December 29, 2024 • 42 mins
In the latest episode of Great Chats with Francesca Rudkin, Eric Idle talks his decades long career and what keeps him going in the comedy world.
We get in an insight into the life of the SAS with ex-commander Jamie Pennell.
And Australian sailor and world record holder Lisa Blair talks her journey around Antarctica and the documentary that followed.
Great Chats with Francesca Rudkin brings you the best interviews from Newstalk ZB's The Sunday Session.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:06):
You're listening to the Sunday Session podcast with Francesca Rudgin
from News Talks EDB. The big names, the fascinating guests,
the thoughtful conversations, bringing you the best interviews from the
Sunday Session. This is Great Chats with Francesca Rudkin, empowered
(00:27):
by News Talks AB.
Speaker 2 (00:29):
Hello and welcome to the summer edition of Great Chats.
I'm Francisca Budkin and in this podcast we bring you
some of the best feature interviews from the Sunday Session
on News Talks HEB Throughout twenty twenty four. One of
my most charming guests on the Sunday Session over the
year must have been legendary entertainer and Monty Python founding
member Eric Idle. We caught up to talk about his
(00:51):
tour to New Zealand, which took place in October, but
we started off by talking about the most requested song
for British funerals, always Look on the Bright Side of Life.
I asked Brian whether he thought the song from nineteen
seventy nine would still be floating around now.
Speaker 3 (01:07):
No, I mean it's fairly mostly improbable. I mean it
was a it was a suggestion for how to end
the life of Brian when all our characters were being
crucified and we didn't know how to end it. And
I said, let's let's finish with a song and it
will be it could be song. We can be crucified
and we can sing a nice, little cheery song like
a Disney song with a little whistle. And then I
(01:28):
went home and wrote it, and I brought it back,
recorded it and brought it back next day and it
was in the scripts and suddenly, you know, so then
we then we were filming it and I revoiced it
in Tunisi up on mister Cheeky's voice, and now and
then about you know. Thirteen years later it was re
released again and went to number one in the UK
(01:49):
and then in the in two thousands it suddenly it
became the number one song requested a British funerals, which
is kind of which is kind of sweet. I mean,
I do think that's very sweet and funny.
Speaker 2 (02:03):
It has had a lot of different lives really the song,
hasn't it.
Speaker 3 (02:07):
It certainly has. Absolutely.
Speaker 2 (02:10):
You are now touring a show, you're hitting here, is
it a motto you stick to to always look on
the bright side? Of life.
Speaker 3 (02:17):
Well, I am an optimist in the mornings. I'm a
pessimist by night, but I'm an optimist in the morning.
So I think maybe it's just a boarding school habits.
You have to start a new day, get on with it,
what else, you know, don't let anything hang over from yesterday.
So I think it is a very good motto, and
I think it does encourage people. And they write to
me a lot and say it meant a lot to them,
(02:40):
And it means a lot to them. And you know,
I think if you can make them laugh and smile
and feel a little better at funerals, that's a really
nice thing to be able to achieve. Even though that
didn't set out to do that.
Speaker 2 (02:54):
There's something that Monty Python certainly did made us laugh
and smile. What impact has Monty Python hit on your
life and career? I mean it's been messive, hasn't it.
Speaker 3 (03:05):
Well, yes, it not us all. You know, it did
go side risk because I mean once it's in America
and we were famous in America. Well then you know
you do certainly not live and at least all sorts
of different worlds. But I think you know it also
had effects on there are a lot of people wanted
to know you and get to know Some of them
(03:25):
were quite interesting. A lot of rock and rollers, for
for example, wanted to know us because they love the show,
and you know, rock musicians always very close to the
comedian and vice versa. And because I was able to
play guitar and I was able to hang out with
a lot of them and play, you know, and that's
kind of a nice thing to do.
Speaker 2 (03:45):
The longevity of that work too. So I've watched Monty
Python with my two teenagers and they've laughed. Sometimes we're
laughing at different things, Eric, But that comedy it still works.
Speaker 3 (03:57):
I know, it is intriguing, and it's also not supposed
to be. I mean, you know, the Holy Grass fifty
years old next year. I mean, I don't remembers watching
fifty year. I suppose we watched some fifty year old comedies.
I mean, we watched Harold Lloyd and you know, well
this is Lauren and Hardy and things like that. But
(04:19):
they seemed in a different era because they were in
black and white. And I think one of our luckiest
things was that when we first did the TV show,
we were only three months from being in black and white.
Color was new and we were in color, so we
were both digital, which is great because it can survive,
and we were in color. And those are the only
(04:40):
two reasons I can explain why the longevity of it
is because we're still in the digital era.
Speaker 2 (04:46):
Well, that's interesting. Look, I did wonder when watching it
whether we are still whether it's still okay to be
laughing at Monty Python and twenty twenty four. Have people
given you their opinion on that?
Speaker 3 (04:59):
I'm sure they have opinions, but I don't tend to
listen because I don't read anything that has it it's opinionated.
I mean, you know, if people wanted and they laugh,
I think it might have gained a few passes because
it's so well established, you know what I mean. But
I don't like people telling people what to laugh at
and what not to laugh at. I'm not in favor
(05:19):
of that. I think the point about comedy is to
say the right thing at the wrong time.
Speaker 2 (05:24):
I read that during the Monty Python days, the others
kind of paired up to write, but you would often
work on your own. Why was that you? Is that
the way you preferred to work?
Speaker 3 (05:34):
Well, I still work on my own, so I didn't
lose my partner. I have writing by the thing you
do on your own. I didn't like. I don't like
talking to people in the mornings. And you know, if
you write with a partner to chalk all the time.
And so I didn't. And that's just who I am,
(05:55):
and I don't think. I think the only partners I
ever had was I had a part uncle, John Duprey,
for about forty five years. It was a musical partner
who wrote music. I had a partner Neil Innis, who
wrote the russellsong.
Speaker 1 (06:06):
You know.
Speaker 3 (06:06):
So I would tend to partner with people who couldn't
do what I could do, and I couldn't do what
they couldn't do. I think that's the best form of partnership.
Whereas you know, somebody like a Cleese has to write
with somebody, get to write with Graham Chapman, and then
he wrote Faulty with Connie Booth. You know, he wrote
Wander with the director. You know, he has to have
somebody to always to channel it through. And I feel
(06:29):
fortunate that I don't. I don't need that. I write
every day, you know, I write what comes into my
mind and see all that's interesting or maybe that will
lead to that or shall I But sometimes I just
write down when i'm thinking it's I find that interesting.
Speaker 2 (06:44):
You've been in show business since nineteen sixty one, sixty
three years, which is incredible. Do you think you'll ever stop?
What's keeping you going?
Speaker 3 (06:54):
I don't know. I mean I think I would. I
might stop, but I think this the time is not
right to stop, you know. I mean, it's kind of
fun to be while you can still come to New
Zealand and it's it's still amazing to be able to
do that and so still entertain an audience. I think
that's a fortunate position to be in at my age
(07:15):
and stage of life, especially as I had to survive
cancer to do it. I feel very much a fortunate man,
and I got a reprieve and I can see a
bit more of the world and a bit more of
you know, beautiful New Zealand. I mean, what fun is.
Speaker 2 (07:30):
That you had pancreatic cancer, as you mentioned a few
years back, and you really didn't tell anyone about it
until you had the clear Was that the way that
you just wanted to deal with it?
Speaker 3 (07:43):
Well, I think the thing is when you deal with
something like that, it's not so bad for you. It's
worse for your wife and your children, and so you
have to you go through that. But I didn't feel
I should come out and broadcast it. And then I
was asked to be on the Mass singer and I thought, oh,
I wonder if I can still do this. So I
went and did it, and then when it came out,
(08:03):
I thought, I'm going to use this opportunity to child Paul,
because this is an encouraging news that somebody, somebody survived
pancreatic cancer, you know, and we can we can conquer this,
and so I help them a bit, you know, on
charity things. And I'm very much in favor of of
people giving money to pancredit cancer charities because we are
(08:27):
improving very very rapidly the numbers of survivors because we
now know or in a blood test, and you know,
it's it's managed to just gets better and better, which
is quite good news.
Speaker 2 (08:40):
Yes, yeah, tell me about the show you're coming in October.
A mix of comedy and music. What's an Eric Idol
show like?
Speaker 3 (08:50):
Well, it's like a one man musical. I mean, it's
it's got favorite bits in I've I've tried to make
sure that nobody's seen the things I'm playing. I'm playing
things from Rotten Weekend Television, nobody's seen. I'm playing bits
from the Ruttles. Nobody's was scene. But also I have
a virtual band which I've been working with, and they're
(09:12):
they're sort of a part time they're like the Monkey's
band and they play with Mickey Dolan's mainly. But they're
very nice and I've got them on screen singing along
with me. So this is a first time everybody's been
on tour with a virtual band. And of course they're
much easier than taking real musicians on the road because
they're you know, they're not you know, getting drunk and
(09:32):
being smelly and all that. So so it's kind of,
you know, it's it's I try and surprise people when
I create a show. I spent two months on it,
and I try and you know, think, well, what's what
haven't they seen? What? What will amuse them? What will
be different? Why will they like this show? How can
(09:53):
I surprise them and tickle them? And that's what I
try and do.
Speaker 2 (09:57):
I'm surprised you don't have musicians with you, because I
know that you've had great friendships with musicians. You've been
drawn towards musicians throughout your life, really, haven't you?
Speaker 3 (10:07):
Yes, but you can't afford to take a band on
the road, you know, you know you have to be
It's just isn't possible. So I have them on screen.
Speaker 4 (10:13):
I filmed them brilliant.
Speaker 2 (10:17):
You have tributes to friends George Harrison and Robin Williams
in the show Too Wonderful Me And what impact did
did this.
Speaker 4 (10:23):
Have on you?
Speaker 3 (10:24):
Eric, Well, enormous life changing impact. So George changed my life.
And he finally in nineteen seventy five the screening of
The Holy Grail, and you know, it was just like
a friendship that suddenly, you know, we just clicked and
we were you know, I was in Python and he
was in the Beatles, and we both wanted to know
(10:45):
what it was like in his group, and you want
to know what it's like in my group, and you know,
we just talked and talked and talked. The first time
we met, we talked all night. It was very you know,
it was just great. I met him in La Here
and a screening and it was just and then we
just became great pals. And you know, he appeared on
My Rotten weekend television show. And then you know, he
(11:06):
came on stage with us in New York, and finally
he paid and he came you know, he supported the
Ruttles and he's in the Ruttles, And then finally he
paid for the Life of Brian to be made, which
is four and a half million dollars, which is extraordinary.
Speaker 2 (11:22):
So we could have there's a possibility without them we
would have never have had Always Look on the right
side of life.
Speaker 3 (11:28):
Absolutely, you wouldn't have had the Life of Brian either.
I don't think anybody would have made it. So whether
the song could have slipt out on its own, I
doubt it. You know, it was there for us to
end the film.
Speaker 2 (11:40):
I believe You've also got a book coming out later
this year, the spam Alot Diaries. Of course, Spemolt has
been back on Broadway as touring North America. It's been
quite a bumpy ride getting the musical up and running,
hasn't it.
Speaker 3 (11:54):
Well, it was easy to get up and running. I mean,
I think the trouble is in January and February there's
no way you can make money anymore on Broadway because
there cost twenty million to open and you can't get
that money back, so the investors have gone away. I mean,
they're in a big crisis there. But you can what
we did. We brought in a production from the Kennedy
(12:14):
Center Washington, which had been very funny and successful, so
we didn't cost half as much. So we put it
on and it was funny and people loved it. And
then you know, then there was a big fight for
theaters come April because about twenty musicals were opening, about
all of which most of which will have gone already.
So it's very I'm very happy that which are in
(12:37):
North America because that's what we were always going to do,
and that happens next year. And while I was clearing
out last year, I came across the spam a lot
diaries which I'd written at the time in two thousand
and four, and they were fascinating because it was dating,
you know, every few days, I'd write about what was
going on and our panics and anxieties and our fights
(12:59):
and our loves and our joys and highs and lows,
and it's about putting on a show and you have
no idea how it's going to end up, and so
it's it's just kind of bit. I mean, people like
it because it's a sort of honest story about that,
and there's people's emails to each other. Mike Nichols writes
a lot, and the great encouragement I got from Mike
(13:22):
Nichols is really the secret to it all. I think
he was extraordinary.
Speaker 2 (13:27):
And Eric, just finally, congratulations you and your wife Tania
just celebrated forty three years married. What is the secret
to long term merital bliss?
Speaker 3 (13:38):
Well, we've been together forty seven years and I gave
that woman two of the best years of her life.
Speaker 1 (13:44):
The biggest names from the Sunday session Great chats with
Franciska Rudgin on iHeartRadio powered by News Talks.
Speaker 2 (13:51):
It'd be something tells me that Eric Idol has used
that joke before, But hey, look what did delight to
talk to Eric? And I was thinking about this as
I was speaking to him. He has been around for
sixty kades, he's world famous, he's done and always had
an incredible career, and yet he still turns up the
chat to the media with grace and charm and enthusiasm
like he started his career last year. He's just a
(14:14):
true professional. Right up next, to something quite different, a
glimpse into the reality of being in the SAS. Ex
Commander Jamie Panell served as a soldier and a leader
in the New Zealand SAS for eighteen years and was
deployed to Afghanistan several times. He was awarded New Zealand's
second highest military honor, the Gallantry Star, and he wrote
(14:35):
a book about his experiences, which sounds like something you're
not supposed to do. And this is where we began
our chat. As a member of the SAS, you can't
talk about what you do. So how have you been
able to write this book?
Speaker 4 (14:51):
It's taken a long period of time. I guess I
started getting told by my friends, basically, people both inside
and outside the regiment, you know, hey, we think you
got a story to tell. I think you should write
a book. And I mean I laughed it off back
in the day, but yeah, after a while it was
quite resounding. But what really pushed me across the line
(15:12):
was when a good friend of mine who operated with
the in the squadron, Steve Askin, he was killed in
the Porthill fires, and that's in my book as well.
Fighting Porthill Fires in twenty fifteen. Unfortunately, the monsoon bucket
wrapped around the tail raider and he went in. But
after his death, Paul Leskin, his father, reached out to
me and said, hey, Jamie, you know, can you write
(15:34):
something about Steve's time in the regiment as a soldier
because you're you know, you're insane squadron and you went
across a whole lot of different operations together. And I said, yeah,
no worries. And from that point, yeah, it was sort
of you know, started writing that and then I thought, well,
come this firem as will just keep on going. So
here we are.
Speaker 2 (15:53):
What kind of person do you have to be to
make it into the Esses?
Speaker 4 (15:58):
You've got to have a lot of grit. I mean,
selection is the most hardest from my perspective, physical, mental, emotional,
spactual journey you ever take in your life. It's very brutal.
And that's you know, by design, operations are quite difficult,
and so we have to replicate that in our selection process.
(16:18):
I guess what trumps what you need to get in
and stay in is this yere. And for your listeners
who aren't looking at us, I'm pointing at my head,
my brain, and it's and it's having control over that,
because at the end of the day, you know, regardless
of how big you are, big or musty or small
you are, you know you you need to get control
(16:39):
over your mind and that'll take you through to the end.
Your mind can be your greatest champion and it can
also be your greatest diversity. So once you've got control
of that, you know you're in. You're in. It'll bode well,
you know, for your journey in the regiment.
Speaker 2 (16:52):
Why did you want to be an essays Officer.
Speaker 4 (16:56):
Well, you know, early on, very early on, when I
was a young fellow, I was, you know, always playing
war as kids do. When I put my application in,
right at the age of seven teen and a half
is when you can put your application in to join
the army. I actually put on my application form, which
I had to look at twenty years later, that I
(17:16):
wanted to join the seas And I'm not too sure
why I actually put that down at the particular point
in time. I think I might have known about the
regiment being out there. We lived out in west Auckland.
You know they're out at Hobsonbole. I know there's a
special unit, but I kind of yeah, it just I
don't know. I guess it was in me, you know
that that's what I wanted to do, and I pursued
it pretty quickly. So, I mean I did my basic
(17:37):
training in nineteen ninety four, in nineteen ninety five I
did my core training into the infantry, and then in
nineteen ninety six I did my first selection course and yeah,
I mean that's a year after really you know, joining
the army. And then I did my next one in
nineteen ninety seven, so and then I got through. So yeah,
I guess you know, it being a special unit operations
(17:58):
attract me as well. But you know, going that far
back here, it was very difficult to sort of pinpoint it.
Speaker 2 (18:04):
That selection process you mentioned it is, So is there
a particular point that often breaks people?
Speaker 4 (18:09):
Is there a the jerry cans? Yeah? So the jerry
cans is a barrier test. I mean that's a twenty
hour barrier test. You're carrying all your kits, so you're
carrying about you know, thirty cag is a kid on
your back. So you've got your pack and your webbing
in your life, which ways about thirty kg's and then
you've got to carry jerry cans and you know, you've
got filling water filled with water. Yeah, and each you know,
(18:30):
jerry cans are twenty leaders, so that equals twenty kg's
and so you've got you know, six jury cans between
five people. That means that the person at the front
carries two jerry cans for a period of time and
then you switch around. So yeah, ten hours, you know,
you walk out to a point and you walk back,
and that there is Yeah, once you get past the
barrier test, we get very low numbers leaving at that point.
(18:56):
And why would you you know, once you've gone through that. So, yeah,
that we've past that point in time, you're kind of
looking at the person that's going to get to the end.
But you know, selection courses really just the foot in
the door. It's you know, I mean we're just checking you.
Speaker 2 (19:11):
You did a tour in East team were then you
went to Afghanistan in two thousand and one. I'm a
bit surprised at how much you had to rely on
line RED to get the resources and the things that
you need. Is our military really that under resources not?
Speaker 5 (19:24):
Not?
Speaker 3 (19:24):
Now?
Speaker 4 (19:24):
You know, I mean we get everything we need and
when we're you know, highly effective, and we still were
back then as well, highly capable. But I guess it
was just that point in time in history that you know,
the military hadn't done much since Vietnam. I guess. I
mean we did it. You know, we supported UN operations
around the world. It's a little bit different. We had
the Gulf War there which we supported as well, But essentially, yeah,
(19:46):
I don't think I think we forgot what the regiment
was all about, you know, I mean and probably you know,
the defense force and what we could actually do. And
so yeah, we had to yeah, you know get you know,
our hum v's or our dumbees through you know, trays
of line red and a couple of bottles of whiskey.
So the Americans who were happy to oblige with that.
(20:07):
But you know, once we got those those dumbbes and
we had to create them into fighting vehicles. And so
we had to go out to the dump and you know,
cut up old bed frames and put some pieces to
make our whipon mounts, and you know a bit of
plywood to make boxes for our food. But you know,
the old Kiwi Ingenuity number eight wire approach put us
in real good stead.
Speaker 2 (20:26):
You were doing patrols looking for Taliban and weapons. Was
it easy to know who was Taliban?
Speaker 4 (20:32):
Early on it was the world where so you know,
there's a lot of people, there's a lot of people
driving around the countryside with weapons. A lot of raw
opium was being transported about as well, So you don't
just you know, see weapons and engage. You know, there
has to be a threat. And so when you see
guys with weapons, they could be anyone, but you know
(20:54):
the Teleiban will you know, if they start shooting at you,
well then yeah, you know who you're dealing with the locals.
The locals aren't going to have a crack. You're not
gonna you're not looking at a you know, conveol of
eight vehicles with him weapons and you're just going to
get to have a crack at it for no reason.
So a lot of people didn't even know where we
were there. So we go into some of those deeper
areas and they'd be they'd say, well, who are you?
(21:17):
It was very strange.
Speaker 2 (21:19):
Yeah, what was the landscape like? What were the people like?
Speaker 4 (21:22):
Amazing? People are amazing accommodating, some not all. It's a
tribal you know, it's quite tribal there. The Hazarans were
very pro the coalition once they knew what we're there for,
so they are very peaceful. We'd you know, have sit
down meals with them and meetings about things that we're
looking at or after, but in general, the Pashtun areas
(21:45):
were quite a high threat. Afghanistan is an amazing landscape, mountains, beautiful,
bright blue lakes. Yeah, the people are amazing. It's just
I hope that well, my hope for Afghanistan is that
they actually get their act together and you know, people
can go over there and experience that it's made. It'll
(22:06):
be just the best adventure playground you could ever you
could ever find.
Speaker 2 (22:10):
You were awarded the New Zealand Gallantry Star, the second
highest military award. Can you tell me a little bit
about about why you got it and was that the
most difficult circumstance you found yourself in?
Speaker 4 (22:24):
Yep, that definitely that operation was the peak experience. And
then obviously in the book, I mean, I'm not too
sure how I can break that down into a into a.
Speaker 2 (22:34):
Short can we know?
Speaker 4 (22:36):
It's just it was just it was a very Yeah,
it was a very significant event. I mean just I
guess very briefly, nine Terrists took over the Intercontinental Hotel
in Cabal late at night, killed a number of guests,
took positions up around the hotel, particularly on the roof,
and basically waited for our arrival. Took us ten hours.
(22:56):
We went through the hotel. We had a number of
significant engagements, major gun battle in the in the steirwell,
on the rooftop and some pieces. But it was ten
hours that sort of went in a heartbeat. We had
a couple of guys that got wounded from it through
significant events. One of the one of my teammates, got
the direct brunt of a suicide vest being detonated off
(23:21):
one of the attackers. Another one got shot through the
side of the head. So it was a big night,
you know what I mean. And a lot went on
at the end of the day. You know, it's not
like I'm saying, hey, I think I need a gallantry
stuff for this. You know, we just do the job
and you know, the awards get handed out. But at
the end of the day, Yeah, like I said before
(23:41):
many times, is that you know I went across with
the eighteen. You know, I had a great bunch of guys,
both badged and non badged. You know, we're traveling with
the neighblers, and you know, people like that make you
look good as a leader, you know what I mean,
And I hold that award for them, for the guys
that didn't get recognized.
Speaker 2 (23:58):
When you talk about a big night, it's not the
kind of big night that most of us have. And
it makes you think what it is like to have
that lived experience and then just come back to New
Zealand to normal life and to fit.
Speaker 4 (24:09):
Back in very difficult. That particular tour was the fourth
tour done to Afghanistan. The tours my early tours, the
first two tours, which were basically long range RECONCISCE reconnaissance
patrols in Afghanistan, you know, fact finding. The third and
the fourth were in Kabul and that was all close
quarter combat, so you're going from long range engagements to
(24:31):
short range and it was pretty intense. And those spectacular
tests were pretty intense because it was up close and personal.
So at the end of that one, I remember coming
back home and we were coming back home pretty quick,
in about a week. And so you know, when you're
on call and high tempo and those and having been
through those lived experiences, you know, I'm sitting outside Papakura Camp.
(24:52):
And you know, I'm going from a significantly high threat environment,
carrying weapons with people watching my back to stand outside
the front gate of camp, no weapons, no one there,
and you know, my brain's three quarters if not more
back in Afghanistan, you know what I mean. And it's
like a dream. Seriously, it's like a dream. And it's
(25:13):
like a dream for weeks. You know, that's what happened
to me. So you get home, you know, you go
to sleep in your beard, you wake up thinking, and
wake up in Afghanistan. You're not You're in New Zealand.
So trying to integrate back into society is a very
difficult process, which is why, you know, the minds. You've
got to get control of your mind and what's going on.
But at that particular point in time, we didn't really
(25:33):
know how to really assimilate back in. We kind of
had the tools, but they went deep enough. I mean,
I'm not too sure how guys with families were coping.
That would have been pretty difficult as well. Now that
they've got a young fellow here and what that would
look like, because it definitely takes a huge amount of
(25:53):
time and you have to know what's going on to
be able to you know, to react.
Speaker 2 (25:59):
You know, do we look after people?
Speaker 4 (26:01):
I think we do. Yeah, I think we do.
Speaker 3 (26:02):
Now.
Speaker 4 (26:02):
I mean we've learned to our lesson. I mean, you know,
it's one of those things that all this sports here,
all the supporters there, you can take it if you want,
but you've got to meet that. You've got to meet
the army halfway or the defense halfway. And a lot
of the boys won't because the boys, you know, I'm
not going to talk to a psychologist about my problems,
you know, Man to man, It's just one of those
things that we have to get over ourselves. And you know,
it's lucky that we do have guys around that we
(26:24):
can talk to that have been through the same experience,
so we can sort of, you know, decompress.
Speaker 2 (26:27):
Yeah, hey, Jamie. After leaving the Defense Force, you started
working with high performance athletes. You work with the Warriors
for a little while there. Now you're at Dilworth School
developing their learning an outdoors program. Is it Is it
really fulfilling? Is it great to be working with young people?
Speaker 4 (26:41):
One hundred percent? And do is a great school. The
philosophy is a great you know which is what drew
me in. The boys are amazing. You know, we're well
resourcedill learning it out the Walls program. You won't see
anything like this in Australasia. Can bet money on that.
But it's just really good. Are good. It's been like
a reverse mentoring role. It's the boys are helping me
(27:05):
evolve as they should, you know what I mean. But
even more so because of my experience as well. The
approach that I have to take with ten year old
boys and then you know, seventeen year old young men,
you know, has to be completely different. So there's a
lot of calm and patients and it's really enjoyable, you know,
going out there and just you know, getting in and
outdoors with these boys, watching them grow over time, you know,
(27:25):
because it's longitudin norn scaffolded approach that we've got with
this program. And yeah, it's just been amazing. It's liberating,
gets me up every morning, a lot of energy, you know,
it's great where. Yeah, we're doing really well.
Speaker 2 (27:36):
You haven't brought the Jerry Cans out.
Speaker 4 (27:38):
You no, and I never will.
Speaker 1 (27:41):
Bringing you the best interviews from the Sunday session. Great
chats with Francesca Rudkin on iHeartRadio powered by News Talks
at BE.
Speaker 2 (27:51):
That was Jamie Panell, decorated soldier and former New Zealand
s AES member. I found it really interesting to hear
Jamie's first hand experience of the New Zealand military and
action overseas. We don't hear these stories very often. It's
fascinating when the veilors lifted did a little, isn't it.
I'm not at all surprised how difficult it is to
return from active duty, but it is really good to
(28:12):
hear him say that the support is there now to
help soldiers deal with these issues.
Speaker 3 (28:18):
Now.
Speaker 2 (28:18):
Another interview I did this year that also taught me
to a place I never imagined going was with Australian
Samuel Lisa Blair. Lisa is a solo adventurer, multi world
record holder and the fastest person to sail around Antarctica
solo unassisted. A film called Ice Maiden documented her terrifying
(28:40):
journey around Antarctica. It is not a very good advertisement
for solo yacht racing, so obviously my first question was
going to be to her, why do you love it?
Why do you do this?
Speaker 3 (28:51):
Well?
Speaker 5 (28:51):
I guess firstly, I didn't quite know what I was
signing up for on the first project, and I didn't
quite know how close I was going to come to
maybe not coming home from that trip. But I guess,
like for me, it's that question of like what are
you capable of if you really try? And I think
there's a big difference between like perceived risk and actual risk,
(29:11):
and something like ceiling solo around Antarctica seems super risky,
and when you watch the film you will see it
was super risky in some elements. But you know, at
the same state, if you've got the right skills and
experience to back up those conditions and the right type
of boat for the project, then you really can kind
of go on achieve. And I think you want.
Speaker 2 (29:31):
Explain to us what those seas are like down in
the subject, Yes, so try and put them into words.
Speaker 5 (29:38):
Yeah, So it's on a rough kind of scale. It's
basically sailing through a cyclone or a hurricane every week.
So from a small boat's perspective, I'm on a fifteen
meter boat and the waves will be roughly the size
of my boat high, and you're looking up into skyscrapers
of waves. So the average swell was about a three
(29:58):
story building down there. The worst conditions I saw was
about a five story building as a wave coming down
and small into the boat. And you know, one square
meter of white water is one ton of pressure applied
to the boat. So if you've got a fifteen meter
breaking wave, that's probably got three or four meters of
white water, So that's like tons and tons of pressure
(30:19):
on that impact.
Speaker 2 (30:20):
And then what's the difference between a very large wave
but then the wave actually breaking.
Speaker 5 (30:26):
Yes, large large wave, no problems, yeh at all. The
boat will go up and over it. It's like this
magical thing. There was so many times where I'd look
out and go, yeah, no, there's no way we're getting
over that wave. No way, no way, And then the
boat would just amazingly like she's just an incredible vessel.
She'd just go up and over these skyscrapers. But if
it's breaking, then you've got that power behind it, that
(30:47):
punching hit, and it'll throw you from the peak of the.
Speaker 2 (30:49):
Wave where it breaks.
Speaker 5 (30:50):
It'll impact the hull and then basically you're free fall
to the trough of the wave. So it'll throw the
boat about fifty meters sideways. And my boat weighs ten tons,
so the force and the g forces involved are really
really extreme. And then you've got the wind as well.
So quite often in the middle of those storms, the
wind would be so powerful that I wouldn't be able
(31:12):
to breathe facing into the wind, and I'd have to
turn my head and cut my mouth and create like
an air pocket around my mouth so that I could
breathe on deck. Because the wind's so strong, it's just
tearing all the surface of the ocean up, and there's
so much moisture in the air, you're basically drowning on
the deck of the boat.
Speaker 2 (31:30):
Is this sounding like a blast? Yeah? Come saying with me,
how often did you see land on this circumnavigation of Antarctica?
Speaker 5 (31:41):
Only around Cape Horn and then after the dismassing when
I made that detour to South Africa, so you don't
encounter land, And I purposely sail away from land and
keep an exclusion zone past islands because land is a hazard.
So it's reefs, rocks, islands and you know, things that
you can hit and they go bump in the night.
Speaker 2 (32:01):
How often do you sleep?
Speaker 5 (32:03):
Well, that's quite a good question. So you've still got
to keep abiding by the law, which is Rule five
of the Collision Regulations keeping a good lookout. So I
actually sleep in twenty minute micro sleeps. So for something
like Antarctica, it's twenty minutes when I'm close to no
one hazards, shipping lanes, fishing grounds, anything like that, cruise
line destinations and anything like that. But then when I
(32:25):
was in Antarctica, there was literally nobody near me that
I might hear, and so the risk reduced enough for
me to get about a forty minute sleep. And I
think two or three times as I sailed around Antarctica,
I had like an hour and a half sleep and
that was like the gold mine.
Speaker 2 (32:41):
Okay, this is just crazy. Yeah, So, as do we
learn in this documentary, this particular attempt to circumnavigate was
done in two goes because there was something quite catastrophic
that happened. And I don't think that I am overplaying
that when I say catastrophic, how do you deal with
(33:04):
a situation whereby you suddenly realize I am there is
no land in sight, there is no one in sight,
The waves are five stories high, and I've lost my
mast and my boat has a hole in it, and
it's thinking where where do you start mentally emotionally.
Speaker 5 (33:24):
Deal with I think initially for me, it was very reactive,
so I was in panic stations. My whole body went
into the fight or flight response. So I was adrenaline fueled.
I was shaking like a leaf. I was in absolute
terror of the fact that, you know, I'm probably not
going to survive the night. And then it went through
to like logic and leaning back on that preparation and
(33:45):
planning aspect. And so for me, I had planned for
all these catastrophic events to maybe take place, and then
I tried to put kind of control measures techniques set
the boat up certain ways, or taking spares of certain
things to like allow me to combat those. And one
of those scenarios was a dismasting and wasn't obviously a
(34:06):
dismasting in five meter like sorry an eight meter c
should I say, and thirty five forty nine five knots
of wind in those storm conditions, it was just a dismasting.
So the severity of what I experienced versus what I
had planned to experience was quite different, and the reality
of it was very, very different because it's so isolated,
Like the closest boat to me at the time was
(34:27):
six hundred nautical miles away. That's three days minimum for
them to motor south to get me. So rescue just
never was an option for me. So then it was
around that mindset of understanding that and going, Okay, the
only way to get survive is to keep the boat
floating at all costs and to push yourself in those
scenarios to make that happen.
Speaker 2 (34:47):
Does that not ger confidence?
Speaker 3 (34:49):
Oh?
Speaker 5 (34:49):
Absolutely, Like I had no idea how a traumatic event
like that would affect me afterwards, and I also didn't
really know how it would take so much from me,
like my connection to the ocean, my connection to the boat.
You'll hear me, and I think I say this a
lot in the documentary as well, where I say we
all the time, and it's me and the boat, like
we're a team, and that boat has its own character.
Speaker 2 (35:11):
So you know, I'll.
Speaker 5 (35:12):
Get super stoppy at it and shout at it, and
then I'll have to pat it and apologize. And I
don't think you can go through an experience like that
and not have it change your relationship with those things.
And you know, it took a lot from me, but
over the years I've managed to gain that back and more.
Speaker 2 (35:27):
Does it change you too. I mean a journey like
this in total does it you know? Did you return
back to Australia a different person?
Speaker 5 (35:34):
Absolutely? I think anyone who crosses any ocean or goes
to sea for any length of time will always come
back different. I don't think you can go into something
like the Southern Ocean solo for three months and not
expect to come back a totally different person.
Speaker 2 (35:49):
Do you got a little bit loopy? I mean, he's
thinking about it. I mean all we've got is the horizon,
large waves, and yourself and no one, nothing else around you.
I mean, obviously you're very good at being alone. I
don't see your mother, and the documentary said you were
a little bit of a loner when you're younger of things.
But do you do do you? Obviously you talk to
your boat a lot, but.
Speaker 5 (36:09):
I yeah I did, And like if I did, like
a radio interview or something from sea, I was like
statically excited for days, like I would ride that high
for days, particularly if it was more than one interviewer
on the panel. That was like, oh my god, I'd
had a real conversation. This was so exciting. But at
the same state, it was something that like I worked
for about three and a half years to reach the
(36:30):
start line, So the isolation and the loneliness I'd been
planning for, thinking of dreaming of for that three and
a half years, and until I left for that first record,
I'd only sailed twelve days solo at sea. So there's
a massive difference between twelve days and three months as
far as loneliness, mindset, how you've mind copes, and also like,
(36:51):
it wasn't like three months of normal, tropical, lovely sailing.
It was three months of every day was a new
survival challenge and just fighting to keep the boat going
through those conditions. And so I don't think I really
had a lot of spare time to get loopy, but
there were definitely days where I was maybe a little
flatter than others, And Mum would actually send me everyone's
(37:12):
like social media comments in an email and she'd copy
and paste them all down and send them through, and
it would just remind me that I'm not alone, even
though I'm the only one on the boat.
Speaker 2 (37:23):
Some people feel that when it comes to adventurers and adventuring,
there's kind of nothing left to do, But you seem
to be very good at finding new things to do.
There's lots of things to do since that first attempt.
You've gone back and you've done it again, and you
are now the fastest person to ever circumnavigate Antarctica, Yes,
(37:45):
which is incredible. What else have you done since then?
Speaker 5 (37:48):
Well, only about three weeks ago I sailed into Auckland Harbor,
becoming the fastest person and the first woman in the
world to sale Sydney to Auckland in a speed record.
So I completed that trip. I hold two records around Australia,
circumnavigating Australia NonStop solo and honest did Yeah, there's a
whole bunch of things.
Speaker 2 (38:10):
So how quickly did you How much time did you
knock off that record from Sydney to Auckland that you've
just done.
Speaker 5 (38:15):
Yeah, So the original record was twelve days and fourteen hours,
and I set a new record time of eight days
and three hours and nineteen minutes or something, knocking yeah,
four days, four and a half days off the record.
Speaker 2 (38:26):
Which you hardly had time to even sit in.
Speaker 3 (38:28):
Nope, that's crazy.
Speaker 2 (38:29):
How long How long did your successful Antarctica supernavigation was
ninety two days by.
Speaker 5 (38:36):
Member nine two days?
Speaker 2 (38:37):
Yeah, so very very twenty hours and three seconds. I mean,
you count it down to the seconds, don't you. I
love it of course, And so why A you're here,
you're going to hit off on another adventure because why not?
Speaker 5 (38:47):
Because why not? It was literally that mindset of like, hey,
the boots in New Zealand, why not let's go sell
around New Zealand. I've got the Australia records, why not
do the New Zealand ones? And then I learned that
no one's ever done it before, So no one's ever
established a world record circumnavigating New Zealand NonStop solo.
Speaker 2 (39:04):
Is there a reason why?
Speaker 5 (39:06):
I know, if it's necessarily a reasons, particularly as just
someone hasn't thought of it. And there's a lot of
yacht racing on a lot of shorthanded yacht racing out
of New Zealand, which does like around North Island, round
New Zealand, but they do it in sections and legs,
and I think most people, if they're going to go off,
unless it's a specific record, they want to stop and visit,
(39:26):
you know, go to the Fjords and cruise and yeah,
and I think like I for me definitely will be
coming back with the boat to do that at a
later date, but right now it's definitely all around driving
communication and so we're going.
Speaker 2 (39:39):
To be able to follow you on your website. You've
got a track are you going clockwise or any clockwise.
Speaker 5 (39:43):
Anti clockwise to go north first from Auckland and that
puts me going around Stuart Island at the very bottom
tip with the following seas and the following conditions, and
you know that's very similar conditions toward Antarctica would have been.
And we're going into winter, so cold, cold temperatures, and
I want to make sure I'm going with the conditions
for those.
Speaker 2 (40:03):
So how can people follow you?
Speaker 5 (40:05):
So yeah, you can visit the Way or any of
my social media channels, which is all Lisa BLAIRER sales
the world, So yeah, can follow me there.
Speaker 2 (40:12):
Your boat's called Climate Action now, yes, and this has
been driven by your experience of being at sea and
the state of our oceans. What have you seen.
Speaker 5 (40:21):
I think the biggest impact for me was racing around
the world with Crewe in something called the Clip around
the World yacht race. And we've got sixteen people on
the boat and I was hands steering the boat in
the southern Ocean and I just sort of recrested this
wave and there was this styrophone box floating past. We
were closer to Antarctica than any other continent. We've been
at sea for over twenty days, hadn't seen another ship
(40:42):
a human for most of that time, and I'm seeing
trash out there, and it was just like the slap
in the face of actually, what are we doing to
our oceans? And until that point, I very much had
the attitude of, Oh, it's just one plastic bag, just
one coffee cup, Like my bit doesn't matter. I'm just
one person, and sort of like giving myself or allowing
(41:05):
myself that excuse. And until I started really seeing that
there were other areas we sailed through where we had
to put a crew member on the bow of the
boat with a boat hook to physically push the trash
out of the way of the boat so we could
sail through because it was so clogged with rubbish and
debris on the surface of the ocean. And I was
just like, you know what, I think I can create
a platform that will inspire people to take on climate
(41:27):
action now, and the campaigns all around small actions and
inspiring that switch in the mindset of instead of going well,
my bit doesn't matter, and showing people that every action matters,
every step towards a better, healthier ocean, healthier planet, it matters,
and collectively we all have the power to create change.
Speaker 1 (41:45):
The best guess from the Sunday session Great Jazz with
Francesca rud Get on iHeartRadio powered by News Talks It'd Be.
Speaker 2 (41:54):
It's when young, ambitious, brave people like Lisa Blair come
into the studio and talk about pushing themselves and seeing
what they're cap capable of. You just realize how pleasantly
boring your week has been. It makes you ask yourself, right,
when did I last challenge myself or try something new?
I mean I don't I don't want to sale solo
around Antarctica, But after the interview I did feel motivated
(42:17):
to steep outside my comfort zone. So I started doing pottery. Yeah,
I know, hardly life threatening but new all the same.
Thank you for joining me on this News Talks He'd
Be podcast. Please feel free to share these chats, and
if you liked this podcast, to make sure you follow
us on iHeartRadio or wherever you get your podcasts. And
don't forget that we're releasing two new ips a week
(42:39):
Mondays and Fridays throughout summer. I'll catch you next time
on Great Chats.
Speaker 1 (42:44):
For more from the Sunday Session with Francesca Rudkin, listen
live to News Talks it'd be from nine am Sunday,
or follow the podcast on iHeartRadio
You're listening to the Sunday Session podcast with Francesca Rudgin
from News Talks EDB. The big names, the fascinating guests,
the thoughtful conversations, bringing you the best interviews from the
Sunday Session. This is Great Chats with Francesca Rudkin, empowered
(00:27):
by News Talks AB.
Speaker 2 (00:29):
Hello and welcome to the summer edition of Great Chats.
I'm Francisca Budkin and in this podcast we bring you
some of the best feature interviews from the Sunday Session
on News Talks HEB Throughout twenty twenty four. One of
my most charming guests on the Sunday Session over the
year must have been legendary entertainer and Monty Python founding
member Eric Idle. We caught up to talk about his
(00:51):
tour to New Zealand, which took place in October, but
we started off by talking about the most requested song
for British funerals, always Look on the Bright Side of Life.
I asked Brian whether he thought the song from nineteen
seventy nine would still be floating around now.
Speaker 3 (01:07):
No, I mean it's fairly mostly improbable. I mean it
was a it was a suggestion for how to end
the life of Brian when all our characters were being
crucified and we didn't know how to end it. And
I said, let's let's finish with a song and it
will be it could be song. We can be crucified
and we can sing a nice, little cheery song like
a Disney song with a little whistle. And then I
(01:28):
went home and wrote it, and I brought it back,
recorded it and brought it back next day and it
was in the scripts and suddenly, you know, so then
we then we were filming it and I revoiced it
in Tunisi up on mister Cheeky's voice, and now and
then about you know. Thirteen years later it was re
released again and went to number one in the UK
(01:49):
and then in the in two thousands it suddenly it
became the number one song requested a British funerals, which
is kind of which is kind of sweet. I mean,
I do think that's very sweet and funny.
Speaker 2 (02:03):
It has had a lot of different lives really the song,
hasn't it.
Speaker 3 (02:07):
It certainly has. Absolutely.
Speaker 2 (02:10):
You are now touring a show, you're hitting here, is
it a motto you stick to to always look on
the bright side? Of life.
Speaker 3 (02:17):
Well, I am an optimist in the mornings. I'm a
pessimist by night, but I'm an optimist in the morning.
So I think maybe it's just a boarding school habits.
You have to start a new day, get on with it,
what else, you know, don't let anything hang over from yesterday.
So I think it is a very good motto, and
I think it does encourage people. And they write to
me a lot and say it meant a lot to them,
(02:40):
And it means a lot to them. And you know,
I think if you can make them laugh and smile
and feel a little better at funerals, that's a really
nice thing to be able to achieve. Even though that
didn't set out to do that.
Speaker 2 (02:54):
There's something that Monty Python certainly did made us laugh
and smile. What impact has Monty Python hit on your
life and career? I mean it's been messive, hasn't it.
Speaker 3 (03:05):
Well, yes, it not us all. You know, it did
go side risk because I mean once it's in America
and we were famous in America. Well then you know
you do certainly not live and at least all sorts
of different worlds. But I think you know it also
had effects on there are a lot of people wanted
to know you and get to know Some of them
(03:25):
were quite interesting. A lot of rock and rollers, for
for example, wanted to know us because they love the show,
and you know, rock musicians always very close to the
comedian and vice versa. And because I was able to
play guitar and I was able to hang out with
a lot of them and play, you know, and that's
kind of a nice thing to do.
Speaker 2 (03:45):
The longevity of that work too. So I've watched Monty
Python with my two teenagers and they've laughed. Sometimes we're
laughing at different things, Eric, But that comedy it still works.
Speaker 3 (03:57):
I know, it is intriguing, and it's also not supposed
to be. I mean, you know, the Holy Grass fifty
years old next year. I mean, I don't remembers watching
fifty year. I suppose we watched some fifty year old comedies.
I mean, we watched Harold Lloyd and you know, well
this is Lauren and Hardy and things like that. But
(04:19):
they seemed in a different era because they were in
black and white. And I think one of our luckiest
things was that when we first did the TV show,
we were only three months from being in black and white.
Color was new and we were in color, so we
were both digital, which is great because it can survive,
and we were in color. And those are the only
(04:40):
two reasons I can explain why the longevity of it
is because we're still in the digital era.
Speaker 2 (04:46):
Well, that's interesting. Look, I did wonder when watching it
whether we are still whether it's still okay to be
laughing at Monty Python and twenty twenty four. Have people
given you their opinion on that?
Speaker 3 (04:59):
I'm sure they have opinions, but I don't tend to
listen because I don't read anything that has it it's opinionated.
I mean, you know, if people wanted and they laugh,
I think it might have gained a few passes because
it's so well established, you know what I mean. But
I don't like people telling people what to laugh at
and what not to laugh at. I'm not in favor
(05:19):
of that. I think the point about comedy is to
say the right thing at the wrong time.
Speaker 2 (05:24):
I read that during the Monty Python days, the others
kind of paired up to write, but you would often
work on your own. Why was that you? Is that
the way you preferred to work?
Speaker 3 (05:34):
Well, I still work on my own, so I didn't
lose my partner. I have writing by the thing you
do on your own. I didn't like. I don't like
talking to people in the mornings. And you know, if
you write with a partner to chalk all the time.
And so I didn't. And that's just who I am,
(05:55):
and I don't think. I think the only partners I
ever had was I had a part uncle, John Duprey,
for about forty five years. It was a musical partner
who wrote music. I had a partner Neil Innis, who
wrote the russellsong.
Speaker 1 (06:06):
You know.
Speaker 3 (06:06):
So I would tend to partner with people who couldn't
do what I could do, and I couldn't do what
they couldn't do. I think that's the best form of partnership.
Whereas you know, somebody like a Cleese has to write
with somebody, get to write with Graham Chapman, and then
he wrote Faulty with Connie Booth. You know, he wrote
Wander with the director. You know, he has to have
somebody to always to channel it through. And I feel
(06:29):
fortunate that I don't. I don't need that. I write
every day, you know, I write what comes into my
mind and see all that's interesting or maybe that will
lead to that or shall I But sometimes I just
write down when i'm thinking it's I find that interesting.
Speaker 2 (06:44):
You've been in show business since nineteen sixty one, sixty
three years, which is incredible. Do you think you'll ever stop?
What's keeping you going?
Speaker 3 (06:54):
I don't know. I mean I think I would. I
might stop, but I think this the time is not
right to stop, you know. I mean, it's kind of
fun to be while you can still come to New
Zealand and it's it's still amazing to be able to
do that and so still entertain an audience. I think
that's a fortunate position to be in at my age
(07:15):
and stage of life, especially as I had to survive
cancer to do it. I feel very much a fortunate man,
and I got a reprieve and I can see a
bit more of the world and a bit more of
you know, beautiful New Zealand. I mean, what fun is.
Speaker 2 (07:30):
That you had pancreatic cancer, as you mentioned a few
years back, and you really didn't tell anyone about it
until you had the clear Was that the way that
you just wanted to deal with it?
Speaker 3 (07:43):
Well, I think the thing is when you deal with
something like that, it's not so bad for you. It's
worse for your wife and your children, and so you
have to you go through that. But I didn't feel
I should come out and broadcast it. And then I
was asked to be on the Mass singer and I thought, oh,
I wonder if I can still do this. So I
went and did it, and then when it came out,
(08:03):
I thought, I'm going to use this opportunity to child Paul,
because this is an encouraging news that somebody, somebody survived
pancreatic cancer, you know, and we can we can conquer this,
and so I help them a bit, you know, on
charity things. And I'm very much in favor of of
people giving money to pancredit cancer charities because we are
(08:27):
improving very very rapidly the numbers of survivors because we
now know or in a blood test, and you know,
it's it's managed to just gets better and better, which
is quite good news.
Speaker 2 (08:40):
Yes, yeah, tell me about the show you're coming in October.
A mix of comedy and music. What's an Eric Idol
show like?
Speaker 3 (08:50):
Well, it's like a one man musical. I mean, it's
it's got favorite bits in I've I've tried to make
sure that nobody's seen the things I'm playing. I'm playing
things from Rotten Weekend Television, nobody's seen. I'm playing bits
from the Ruttles. Nobody's was scene. But also I have
a virtual band which I've been working with, and they're
(09:12):
they're sort of a part time they're like the Monkey's
band and they play with Mickey Dolan's mainly. But they're
very nice and I've got them on screen singing along
with me. So this is a first time everybody's been
on tour with a virtual band. And of course they're
much easier than taking real musicians on the road because
they're you know, they're not you know, getting drunk and
(09:32):
being smelly and all that. So so it's kind of,
you know, it's it's I try and surprise people when
I create a show. I spent two months on it,
and I try and you know, think, well, what's what
haven't they seen? What? What will amuse them? What will
be different? Why will they like this show? How can
(09:53):
I surprise them and tickle them? And that's what I
try and do.
Speaker 2 (09:57):
I'm surprised you don't have musicians with you, because I
know that you've had great friendships with musicians. You've been
drawn towards musicians throughout your life, really, haven't you?
Speaker 3 (10:07):
Yes, but you can't afford to take a band on
the road, you know, you know you have to be
It's just isn't possible. So I have them on screen.
Speaker 4 (10:13):
I filmed them brilliant.
Speaker 2 (10:17):
You have tributes to friends George Harrison and Robin Williams
in the show Too Wonderful Me And what impact did
did this.
Speaker 4 (10:23):
Have on you?
Speaker 3 (10:24):
Eric, Well, enormous life changing impact. So George changed my life.
And he finally in nineteen seventy five the screening of
The Holy Grail, and you know, it was just like
a friendship that suddenly, you know, we just clicked and
we were you know, I was in Python and he
was in the Beatles, and we both wanted to know
(10:45):
what it was like in his group, and you want
to know what it's like in my group, and you know,
we just talked and talked and talked. The first time
we met, we talked all night. It was very you know,
it was just great. I met him in La Here
and a screening and it was just and then we
just became great pals. And you know, he appeared on
My Rotten weekend television show. And then you know, he
(11:06):
came on stage with us in New York, and finally
he paid and he came you know, he supported the
Ruttles and he's in the Ruttles, And then finally he
paid for the Life of Brian to be made, which
is four and a half million dollars, which is extraordinary.
Speaker 2 (11:22):
So we could have there's a possibility without them we
would have never have had Always Look on the right
side of life.
Speaker 3 (11:28):
Absolutely, you wouldn't have had the Life of Brian either.
I don't think anybody would have made it. So whether
the song could have slipt out on its own, I
doubt it. You know, it was there for us to
end the film.
Speaker 2 (11:40):
I believe You've also got a book coming out later
this year, the spam Alot Diaries. Of course, Spemolt has
been back on Broadway as touring North America. It's been
quite a bumpy ride getting the musical up and running,
hasn't it.
Speaker 3 (11:54):
Well, it was easy to get up and running. I mean,
I think the trouble is in January and February there's
no way you can make money anymore on Broadway because
there cost twenty million to open and you can't get
that money back, so the investors have gone away. I mean,
they're in a big crisis there. But you can what
we did. We brought in a production from the Kennedy
(12:14):
Center Washington, which had been very funny and successful, so
we didn't cost half as much. So we put it
on and it was funny and people loved it. And
then you know, then there was a big fight for
theaters come April because about twenty musicals were opening, about
all of which most of which will have gone already.
So it's very I'm very happy that which are in
(12:37):
North America because that's what we were always going to do,
and that happens next year. And while I was clearing
out last year, I came across the spam a lot
diaries which I'd written at the time in two thousand
and four, and they were fascinating because it was dating,
you know, every few days, I'd write about what was
going on and our panics and anxieties and our fights
(12:59):
and our loves and our joys and highs and lows,
and it's about putting on a show and you have
no idea how it's going to end up, and so
it's it's just kind of bit. I mean, people like
it because it's a sort of honest story about that,
and there's people's emails to each other. Mike Nichols writes
a lot, and the great encouragement I got from Mike
(13:22):
Nichols is really the secret to it all. I think
he was extraordinary.
Speaker 2 (13:27):
And Eric, just finally, congratulations you and your wife Tania
just celebrated forty three years married. What is the secret
to long term merital bliss?
Speaker 3 (13:38):
Well, we've been together forty seven years and I gave
that woman two of the best years of her life.
Speaker 1 (13:44):
The biggest names from the Sunday session Great chats with
Franciska Rudgin on iHeartRadio powered by News Talks.
Speaker 2 (13:51):
It'd be something tells me that Eric Idol has used
that joke before, But hey, look what did delight to
talk to Eric? And I was thinking about this as
I was speaking to him. He has been around for
sixty kades, he's world famous, he's done and always had
an incredible career, and yet he still turns up the
chat to the media with grace and charm and enthusiasm
like he started his career last year. He's just a
(14:14):
true professional. Right up next, to something quite different, a
glimpse into the reality of being in the SAS. Ex
Commander Jamie Panell served as a soldier and a leader
in the New Zealand SAS for eighteen years and was
deployed to Afghanistan several times. He was awarded New Zealand's
second highest military honor, the Gallantry Star, and he wrote
(14:35):
a book about his experiences, which sounds like something you're
not supposed to do. And this is where we began
our chat. As a member of the SAS, you can't
talk about what you do. So how have you been
able to write this book?
Speaker 4 (14:51):
It's taken a long period of time. I guess I
started getting told by my friends, basically, people both inside
and outside the regiment, you know, hey, we think you
got a story to tell. I think you should write
a book. And I mean I laughed it off back
in the day, but yeah, after a while it was
quite resounding. But what really pushed me across the line
(15:12):
was when a good friend of mine who operated with
the in the squadron, Steve Askin, he was killed in
the Porthill fires, and that's in my book as well.
Fighting Porthill Fires in twenty fifteen. Unfortunately, the monsoon bucket
wrapped around the tail raider and he went in. But
after his death, Paul Leskin, his father, reached out to
me and said, hey, Jamie, you know, can you write
(15:34):
something about Steve's time in the regiment as a soldier
because you're you know, you're insane squadron and you went
across a whole lot of different operations together. And I said, yeah,
no worries. And from that point, yeah, it was sort
of you know, started writing that and then I thought, well,
come this firem as will just keep on going. So
here we are.
Speaker 2 (15:53):
What kind of person do you have to be to
make it into the Esses?
Speaker 4 (15:58):
You've got to have a lot of grit. I mean,
selection is the most hardest from my perspective, physical, mental, emotional,
spactual journey you ever take in your life. It's very brutal.
And that's you know, by design, operations are quite difficult,
and so we have to replicate that in our selection process.
(16:18):
I guess what trumps what you need to get in
and stay in is this yere. And for your listeners
who aren't looking at us, I'm pointing at my head,
my brain, and it's and it's having control over that,
because at the end of the day, you know, regardless
of how big you are, big or musty or small
you are, you know you you need to get control
(16:39):
over your mind and that'll take you through to the end.
Your mind can be your greatest champion and it can
also be your greatest diversity. So once you've got control
of that, you know you're in. You're in. It'll bode well,
you know, for your journey in the regiment.
Speaker 2 (16:52):
Why did you want to be an essays Officer.
Speaker 4 (16:56):
Well, you know, early on, very early on, when I
was a young fellow, I was, you know, always playing
war as kids do. When I put my application in,
right at the age of seven teen and a half
is when you can put your application in to join
the army. I actually put on my application form, which
I had to look at twenty years later, that I
(17:16):
wanted to join the seas And I'm not too sure
why I actually put that down at the particular point
in time. I think I might have known about the
regiment being out there. We lived out in west Auckland.
You know they're out at Hobsonbole. I know there's a
special unit, but I kind of yeah, it just I
don't know. I guess it was in me, you know
that that's what I wanted to do, and I pursued
it pretty quickly. So, I mean I did my basic
(17:37):
training in nineteen ninety four, in nineteen ninety five I
did my core training into the infantry, and then in
nineteen ninety six I did my first selection course and yeah,
I mean that's a year after really you know, joining
the army. And then I did my next one in
nineteen ninety seven, so and then I got through. So yeah,
I guess you know, it being a special unit operations
(17:58):
attract me as well. But you know, going that far
back here, it was very difficult to sort of pinpoint it.
Speaker 2 (18:04):
That selection process you mentioned it is, So is there
a particular point that often breaks people?
Speaker 4 (18:09):
Is there a the jerry cans? Yeah? So the jerry
cans is a barrier test. I mean that's a twenty
hour barrier test. You're carrying all your kits, so you're
carrying about you know, thirty cag is a kid on
your back. So you've got your pack and your webbing
in your life, which ways about thirty kg's and then
you've got to carry jerry cans and you know, you've
got filling water filled with water. Yeah, and each you know,
(18:30):
jerry cans are twenty leaders, so that equals twenty kg's
and so you've got you know, six jury cans between
five people. That means that the person at the front
carries two jerry cans for a period of time and
then you switch around. So yeah, ten hours, you know,
you walk out to a point and you walk back,
and that there is Yeah, once you get past the
barrier test, we get very low numbers leaving at that point.
(18:56):
And why would you you know, once you've gone through that. So, yeah,
that we've past that point in time, you're kind of
looking at the person that's going to get to the end.
But you know, selection courses really just the foot in
the door. It's you know, I mean we're just checking you.
Speaker 2 (19:11):
You did a tour in East team were then you
went to Afghanistan in two thousand and one. I'm a
bit surprised at how much you had to rely on
line RED to get the resources and the things that
you need. Is our military really that under resources not?
Speaker 5 (19:24):
Not?
Speaker 3 (19:24):
Now?
Speaker 4 (19:24):
You know, I mean we get everything we need and
when we're you know, highly effective, and we still were
back then as well, highly capable. But I guess it
was just that point in time in history that you know,
the military hadn't done much since Vietnam. I guess. I
mean we did it. You know, we supported UN operations
around the world. It's a little bit different. We had
the Gulf War there which we supported as well, But essentially, yeah,
(19:46):
I don't think I think we forgot what the regiment
was all about, you know, I mean and probably you know,
the defense force and what we could actually do. And
so yeah, we had to yeah, you know get you know,
our hum v's or our dumbees through you know, trays
of line red and a couple of bottles of whiskey.
So the Americans who were happy to oblige with that.
(20:07):
But you know, once we got those those dumbbes and
we had to create them into fighting vehicles. And so
we had to go out to the dump and you know,
cut up old bed frames and put some pieces to
make our whipon mounts, and you know a bit of
plywood to make boxes for our food. But you know,
the old Kiwi Ingenuity number eight wire approach put us
in real good stead.
Speaker 2 (20:26):
You were doing patrols looking for Taliban and weapons. Was
it easy to know who was Taliban?
Speaker 4 (20:32):
Early on it was the world where so you know,
there's a lot of people, there's a lot of people
driving around the countryside with weapons. A lot of raw
opium was being transported about as well, So you don't
just you know, see weapons and engage. You know, there
has to be a threat. And so when you see
guys with weapons, they could be anyone, but you know
(20:54):
the Teleiban will you know, if they start shooting at you,
well then yeah, you know who you're dealing with the locals.
The locals aren't going to have a crack. You're not
gonna you're not looking at a you know, conveol of
eight vehicles with him weapons and you're just going to
get to have a crack at it for no reason.
So a lot of people didn't even know where we
were there. So we go into some of those deeper
areas and they'd be they'd say, well, who are you?
(21:17):
It was very strange.
Speaker 2 (21:19):
Yeah, what was the landscape like? What were the people like?
Speaker 4 (21:22):
Amazing? People are amazing accommodating, some not all. It's a
tribal you know, it's quite tribal there. The Hazarans were
very pro the coalition once they knew what we're there for,
so they are very peaceful. We'd you know, have sit
down meals with them and meetings about things that we're
looking at or after, but in general, the Pashtun areas
(21:45):
were quite a high threat. Afghanistan is an amazing landscape, mountains, beautiful,
bright blue lakes. Yeah, the people are amazing. It's just
I hope that well, my hope for Afghanistan is that
they actually get their act together and you know, people
can go over there and experience that it's made. It'll
(22:06):
be just the best adventure playground you could ever you
could ever find.
Speaker 2 (22:10):
You were awarded the New Zealand Gallantry Star, the second
highest military award. Can you tell me a little bit
about about why you got it and was that the
most difficult circumstance you found yourself in?
Speaker 4 (22:24):
Yep, that definitely that operation was the peak experience. And
then obviously in the book, I mean, I'm not too
sure how I can break that down into a into a.
Speaker 2 (22:34):
Short can we know?
Speaker 4 (22:36):
It's just it was just it was a very Yeah,
it was a very significant event. I mean just I
guess very briefly, nine Terrists took over the Intercontinental Hotel
in Cabal late at night, killed a number of guests,
took positions up around the hotel, particularly on the roof,
and basically waited for our arrival. Took us ten hours.
(22:56):
We went through the hotel. We had a number of
significant engagements, major gun battle in the in the steirwell,
on the rooftop and some pieces. But it was ten
hours that sort of went in a heartbeat. We had
a couple of guys that got wounded from it through
significant events. One of the one of my teammates, got
the direct brunt of a suicide vest being detonated off
(23:21):
one of the attackers. Another one got shot through the
side of the head. So it was a big night,
you know what I mean. And a lot went on
at the end of the day. You know, it's not
like I'm saying, hey, I think I need a gallantry
stuff for this. You know, we just do the job
and you know, the awards get handed out. But at
the end of the day, Yeah, like I said before
(23:41):
many times, is that you know I went across with
the eighteen. You know, I had a great bunch of guys,
both badged and non badged. You know, we're traveling with
the neighblers, and you know, people like that make you
look good as a leader, you know what I mean,
And I hold that award for them, for the guys
that didn't get recognized.
Speaker 2 (23:58):
When you talk about a big night, it's not the
kind of big night that most of us have. And
it makes you think what it is like to have
that lived experience and then just come back to New
Zealand to normal life and to fit.
Speaker 4 (24:09):
Back in very difficult. That particular tour was the fourth
tour done to Afghanistan. The tours my early tours, the
first two tours, which were basically long range RECONCISCE reconnaissance
patrols in Afghanistan, you know, fact finding. The third and
the fourth were in Kabul and that was all close
quarter combat, so you're going from long range engagements to
(24:31):
short range and it was pretty intense. And those spectacular
tests were pretty intense because it was up close and personal.
So at the end of that one, I remember coming
back home and we were coming back home pretty quick,
in about a week. And so you know, when you're
on call and high tempo and those and having been
through those lived experiences, you know, I'm sitting outside Papakura Camp.
(24:52):
And you know, I'm going from a significantly high threat environment,
carrying weapons with people watching my back to stand outside
the front gate of camp, no weapons, no one there,
and you know, my brain's three quarters if not more
back in Afghanistan, you know what I mean. And it's
like a dream. Seriously, it's like a dream. And it's
(25:13):
like a dream for weeks. You know, that's what happened
to me. So you get home, you know, you go
to sleep in your beard, you wake up thinking, and
wake up in Afghanistan. You're not You're in New Zealand.
So trying to integrate back into society is a very
difficult process, which is why, you know, the minds. You've
got to get control of your mind and what's going on.
But at that particular point in time, we didn't really
(25:33):
know how to really assimilate back in. We kind of
had the tools, but they went deep enough. I mean,
I'm not too sure how guys with families were coping.
That would have been pretty difficult as well. Now that
they've got a young fellow here and what that would
look like, because it definitely takes a huge amount of
(25:53):
time and you have to know what's going on to
be able to you know, to react.
Speaker 2 (25:59):
You know, do we look after people?
Speaker 4 (26:01):
I think we do. Yeah, I think we do.
Speaker 3 (26:02):
Now.
Speaker 4 (26:02):
I mean we've learned to our lesson. I mean, you know,
it's one of those things that all this sports here,
all the supporters there, you can take it if you want,
but you've got to meet that. You've got to meet
the army halfway or the defense halfway. And a lot
of the boys won't because the boys, you know, I'm
not going to talk to a psychologist about my problems,
you know, Man to man, It's just one of those
things that we have to get over ourselves. And you know,
it's lucky that we do have guys around that we
(26:24):
can talk to that have been through the same experience,
so we can sort of, you know, decompress.
Speaker 2 (26:27):
Yeah, hey, Jamie. After leaving the Defense Force, you started
working with high performance athletes. You work with the Warriors
for a little while there. Now you're at Dilworth School
developing their learning an outdoors program. Is it Is it
really fulfilling? Is it great to be working with young people?
Speaker 4 (26:41):
One hundred percent? And do is a great school. The
philosophy is a great you know which is what drew
me in. The boys are amazing. You know, we're well
resourcedill learning it out the Walls program. You won't see
anything like this in Australasia. Can bet money on that.
But it's just really good. Are good. It's been like
a reverse mentoring role. It's the boys are helping me
(27:05):
evolve as they should, you know what I mean. But
even more so because of my experience as well. The
approach that I have to take with ten year old
boys and then you know, seventeen year old young men,
you know, has to be completely different. So there's a
lot of calm and patients and it's really enjoyable, you know,
going out there and just you know, getting in and
outdoors with these boys, watching them grow over time, you know,
(27:25):
because it's longitudin norn scaffolded approach that we've got with
this program. And yeah, it's just been amazing. It's liberating,
gets me up every morning, a lot of energy, you know,
it's great where. Yeah, we're doing really well.
Speaker 2 (27:36):
You haven't brought the Jerry Cans out.
Speaker 4 (27:38):
You no, and I never will.
Speaker 1 (27:41):
Bringing you the best interviews from the Sunday session. Great
chats with Francesca Rudkin on iHeartRadio powered by News Talks
at BE.
Speaker 2 (27:51):
That was Jamie Panell, decorated soldier and former New Zealand
s AES member. I found it really interesting to hear
Jamie's first hand experience of the New Zealand military and
action overseas. We don't hear these stories very often. It's
fascinating when the veilors lifted did a little, isn't it.
I'm not at all surprised how difficult it is to
return from active duty, but it is really good to
(28:12):
hear him say that the support is there now to
help soldiers deal with these issues.
Speaker 3 (28:18):
Now.
Speaker 2 (28:18):
Another interview I did this year that also taught me
to a place I never imagined going was with Australian
Samuel Lisa Blair. Lisa is a solo adventurer, multi world
record holder and the fastest person to sail around Antarctica
solo unassisted. A film called Ice Maiden documented her terrifying
(28:40):
journey around Antarctica. It is not a very good advertisement
for solo yacht racing, so obviously my first question was
going to be to her, why do you love it?
Why do you do this?
Speaker 3 (28:51):
Well?
Speaker 5 (28:51):
I guess firstly, I didn't quite know what I was
signing up for on the first project, and I didn't
quite know how close I was going to come to
maybe not coming home from that trip. But I guess,
like for me, it's that question of like what are
you capable of if you really try? And I think
there's a big difference between like perceived risk and actual risk,
(29:11):
and something like ceiling solo around Antarctica seems super risky,
and when you watch the film you will see it
was super risky in some elements. But you know, at
the same state, if you've got the right skills and
experience to back up those conditions and the right type
of boat for the project, then you really can kind
of go on achieve. And I think you want.
Speaker 2 (29:31):
Explain to us what those seas are like down in
the subject, Yes, so try and put them into words.
Speaker 5 (29:38):
Yeah, So it's on a rough kind of scale. It's
basically sailing through a cyclone or a hurricane every week.
So from a small boat's perspective, I'm on a fifteen
meter boat and the waves will be roughly the size
of my boat high, and you're looking up into skyscrapers
of waves. So the average swell was about a three
(29:58):
story building down there. The worst conditions I saw was
about a five story building as a wave coming down
and small into the boat. And you know, one square
meter of white water is one ton of pressure applied
to the boat. So if you've got a fifteen meter
breaking wave, that's probably got three or four meters of
white water, So that's like tons and tons of pressure
(30:19):
on that impact.
Speaker 2 (30:20):
And then what's the difference between a very large wave
but then the wave actually breaking.
Speaker 5 (30:26):
Yes, large large wave, no problems, yeh at all. The
boat will go up and over it. It's like this
magical thing. There was so many times where I'd look
out and go, yeah, no, there's no way we're getting
over that wave. No way, no way, And then the
boat would just amazingly like she's just an incredible vessel.
She'd just go up and over these skyscrapers. But if
it's breaking, then you've got that power behind it, that
(30:47):
punching hit, and it'll throw you from the peak of the.
Speaker 2 (30:49):
Wave where it breaks.
Speaker 5 (30:50):
It'll impact the hull and then basically you're free fall
to the trough of the wave. So it'll throw the
boat about fifty meters sideways. And my boat weighs ten tons,
so the force and the g forces involved are really
really extreme. And then you've got the wind as well.
So quite often in the middle of those storms, the
wind would be so powerful that I wouldn't be able
(31:12):
to breathe facing into the wind, and I'd have to
turn my head and cut my mouth and create like
an air pocket around my mouth so that I could
breathe on deck. Because the wind's so strong, it's just
tearing all the surface of the ocean up, and there's
so much moisture in the air, you're basically drowning on
the deck of the boat.
Speaker 2 (31:30):
Is this sounding like a blast? Yeah? Come saying with me,
how often did you see land on this circumnavigation of Antarctica?
Speaker 5 (31:41):
Only around Cape Horn and then after the dismassing when
I made that detour to South Africa, so you don't
encounter land, And I purposely sail away from land and
keep an exclusion zone past islands because land is a hazard.
So it's reefs, rocks, islands and you know, things that
you can hit and they go bump in the night.
Speaker 2 (32:01):
How often do you sleep?
Speaker 5 (32:03):
Well, that's quite a good question. So you've still got
to keep abiding by the law, which is Rule five
of the Collision Regulations keeping a good lookout. So I
actually sleep in twenty minute micro sleeps. So for something
like Antarctica, it's twenty minutes when I'm close to no
one hazards, shipping lanes, fishing grounds, anything like that, cruise
line destinations and anything like that. But then when I
(32:25):
was in Antarctica, there was literally nobody near me that
I might hear, and so the risk reduced enough for
me to get about a forty minute sleep. And I
think two or three times as I sailed around Antarctica,
I had like an hour and a half sleep and
that was like the gold mine.
Speaker 2 (32:41):
Okay, this is just crazy. Yeah, So, as do we
learn in this documentary, this particular attempt to circumnavigate was
done in two goes because there was something quite catastrophic
that happened. And I don't think that I am overplaying
that when I say catastrophic, how do you deal with
(33:04):
a situation whereby you suddenly realize I am there is
no land in sight, there is no one in sight,
The waves are five stories high, and I've lost my
mast and my boat has a hole in it, and
it's thinking where where do you start mentally emotionally.
Speaker 5 (33:24):
Deal with I think initially for me, it was very reactive,
so I was in panic stations. My whole body went
into the fight or flight response. So I was adrenaline fueled.
I was shaking like a leaf. I was in absolute
terror of the fact that, you know, I'm probably not
going to survive the night. And then it went through
to like logic and leaning back on that preparation and
(33:45):
planning aspect. And so for me, I had planned for
all these catastrophic events to maybe take place, and then
I tried to put kind of control measures techniques set
the boat up certain ways, or taking spares of certain
things to like allow me to combat those. And one
of those scenarios was a dismasting and wasn't obviously a
(34:06):
dismasting in five meter like sorry an eight meter c
should I say, and thirty five forty nine five knots
of wind in those storm conditions, it was just a dismasting.
So the severity of what I experienced versus what I
had planned to experience was quite different, and the reality
of it was very, very different because it's so isolated,
Like the closest boat to me at the time was
(34:27):
six hundred nautical miles away. That's three days minimum for
them to motor south to get me. So rescue just
never was an option for me. So then it was
around that mindset of understanding that and going, Okay, the
only way to get survive is to keep the boat
floating at all costs and to push yourself in those
scenarios to make that happen.
Speaker 2 (34:47):
Does that not ger confidence?
Speaker 3 (34:49):
Oh?
Speaker 5 (34:49):
Absolutely, Like I had no idea how a traumatic event
like that would affect me afterwards, and I also didn't
really know how it would take so much from me,
like my connection to the ocean, my connection to the boat.
You'll hear me, and I think I say this a
lot in the documentary as well, where I say we
all the time, and it's me and the boat, like
we're a team, and that boat has its own character.
Speaker 2 (35:11):
So you know, I'll.
Speaker 5 (35:12):
Get super stoppy at it and shout at it, and
then I'll have to pat it and apologize. And I
don't think you can go through an experience like that
and not have it change your relationship with those things.
And you know, it took a lot from me, but
over the years I've managed to gain that back and more.
Speaker 2 (35:27):
Does it change you too. I mean a journey like
this in total does it you know? Did you return
back to Australia a different person?
Speaker 5 (35:34):
Absolutely? I think anyone who crosses any ocean or goes
to sea for any length of time will always come
back different. I don't think you can go into something
like the Southern Ocean solo for three months and not
expect to come back a totally different person.
Speaker 2 (35:49):
Do you got a little bit loopy? I mean, he's
thinking about it. I mean all we've got is the horizon,
large waves, and yourself and no one, nothing else around you.
I mean, obviously you're very good at being alone. I
don't see your mother, and the documentary said you were
a little bit of a loner when you're younger of things.
But do you do do you? Obviously you talk to
your boat a lot, but.
Speaker 5 (36:09):
I yeah I did, And like if I did, like
a radio interview or something from sea, I was like
statically excited for days, like I would ride that high
for days, particularly if it was more than one interviewer
on the panel. That was like, oh my god, I'd
had a real conversation. This was so exciting. But at
the same state, it was something that like I worked
for about three and a half years to reach the
(36:30):
start line, So the isolation and the loneliness I'd been
planning for, thinking of dreaming of for that three and
a half years, and until I left for that first record,
I'd only sailed twelve days solo at sea. So there's
a massive difference between twelve days and three months as
far as loneliness, mindset, how you've mind copes, and also like,
(36:51):
it wasn't like three months of normal, tropical, lovely sailing.
It was three months of every day was a new
survival challenge and just fighting to keep the boat going
through those conditions. And so I don't think I really
had a lot of spare time to get loopy, but
there were definitely days where I was maybe a little
flatter than others, And Mum would actually send me everyone's
(37:12):
like social media comments in an email and she'd copy
and paste them all down and send them through, and
it would just remind me that I'm not alone, even
though I'm the only one on the boat.
Speaker 2 (37:23):
Some people feel that when it comes to adventurers and adventuring,
there's kind of nothing left to do, But you seem
to be very good at finding new things to do.
There's lots of things to do since that first attempt.
You've gone back and you've done it again, and you
are now the fastest person to ever circumnavigate Antarctica, Yes,
(37:45):
which is incredible. What else have you done since then?
Speaker 5 (37:48):
Well, only about three weeks ago I sailed into Auckland Harbor,
becoming the fastest person and the first woman in the
world to sale Sydney to Auckland in a speed record.
So I completed that trip. I hold two records around Australia,
circumnavigating Australia NonStop solo and honest did Yeah, there's a
whole bunch of things.
Speaker 2 (38:10):
So how quickly did you How much time did you
knock off that record from Sydney to Auckland that you've
just done.
Speaker 5 (38:15):
Yeah, So the original record was twelve days and fourteen hours,
and I set a new record time of eight days
and three hours and nineteen minutes or something, knocking yeah,
four days, four and a half days off the record.
Speaker 2 (38:26):
Which you hardly had time to even sit in.
Speaker 3 (38:28):
Nope, that's crazy.
Speaker 2 (38:29):
How long How long did your successful Antarctica supernavigation was
ninety two days by.
Speaker 5 (38:36):
Member nine two days?
Speaker 2 (38:37):
Yeah, so very very twenty hours and three seconds. I mean,
you count it down to the seconds, don't you. I
love it of course, And so why A you're here,
you're going to hit off on another adventure because why not?
Speaker 5 (38:47):
Because why not? It was literally that mindset of like, hey,
the boots in New Zealand, why not let's go sell
around New Zealand. I've got the Australia records, why not
do the New Zealand ones? And then I learned that
no one's ever done it before, So no one's ever
established a world record circumnavigating New Zealand NonStop solo.
Speaker 2 (39:04):
Is there a reason why?
Speaker 5 (39:06):
I know, if it's necessarily a reasons, particularly as just
someone hasn't thought of it. And there's a lot of
yacht racing on a lot of shorthanded yacht racing out
of New Zealand, which does like around North Island, round
New Zealand, but they do it in sections and legs,
and I think most people, if they're going to go off,
unless it's a specific record, they want to stop and visit,
(39:26):
you know, go to the Fjords and cruise and yeah,
and I think like I for me definitely will be
coming back with the boat to do that at a
later date, but right now it's definitely all around driving
communication and so we're going.
Speaker 2 (39:39):
To be able to follow you on your website. You've
got a track are you going clockwise or any clockwise.
Speaker 5 (39:43):
Anti clockwise to go north first from Auckland and that
puts me going around Stuart Island at the very bottom
tip with the following seas and the following conditions, and
you know that's very similar conditions toward Antarctica would have been.
And we're going into winter, so cold, cold temperatures, and
I want to make sure I'm going with the conditions
for those.
Speaker 2 (40:03):
So how can people follow you?
Speaker 5 (40:05):
So yeah, you can visit the Way or any of
my social media channels, which is all Lisa BLAIRER sales
the world, So yeah, can follow me there.
Speaker 2 (40:12):
Your boat's called Climate Action now, yes, and this has
been driven by your experience of being at sea and
the state of our oceans. What have you seen.
Speaker 5 (40:21):
I think the biggest impact for me was racing around
the world with Crewe in something called the Clip around
the World yacht race. And we've got sixteen people on
the boat and I was hands steering the boat in
the southern Ocean and I just sort of recrested this
wave and there was this styrophone box floating past. We
were closer to Antarctica than any other continent. We've been
at sea for over twenty days, hadn't seen another ship
(40:42):
a human for most of that time, and I'm seeing
trash out there, and it was just like the slap
in the face of actually, what are we doing to
our oceans? And until that point, I very much had
the attitude of, Oh, it's just one plastic bag, just
one coffee cup, Like my bit doesn't matter. I'm just
one person, and sort of like giving myself or allowing
(41:05):
myself that excuse. And until I started really seeing that
there were other areas we sailed through where we had
to put a crew member on the bow of the
boat with a boat hook to physically push the trash
out of the way of the boat so we could
sail through because it was so clogged with rubbish and
debris on the surface of the ocean. And I was
just like, you know what, I think I can create
a platform that will inspire people to take on climate
(41:27):
action now, and the campaigns all around small actions and
inspiring that switch in the mindset of instead of going well,
my bit doesn't matter, and showing people that every action matters,
every step towards a better, healthier ocean, healthier planet, it matters,
and collectively we all have the power to create change.
Speaker 1 (41:45):
The best guess from the Sunday session Great Jazz with
Francesca rud Get on iHeartRadio powered by News Talks It'd Be.
Speaker 2 (41:54):
It's when young, ambitious, brave people like Lisa Blair come
into the studio and talk about pushing themselves and seeing
what they're cap capable of. You just realize how pleasantly
boring your week has been. It makes you ask yourself, right,
when did I last challenge myself or try something new?
I mean I don't I don't want to sale solo
around Antarctica, But after the interview I did feel motivated
(42:17):
to steep outside my comfort zone. So I started doing pottery. Yeah,
I know, hardly life threatening but new all the same.
Thank you for joining me on this News Talks He'd
Be podcast. Please feel free to share these chats, and
if you liked this podcast, to make sure you follow
us on iHeartRadio or wherever you get your podcasts. And
don't forget that we're releasing two new ips a week
(42:39):
Mondays and Fridays throughout summer. I'll catch you next time
on Great Chats.
Speaker 1 (42:44):
For more from the Sunday Session with Francesca Rudkin, listen
live to News Talks it'd be from nine am Sunday,
or follow the podcast on iHeartRadio
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