Howdy Folks,
I got some great news last week. Richard Sidey (Sich) confirmed that he’s onboard for the final continent expedition and super pumped to make the documentary!
For those of you that don’t know Sich, I first met him through good friend Hazel Boot the amazing singer/songwriter none the less. When she was visiting last year in Paraguay she told me to get in contact with him as he was working as a videographer onboard an Arctic/Antarctic cruise ship. After meeting the crazy Antarctic work obsessed guy (me) briefly in the port of Ushuaia, Argentina (Sich pictured above showing me where his cruise ship had come from on the hostel map I was staying at in Ushuaia) he made some inquiries a couple of weeks later and got the inside word that an assistant waiter was desperately needed. A month later the below photo was taken, Sich welcoming me to the continent of Antarctica.
So who is this guy that is going to be cycling along with us through Southern Africa with his camera in hand documenting the final continent expedition, tying in my working the world quest and the amazing stories of people I have met along the way. If you are concerned for my safety and want to do a background check and make sure he’s not some sexual deviant with a fetish for skinny 28 year old Kiwi males then check out the following links
Sich’s blog – http://sichonice.blogspot.com
His website – http://www.richardsidey.com
His trailer to his latest imagery film from 3 years of working in the Arctic and Antarctic- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0wV3V4VY4Rk
His award winning time lapse of New Zealand’s capital, Wellington, titled ‘Aeon’ – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jpjQa2aSgMk
If you went into the above links (Or just checked out these photos of his that I’ve posted – how crazy the one above with the bear) you will see that I’m extremely lucky to have someone of Sich’s calibre on board. But it’s not just his wicked camera skills that excite me or his stunning good looks (I should really avoid having pints before writing blog posts), it’s his passion for the project! The only thing I can offer him is the guarantee that at some point along the way he will wish he hadn’t volunteered for this role, accompanied with a sore butt (from cycling all day), the high probability of diarrhoea, mosquito born diseases, dehydration and most of all plenty of good times, laughs and an unforgettable journey.
We have already had some epic email sessions about the documentary, and if you know about my ridiculously long email writing reputation then you will sympathise with Sich who received my longest ever email, it took me over 2 hours to write, flat out non-stop, unpunctuated Hap excitable babble…….. This was Sich’s reply to my email
My god Hap, are you in the clinic getting treated for OOS yet?? That was one massive body of text. I read through a massive bowl of weet-bix and cornflakes mix, two pieces of toast with manuka honey and then two cups of tea and I was still reading. What an effort!………….
I’m not going to divulge much more about Sich’s idea, the documentary is his little baby, and a good looking baby too. He’s currently doing some covert operation in the Himalaya’s (he actually is, well not covert but he’s there cycling or hiking doing something adventurous, the kind of stuff we would all want to be doing right now instead of reading this with a full day of work ahead). But it isn’t all fun and games, there are plenty of things to organise before Africa, prior filming, organising of interviews, coming here to Melbourne for filming, Nelson for filming, overseas interviews and the biggest obstacle of all, gaining funding for the doco! Although Sich said if all else fails we can do it Kiwi styles with duct tape and number 8 wire with the gear he has at present. Ideally if he’s going to pour his heart and soul into this project he will be wanting to use the best gear he can get – plus I’m hoping better gear will make me look better. If anyone has contacts or knows of filming grants etc please get in contact.
So that’s it folks, come the 2012 NZ/Australia/International film festivals watch out for Richard Sidey’s documentary masterpiece!