In Search of Ambergris

So, I'm writing a book. I'm not sure how it happened. I've always assumed I'd write a book at some point. And here I am in the middle of one, and under contract with Harper Collins Australia. My book is about ambergris, which is a fancy French word for whale poo. Actually, as you'll learn if you ever read my book, it's poo and a whole lot more.

Ambergris is expelled by sperm whales only, and probably by only one percent of them. It comes out sticky and black and fecal and fairly unpleasant. But then it floats. It floats. And floats. And floats. Years pass. Decades. The ambergris changes, molecule by molecule. Photo-oxidized by sunlight and altered by seawater, it travels in vast loops, carried by slow and irresistible ocean currents. And then it washes up somewhere. By then, it is a completely different thing: a fragrant gray, waxy lump, covered with a resinous rind.

Anyway, my book is about finding some, and it'll be published by Harper Collins in Australia and New Zealand in September 2011. A long way away. Last month, we visited Stewart Island in search of ambergris. A rugged, windswept and isolated place, Stewart Island sits in the southern seas, 20-miles south of New Zealand's south island. Traditionally rainy and stormy, we enjoyed sunny weather for the 5-days we were there. I even took a flight in a tiny single-engine Cessna over to the west coast beaches, where people find ambergris all the time. I didn't find any. But the search was worth it!

My true calling.

I have a confession to make. I love science. I've always loved it and have been working in science for years. But it's not my true love. My true love is surfing. I've always felt, somewhere deep in my soul, that I was always meant to be a surfer. So, finally, I took it into my own hands to gather my friends and to learn how to surf. Was it everything I dreamt it would be?

Totally rad.

Am I any good? All I can say is ... practice practice and all is coming.* (ETK)


(Photos above: Smails Beach, Dunedin, NZ; Max and mom on a board; Max checking out the surf; The ladies and I head for our first encounter with the ocean. )

*Thanks for learning with me, Rachel, Chew Ling and Amy; thanks for teaching me, Chris; thanks for supporting me, Chris and Max.

Port is home.

We never knew that finding a house in Port Chalmers would turn out to be a little hidden treasure. Here are a few pictures of us on a night out in Port:

Enjoying a Blackbeard's Revenge pizza (pepperoni, salami, green and red capsicum and chillies) at Small Poppy Pizzeria. Yum.

Max loves pizza. Especially from Small Poppy.

Not our regular takeaway, but one of the two takeaways in Port. The other one has Chinese takeaway, too.

The PORT in all its glory. There's even a cruise ship docked at the port. One of our favorite things to do is go to the overlook to see the cruise ship that has docked for the day. Without fail, Chris and Max will try to wave at people on the ship to see if they will wave back. (ETK)