From London to New Zealand via Jetski!

Kiwi adventurer Jeremy Burfoot has started a 32,000km (19,883 mile) journey that will see him go from London to New Zealand, entirely on a jetski. The 51-year old airline pilot got underway yesterday outside the Parliament Building on the River Thames, and will now spend as much as 12-hours a day on the back of his machine, until the voyage is complete.

Making the journey to raise awareness of the fight against cancer, Burfoot will now travel through the waterways of Europe, passing through the Suez Canal, and around the Arabian Peninsula, then down the coast of India before heading out across the open ocean to Australia. Once he hits Oz, he'll once again hug the coast, before zipping over to his homeland, and eventually ending in Auckland. He says that he expects to face severe weather, sharks, and pirates, in addition to mechanical problems, on his journey, which he hopes to complete by November. 

Burfoot is no stranger to long distance journeys by jetski. Back in 2005 he also circumnavigated New Zealand on one of the small watercraft. But this is a completely different level of adventure, and he'll be tested to the limits over the next few months as he makes what could be a record setting journey by jetski.

This past weekend, while in the Florida Keys, I had the pleasure of riding a Waverunner on two very separate and distinct rides. Both of those were a great deal of fun, and the jetskis that I rode were fast, powerful, and easy to maneuver. But the were also tiring to ride and got a little wild in the rougher waters, at times causing you to skip across waves like a flat stone on a pond. I can say that it was way too much fun to explore the Keys on one of these machines, but after two days of riding, my body was feeling it. I can't imagine what this guy will feel like after weeks of 12 hours of day riding. 

That said, this still sounds like a cool way to go! :)

Ancient Men Were Explorers Too!

I read this story over at the National Geographic website earlier and found it fascinating. It seems that a team of archeologists have found an crudely constructed ancient axe on the Isle of Crete, off the coast of Greece, that indicates that man has been traveling by sea far longer than we ever suspected.

The archeologists were actually hoping to find simple stone tools from a civilization that sailed those waters roughly 11,000 years ago. Instead, they discovered the axe, which closely resembles others that have been found in central Europe and Africa. Those tools date back 175,000 years, which tells them that men were building boats and traveling the waters of the Mediterranean for tens of thousands of years earlier than was first believed.

One of the more telling quotes from the article, which puts this all into perspective, comes from archeologist Curtis Runnels, who said "The idea of finding tools from this very early time period on Crete was about as believable as finding an iPod in King Tut's tomb." Runnels added that he was "flabbergasted" by the discovery.

All told, the team of archeologists discovered more than 30 similar axes and other primitive tools at 9 different dig sites spread out across the island. Radio carbon dating for the various stratification levels from which they were found indicate that the newest of the tools were left on Crete some 45,000 years ago, while the oldest date back 130,000 years.

The find has also opened up debate as to how the migration of man spread across Europe. It is widely believed that Africa was the birth place of primitive man, and they migrated outward from there. The theory has always been that we traveled on foot through the Middle East and into Asia and Europe from there, But now that theory could be challenged with the thought that perhaps our ancestors traveled by boat into Europe, hopping across islands as they went. Either way, we know that they were exploring the open waters long before we ever suspected. It seems that the concept of a "Mediterranean Cruise" isn't such a new thing either.