A kiwi man is on a worldwide letter delivery mission.
Jonny Beardmore collected 50 letters from an ancient postbox in the Galapagos Islands earlier this year – letters left there by travellers in the hope that one day they would be delivered.
Beardmore, aka the Galapagos Postman, is now travelling the world delivering the letters to their intended recipients in a mission to raise awareness for Motor Neurone Disease both here in NZ and in the UK.
Beardmore is currently delivering in New Zealand and tells Francesca Rudkin the idea came about whilst looking for a new adventure.
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Speaker 1 (00:06):
You're listening to the Sunday Session podcast with Francesca Rudgin
from News TALKSEDB So, I want.
Speaker 2 (00:13):
To introduce you to a Kivy man who is on
a worldwide letter delivery mission. His name is Johnny Bedmore
aka the Galapagis Postman. So in March this year, Johnny
collected fifty letters from an ancient postbox in the Galapagus Islands,
left there by travelers in the hope that one day
they would be delivered. Johnny is now traveling the world
delivering the letters to their intended recipients. His mission is
(00:36):
to raise awareness and funds for motor neuron disease, both
here and in the UK, and he is currently in
New Zealand and Johnny joins me, now, good morning.
Speaker 3 (00:45):
Good morning, Francesca. How are you.
Speaker 2 (00:47):
I'm very good? Thank you. Where in New Zealand are
you at the moment?
Speaker 3 (00:50):
I am in sunny Taradale, looking out over the town
at the moment, at a friend's place. It's a lovely
place to be at the time.
Speaker 2 (00:58):
Yere wonderful. Tell me what letter number are you on?
Speaker 3 (01:03):
I have delivered forty five letters, letter forty six. Well,
it was actually forty one in Japan. I'm hoping it
is going to be delivered today by my I had
to leave it there because I didn't have the full address.
It's the one postcard that I wasn't able to go
to the address so far on this journey, and I'm
we've tracked it down and hopefully it'll get delivered today.
Speaker 2 (01:24):
How did this mission of yours come about?
Speaker 3 (01:27):
I was in the Galapicus Islands in January of twenty
twenty three and I found out about the post box.
And I was at that stage I was looking for
a new adventure. My father, who had mode a neuron
for eight years, had passed away in October of twenty two,
and so that gave me the space to be able
to go off into the world and do a grand adventure.
(01:49):
And I always knew that he was the inspiration, and
I wanted to do something in his name. Johnny.
Speaker 2 (01:55):
What island was this post box? On?
Speaker 3 (01:58):
Is Floriana in the Galapicus Islands. It's one of the
multitude of islands. There lots of people sail around the
eye and this is now one of the tourist stops
where you it's just a bay. There's a beach. There's
nobody there. It's just got a whiskey barrel and people
stop and put their postcards.
Speaker 2 (02:15):
And so I'm having a moment, Johnny, because this year
I read this brilliant book by a woman called Abbott
Kaylor called Eden Undone. It's set in the nineteen thirties
and it tells the story of a German doctor and
his wife came out to an island, and then an
airess and her two lovers, and then there was another couple,
and then there was They all mysteriously disappeared, and it
talks about this mail box and how they'd leave mail
(02:38):
there and passing ships would pick them up and take
them to mainland and maybe a couple of months later,
is that the same letterbox?
Speaker 3 (02:43):
Absolutely, I walked it is so cool. I walked past
the actual building where they lived. The story gets told
as part of the tour when you're there about the
you know, the mysterious relationships and people disappearing and the
what's left of the stone building that we're living is
still there.
Speaker 2 (03:02):
Because, Johnny, it's quite a romantic story about how you
know you're living in the middle of nowhere and you
leave letters in a letter box and you hope that
they will be delivered. So what has the reaction been
like when you've delivered these letters?
Speaker 3 (03:13):
Ah, fantastic. Really, you know, there's never really been anything
bad happened, no negativity. There's just you know, uncertainty, you
know what's going on where, you know where, what exactly
is this? And then you show them and that you
explain what are you doing. And because the letter itself
has come from somebody they know or a family member,
that really is a golden ticket to them just opening
(03:35):
up and sharing their own personal stories, which has been amazing. Ah.
Speaker 2 (03:39):
Look, now there is a special inspiration behind your travels.
You mentioned your father before. You're raising awareness and money
for most you're on charities. Tell me a little bit
more about how your dad inspired what you're doing.
Speaker 3 (03:51):
Well, he was just a generally, you know, good bloke.
You know, he was out there doing stuff. He traveled
around the world, and that's what sort of you know,
inspired me to go out and explore the world. And
you know he obviously he had mode and new we're
in for eight years and he all the way through
that he kept his humor. And you know, the people
that have made in your own that you know, their
(04:13):
ability to speak goes, their mobility goes, and they're all
key factors and traits of somebody like me traveling the
world needs and all the way through that time, he
never lost his humor because the person that has out
MMD is still the same person inside and their brain
is still one hundred percent. So it's quite a cruel disease,
but you know they all face this often with great
(04:34):
humility and great humor.
Speaker 2 (04:36):
How old are some of the letters and postcards that
you're delivering?
Speaker 3 (04:41):
The oldest one I have is was we had delivered
was fourteen months and that was ta Quito and Ecuador.
Nobody there's no Ecuadorians going to the island on tour
to take a letter. So it sat there for quite
a while. But most of it isn't within one to
two months. The turnover of the letters is very high.
People come in every day put letters in and they
(05:01):
take a few with them, and so they don't stay
there very long.
Speaker 2 (05:06):
So where are you off to next?
Speaker 3 (05:08):
Joe Berg? For New Years? I've got a letter to
deliver there. Then I'm up through Africa. I've got a
couple more in Morocco, and then I've got a big
finish in February around Europe before I finish in London
on the first of March, which is one year from
when I started on the first of March this year.
Speaker 2 (05:27):
And do you have any idea what you're going to
do then, Johnny, I'm going to have a nap because
it sounds like an amazing adventure. But I do imagine
it has been. It's been quite challenging at times.
Speaker 3 (05:39):
Oh absolutely. I mean I didn't know where I was
going till day one, so I've been doing all the
logistics right from you know, I still haven't figured out
what I'm doing exactly in Africa, and I'm there in
two weeks.
Speaker 2 (05:52):
Do you know? The other thing I love about this
story is how great is it to receive a letter
in the mail that isn't a bill? These days? I mean,
I hardly get anything in my letter box anymore except
a postcard from Jack Tame. He's a Christmas card from
Jack Tame. He's the most reliable Christmas cards center you
see in your life, but you don't receive. So I mean,
I love the form, you know. I love letter writing
(06:12):
as a form of communication. It's quite special to have
something sort of to hold in your hands and things.
Do you read any of the postcards?
Speaker 3 (06:20):
Yeah, all of them. All of them. Because there's a postcard,
you can see it. I mean, they're all characters for
me now. So I'm looking at that and I'm reading
them before I go to deliver. I'm trying to figure
out what the relationship is because people aren't very good
at writing this anymore. Some of them don't have names
on them, they don't have dates. You can't figure out
what's going on. So it makes it a bit mysterious,
(06:42):
and there's a bit of detective work going which makes
every delivery unique. I think they're all going to be different,
they're all going to be the same, and each one
has some uniqueness about it that I a you know,
it makes it special.
Speaker 2 (06:55):
Oh, Johnny, thank you so much for your time this morning.
Really nice to catch up with you. Best of luck
on the rest of the tables. You can follow Johnny's
adventures on Instagram at big O Adventures, and from there
you can lead to link to his fundraiser for motion
you're on and a tracking map to see where he
is up to. The fundraising page and tracking link also
(07:16):
up on our Facebook page. The Sunday Session with Francesca Rudkin.
Speaker 1 (07:21):
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 TALKSEDB So, I want.
Speaker 2 (00:13):
To introduce you to a Kivy man who is on
a worldwide letter delivery mission. His name is Johnny Bedmore
aka the Galapagis Postman. So in March this year, Johnny
collected fifty letters from an ancient postbox in the Galapagus Islands,
left there by travelers in the hope that one day
they would be delivered. Johnny is now traveling the world
delivering the letters to their intended recipients. His mission is
(00:36):
to raise awareness and funds for motor neuron disease, both
here and in the UK, and he is currently in
New Zealand and Johnny joins me, now, good morning.
Speaker 3 (00:45):
Good morning, Francesca. How are you.
Speaker 2 (00:47):
I'm very good? Thank you. Where in New Zealand are
you at the moment?
Speaker 3 (00:50):
I am in sunny Taradale, looking out over the town
at the moment, at a friend's place. It's a lovely
place to be at the time.
Speaker 2 (00:58):
Yere wonderful. Tell me what letter number are you on?
Speaker 3 (01:03):
I have delivered forty five letters, letter forty six. Well,
it was actually forty one in Japan. I'm hoping it
is going to be delivered today by my I had
to leave it there because I didn't have the full address.
It's the one postcard that I wasn't able to go
to the address so far on this journey, and I'm
we've tracked it down and hopefully it'll get delivered today.
Speaker 2 (01:24):
How did this mission of yours come about?
Speaker 3 (01:27):
I was in the Galapicus Islands in January of twenty
twenty three and I found out about the post box.
And I was at that stage I was looking for
a new adventure. My father, who had mode a neuron
for eight years, had passed away in October of twenty two,
and so that gave me the space to be able
to go off into the world and do a grand adventure.
(01:49):
And I always knew that he was the inspiration, and
I wanted to do something in his name. Johnny.
Speaker 2 (01:55):
What island was this post box? On?
Speaker 3 (01:58):
Is Floriana in the Galapicus Islands. It's one of the
multitude of islands. There lots of people sail around the
eye and this is now one of the tourist stops
where you it's just a bay. There's a beach. There's
nobody there. It's just got a whiskey barrel and people
stop and put their postcards.
Speaker 2 (02:15):
And so I'm having a moment, Johnny, because this year
I read this brilliant book by a woman called Abbott
Kaylor called Eden Undone. It's set in the nineteen thirties
and it tells the story of a German doctor and
his wife came out to an island, and then an
airess and her two lovers, and then there was another couple,
and then there was They all mysteriously disappeared, and it
talks about this mail box and how they'd leave mail
(02:38):
there and passing ships would pick them up and take
them to mainland and maybe a couple of months later,
is that the same letterbox?
Speaker 3 (02:43):
Absolutely, I walked it is so cool. I walked past
the actual building where they lived. The story gets told
as part of the tour when you're there about the
you know, the mysterious relationships and people disappearing and the
what's left of the stone building that we're living is
still there.
Speaker 2 (03:02):
Because, Johnny, it's quite a romantic story about how you
know you're living in the middle of nowhere and you
leave letters in a letter box and you hope that
they will be delivered. So what has the reaction been
like when you've delivered these letters?
Speaker 3 (03:13):
Ah, fantastic. Really, you know, there's never really been anything
bad happened, no negativity. There's just you know, uncertainty, you
know what's going on where, you know where, what exactly
is this? And then you show them and that you
explain what are you doing. And because the letter itself
has come from somebody they know or a family member,
that really is a golden ticket to them just opening
(03:35):
up and sharing their own personal stories, which has been amazing. Ah.
Speaker 2 (03:39):
Look, now there is a special inspiration behind your travels.
You mentioned your father before. You're raising awareness and money
for most you're on charities. Tell me a little bit
more about how your dad inspired what you're doing.
Speaker 3 (03:51):
Well, he was just a generally, you know, good bloke.
You know, he was out there doing stuff. He traveled
around the world, and that's what sort of you know,
inspired me to go out and explore the world. And
you know he obviously he had mode and new we're
in for eight years and he all the way through
that he kept his humor. And you know, the people
that have made in your own that you know, their
(04:13):
ability to speak goes, their mobility goes, and they're all
key factors and traits of somebody like me traveling the
world needs and all the way through that time, he
never lost his humor because the person that has out
MMD is still the same person inside and their brain
is still one hundred percent. So it's quite a cruel disease,
but you know they all face this often with great
(04:34):
humility and great humor.
Speaker 2 (04:36):
How old are some of the letters and postcards that
you're delivering?
Speaker 3 (04:41):
The oldest one I have is was we had delivered
was fourteen months and that was ta Quito and Ecuador.
Nobody there's no Ecuadorians going to the island on tour
to take a letter. So it sat there for quite
a while. But most of it isn't within one to
two months. The turnover of the letters is very high.
People come in every day put letters in and they
(05:01):
take a few with them, and so they don't stay
there very long.
Speaker 2 (05:06):
So where are you off to next?
Speaker 3 (05:08):
Joe Berg? For New Years? I've got a letter to
deliver there. Then I'm up through Africa. I've got a
couple more in Morocco, and then I've got a big
finish in February around Europe before I finish in London
on the first of March, which is one year from
when I started on the first of March this year.
Speaker 2 (05:27):
And do you have any idea what you're going to
do then, Johnny, I'm going to have a nap because
it sounds like an amazing adventure. But I do imagine
it has been. It's been quite challenging at times.
Speaker 3 (05:39):
Oh absolutely. I mean I didn't know where I was
going till day one, so I've been doing all the
logistics right from you know, I still haven't figured out
what I'm doing exactly in Africa, and I'm there in
two weeks.
Speaker 2 (05:52):
Do you know? The other thing I love about this
story is how great is it to receive a letter
in the mail that isn't a bill? These days? I mean,
I hardly get anything in my letter box anymore except
a postcard from Jack Tame. He's a Christmas card from
Jack Tame. He's the most reliable Christmas cards center you
see in your life, but you don't receive. So I mean,
I love the form, you know. I love letter writing
(06:12):
as a form of communication. It's quite special to have
something sort of to hold in your hands and things.
Do you read any of the postcards?
Speaker 3 (06:20):
Yeah, all of them. All of them. Because there's a postcard,
you can see it. I mean, they're all characters for
me now. So I'm looking at that and I'm reading
them before I go to deliver. I'm trying to figure
out what the relationship is because people aren't very good
at writing this anymore. Some of them don't have names
on them, they don't have dates. You can't figure out
what's going on. So it makes it a bit mysterious,
(06:42):
and there's a bit of detective work going which makes
every delivery unique. I think they're all going to be different,
they're all going to be the same, and each one
has some uniqueness about it that I a you know,
it makes it special.
Speaker 2 (06:55):
Oh, Johnny, thank you so much for your time this morning.
Really nice to catch up with you. Best of luck
on the rest of the tables. You can follow Johnny's
adventures on Instagram at big O Adventures, and from there
you can lead to link to his fundraiser for motion
you're on and a tracking map to see where he
is up to. The fundraising page and tracking link also
(07:16):
up on our Facebook page. The Sunday Session with Francesca Rudkin.
Speaker 1 (07:21):
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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