South Georgia island. The little 'James Caird', like the Alexandra Shackleton, doesn't have a keel and couldn't sail around to that side – it just had to go where the winds took them pretty much! That's why they landed on the south side and had to cross the mountains. Read Shackleton's book SOUTH for a good account.
Been waiting for this day ever since I put the last stitch in the sails almost a year ago. So many disasterous things might have happened but they didn't. Obstacles overcome, then real fortitude, no looking back, — Endurance. And now its done, its finished. Marvellous news. — Splice the mainbrace!
Congratulations is an inadequate word. A brilliant achievement. It has been fabulous to be able to follow the epic as it unfolded. Something denied to those interested in Shackleton's original expedition. Thanks for sharing your journey with us all.
I'm so proud of your achievements. I'm sure Shackleton is too. Well done.
Congratulations to Tim & the boys!!!! What an amazing & epic journey you have all been on! A remarkable experiance that you will always hold on to. It's been great to be able to share a glimpse of your days through the blogs. Conratulations once again for your remarkable planning, courage & Endurance! Bask in the glory & put your feet up!!!
Dear Tim and Crew- Congratulations on a fine project and accomplishing so much. I was involved in the making of several Shackleton films and built 3 different James Caird replicas and have been in The Drake, Elephant Island and S. Georgia many times. I only wish I could be with you when you scrutinize my J. Caird Replica which resides at the Museum at Gritviken. A hearty Well Done to you and your Organization for a well executed mission/ Cheers/ Bob Wallace
Congratulations!!!!!!!!!!!!! I cant wait to see the Documentary…………
Congratulations…..to all the Team and looking forward to the documentary.
CONGRATULATIONS TIM AND YOUR TEAM ON YOUR AMAZING ACHIEVEMENT. FOLLOWED IT DAILY AND THOUGHT OF YOU OFTEN. THE COMPLETE STORY WILL BE EVEN MORE INCREDIBLE. WE ARE SURE !!!
Many, many congratulations to Tim and all the team!! We have been following your progress daily from the south of Chile, save the past four days when we have been away from any internet connection, but you have all been in our thoughts and prayers. Jo's blogs made us feel as though we were with you; well done from all the family on achieving what you have – worthy of The Boss, and an inspiring example to us all. Thank-you!
Patrick, Gigi, Charlotte, Madeleine, Emily, Eliza, Lucy, Ben, Cecilia and Tom