ANTIPODES
The Ingenious and Exhilarating Expedition of El Lider and La Campana
Mark Price
Longacre, $34.99, pbk
Dig a hole through the Earth from New Zealand and you won't get to China, contrary to popular belief. Instead, you will probably end up in Spain.
With this in mind, Dunedin journalist Mark Price (El Lider) and his wife (La Campana) set out on a pair of expeditions.
First, they and their intrepid expedition members travel New Zealand searching for Perfect Places, which are photographed and their co-ordinates recorded. Next, the expedition party heads for Morocco and Spain, where they attempt to visit and photograph the antipodes of each Perfect Place.
Things do not go entirely smoothly, even at the start, when they realise the antipodes of what was supposed to be Perfect Place No 1, the Dunedin Railway Station, is in the Bay of Biscay and thus not suitable for the purposes of the expedition.
Undaunted, they carry on travelling the countryside, guided by their trusty GPS and expedition bible, recording their findings as they go.
The explorers face many hazards, among them snakes, blackberry bushes, cattle (which may or may not be bulls) and a recurring mental soundtrack of Rolf Harris music.
As the expedition achieves its aim of exploring the undiscovered, the reader can almost feel the heat, thirst and other privations endured by the explorers - the flies, the two-star hotels and the incomprehensible road signs.
Price's wry humour conjured up memories of my own time in Spain. Things did not go so well then either, but I had a great time. And so, it seems, did El Lider and La Campana.
- Janice Murphy is a Dunedin writer and editor.
