Daren

Earl Denman is an unusual character. He is quite comfortable by himself, and also in the company of the various African's who assisted him in his climbing of all eight peaks in the Virunga mountains, which sit between Rwanda, Congo DR and Uganda. In all likelihood he was the first to climb all eight of these mountains, five from Belgian Congo territory (which included Rwanda at that time) and the final three from Uganda. He undertook this in 1946, in preparation for his (illegal) attempt at Everest in 1947.

The climbing of these peaks takes the first hundred pages of this book, and, while slightly repetitive (climbing 8 mountains in a row in a similar setting with a similar but everchanging group of people can't really avoid being repetitive) it is well described and interesting.

While Denman says he had nor real interest in tourist traps and Mt Kilimanjaro, he couldn't resist climbing it quickly and without fanfare - he dedicated a grand total of five sentences on the topic... I can't really resist quoting them here.

P120

Here I was in easy reach of Moshi and Mount Kilimanjaro, which has seen too many people on it to hold any appeal to me. However, it is the highest mountain in Africa, and with the thought of Everest uppermost I went along to see what could be done about a quick ascent.

I did not greatly enjoy the climb, which in places was no more than an easy saunter. I actually ran the half-mile along the level plain before the scree slope leading to the 19,455 ft. summit.

From this point on, as he noted, Everest was foremost in his thoughts. He takes a ship to India and makes his way to Darjeeling, where he sets about to find guides prepared to accompany him without sanction from Tibet to cross from Sikkum into Tibet, hike to Everest and attempt a climb all without permission. In fact he must sign a contract to enter Sikkum, stating he will not approach the border of

Tibet, Nepal or Bhutan - which he convinces himself is not something he should feel guilty about.

Denman is incredibly lucky to engage Tenzing Norgay as Sherpa, and Ang Dowa (now I can't be sure but I am sure I have read about Ang Dowa before (although it might be a common Sherpa name), but obviously Tenzing was to accompany the 1953 British Mt Everest Expedition, and successfully summit with Sir Ed Hillary).

Tenzing and Ang Dowa both proved to be excellent companions and while (for example) the 1953expedition departed with 395 men all up (including porters), they were just a team of three. It is not spoiler to say that the attempt failed, but it is still a quite remarkable story.

The travel through Tibet is fascinating, as they were illegal, but also under great hardship staying in very undeveloped villages where it was tough to obtain much food and the accommodation was rudimentary and very cold.

I won't spell it all out, but after a long journey (albeit compete quite quickly compared to a huge group of people) the weather was not helpful, and they were very exposed to cold and wind. Their equipment was low quality and minimal, and they made the decision to turn back at a t time where they probably took the last opportunity to save their lives.

In the last chapter of book describing the journey back to Darjeeling Denman waffled on with some sort of strange philosophy, trying the justify all sorts of things to himself. He really ties himself all up in knots and the vast majority made little sense (to me, anyway). This was the only real letdown in the writing, but lasted only a few pages. The actual last chapter briefly described the 1953 British Mt Everest expedition and its success - as this occurred before Denman published his book.

I saw on the internet that Denman emigrated to New Zealand in 1982, and died here in 1994 - but I had not heard of him or his background before this book.

This was an enjoyable read. 4.5 stars.

Loosely termed a 'coffee table book', this really means a large format book with fantastic photographs, and usually more of the photographs than words. Certainly the photographs are fantastic - detailed pictures of flora and fauna, especially birds, but also historic photographs showing the human history of these islands.

Divided into sections - one for each island group (Chatham Islands, Bounty Islands, Antipodes Islands, Campbell Island, Auckland Islands, The Snares, and Macquarie Island), it steps through various aspects (Geography & Geology, Flora, Fauna, History).

It has an introduction, describing these groups of islands in the Southern Ocean, basically on the way to Antarctica from New Zealand. There is also a section on the future, a detailed bibliography and an index.

I bought this book after the (tourism) expedition I went on that visited The Snares, Auckland Island, Macquarie Island and the Auckland Islands. It departed from and returned to Bluff (near Invercargill, New Zealand), and was with the company founded by Rodney Russ (the author).

This is a great book for the basic facts around the islands, plus the history of each including the many ships wrecked and men stranded on these island groups. There are two outliers included here - one is The Chatham Islands - because they are not really subantarctic, they are too far north, but also because they have been inhabited since the 14th Century, whereas the other islands have had only minor sporadic settlements. The other outlier is Macquarie Island, which is a governed as a part of Tasmania by Australia (so I needed a passport to visit!).

Re-reading this brought back great memories of my trip in December 2019.

5 stars.

Maxwells third book of the Ring of Bright Water trilogy.

If you consider Ring of Bright Water is the introduction to Maxwell's otters, who are, lets face it, the stars of the show, and The Rocks Remain as providing the follow up of the otter's lives, then this book is the story of Maxwell's property Camusfearna in the books, but readily identified, unfortunately for Maxwell who received all sorts of visitors and interference after publishing the first book.

Maxwell tells us the origins of the name of this book as he sits on a hill above his property, trying to piece together how he can go on: P16

A single raven swept by, high on the hustling wind, his deep guttural croaks almost muted by its force. I remember how Wilfred Thesiger had once told me that when a camel caravan in Southern Arabia would sight a single raven overhead the Bedouin would attempt to annul the evil omen by calling to it, "Raven, seek thy brother!" It seemed too late now for that invocation.

And is an early indicator of the disasters and sadness Maxwell shares in this book.

It is hard not to have sympathy for Gavin Maxwell, and the complex events of his life. He is certainly an eccentric man, he is without very dedicated to the animals he bonds with, and has had more than his fair share of misfortune.

There is remarkable little in this book about the otters, other than Maxwells desperate struggle to rehome them in a sanctuary or zoo, and he final few chapters. It is more about bringing more structure and some of the goings on in the background that he wasn't able to share in the second book. His constant trouble with financing the property, the animals and his other attempts are revenue are documented well in this book. It seems he was taken advantage of and his trust, which was being managed by others was mis-managed, reducing his finances to zero. His other schemes to bring industry and use to the lighthouse properties he bought, for example just never got off the ground and those he employed to establish them didn't achieve the outcome and just left while Maxwell was overseas or tucked away writing, trying to meet his publishing commitments.

The Land Rover accident that initially seemed minor almost meant amputation of his foot, but instead was months of medical care and rehabilitation, preventing him from progressing other options that were to earn him money to save his property and lifestyle. This wasn't the only medical issue, and he went through a long stressful process when he was identified as possibly having lung cancer. After a long process he was cleared of this, however he was to die of lung cancer around a year after this book was published, in a sad end to events.

I won't delve more into the details.

4 stars