Author & Illustrator

Yendys and Hobart are due very soon.  They will sail into Storm Bay and up the Derwent River to the port of Hobart.  

For those of you who know the book Sydney of the Antarctic, you will remember how Sydney used to sit on the blue chair and watch all the ships sail south, until they slipped over the horizon, swallowed up by the great Southern Ocean.  

I will be watching in the dawn light for the approach of the Kapitan Khlebnikov, with my binoculars near, hoping to spot a pair of red and white spotty ears.

They have just visited Macquarie Island, a speck in the Southern Ocean, a refuge to thousands of birds and seals.  As you can see from this photo, Sydney met with some King Penguins last time he was there… so perhaps this time he has met them again, and has a thousand tales to tell.

It may be hard for him to find them again in such a crowd, but toys have a way of finding each other and so do penguins.  I just hope he doesn’t lose himself in the crowd, if he’s there.

Or perhaps he has curled up around some of the island’s other residents?

I wonder if he is on the ship, if Yendys and Hobart did find him and are bringing him home?  

I know that I will just have to wait to see if Mr S and the others have any news for me… until then, I am dreaming of him and hoping.

We will know in a couple of days and will keep you posted.

Ahoy, Coral.

It’s a privilege to voyage to the white continent. Its power and size are humbling, and leaving the ice is always sad.

As the ship moves through the last of the ice and into the Southern Ocean it will pass by ice-covered mountains and into Cape Adare.

Perhaps the last of the penguins will be seen dwarfed by the landscape, on their way to adventures, like Sydney, Yendys and Hobart.

I can only hope that Sydney is snugly sleeping on board, or perhaps he’s doing some long forgotten domestic duties, like this old photo of him shows: resting after hanging out the washing in the cabin.

As they head north, the air will be getting warmer and the ocean will give up its cloak of white and the ship will start riding the great waves north.

Knowing Sydney, he may be keeping his rescue a secret and I suppose we’ll have to wait until the ship returns to port to find out what has happened… until then, I keep hoping we may get a message.  

Soon, they will be arriving at Macquarie Island, then home.

Keep those fingers crossed.

Ahoy,  Coral.

I have not heard anything from Yendys and Hobart in their attempt to rescue Sydney, but knowing the ship well, I can only imagine how difficult it would be for them to climb the many stairs up to the communication room, particularly with hiding themselves from people, as toys have to do.

But by now, they would have sailed into McMurdo Sound, past the majestic Mount Erebus and into Cape Royds and Cape Evans.
I’m not sure if they found any sign of Sydney.  Perhaps they have decided to stay there with him.  As you can see by this photo of me sketching inside Scott’s Hut on my last trip, the beds are quite comfortable.

For those of you who know Sydney well, you may remember this, the last known photo taken of him at Cape Evans.

It was after I had taken that photo that I saw this dragon rock, perching like the skuas high above Skua Lake, defending or protecting its territory.  It took my attention away from Sydney… and, as they say, the rest is history.

I am hoping that Yendys and Hobart, knowing how well they have trained for this adventure, have climbed across the rocks to Skua Lake in their search fro Sydney and have snuffled in every corner of the hut for him.

We will all have to keep our fingers crossed.

Ahoy,  Coral.

Scott’s hut (left) and the ice heart of Antarctica.

Our travellers, Yendys, Hobart and Mr. S. have been sailing the seas for eight days now. Their first stop was to be at Enderby Island, a magical place where the albatross nest on the plateau and teach their babies to soar on the wind.

Below them in the red-flowered Rata forests, parakeets dive through the mosses and tangled wood. A fern-lined creek where baby seals learn to swim without the current, runs to the sea through an open field, spongelike in depth, it makes everyone walk like they are on the moon.  Small watery grottos carved from the bases of volcanic columns sway with the weight of heavy kelp. Occasionally a Hooker sea lion emerges, but the yellow-eyed penguin keeps its distance.
Sometimes obscured by a frosty smoke rising from the ocean’s surface, Perserverance Harbour is a safe entry to Campbell Island, the second of New Zealand’s sub-Antarctic islands that our travellers have visited.  Its sides tower above the ship.  Sea lions come out to greet the vessel and follow those who go to shore.  Steep paths wind up sculptured valleys, high into the realm of the albatross. Grasslands of tussock rise between the mega herbs and ferns.  From here the ship leaves to navigate through the Great Southern Ocean and on to Antarctica.

[click to continue...]

On Sunday evening, from the flooded belly of an ancient volcano, the Kapitan Khlebnikov set sail for the Antarctic.

As it left Lyttelton harbour in New Zealand to speed southwards, it carried two passengers that visitors to this site will know well, Yendys and Hobart.

They have travelled a long way from the parallel world in their quest to find Sydney, and they were helped on their way by their human companion Mr. S.

Unfortunately, due to ill health, I have not been able to travel to find Sydney, but know that my dear companions, Yendys, Hobart and Mr. S. will do all they can, along with a ship full of passengers to search for him.

During the next few weeks I will keep you informed of their travels and hopefully their prize!

Ahoy, Coral.

Yendys and Hobart are ready for the ice.

Recent photographs show that the intrepid pair have been doing some icy training to prepare them for their trip to Antarctica.

I’m sure that they will be a great help in the search for Sydney, as it looks like they’ll be able to slip into the secret spaces that toys inhabit.

I’m so proud of them.  I’m just a little worried that perhaps they won’t want to come home either…

Hi Coral

Hobart and I are getting into training ready for the Antarctic. While on board ship last week Hobart managed to damage his leg.

I came to the rescue with my first aid training. It was a really bad gash just on the ankle, I was not too squeamish although you could see all this cotton wool sticking out.

When we finally got home, our friend Steve had to put fifteen stitches into the ankle.
 
Will write giving more details of our time at sea once Hobart has fully recovered.

Love,

Yendys

This arrived today from ‘Yendys Notlaw’. The mystery of Sydney and his lookalike in the other upside-down world (or is it a back-to-front world?) is getting deeper…

Dear Coral

In our world we think it is very funny that you have someone that looks like me.  

From the photographs I have seen he does look a little older than me, and not so well kept.

My secret to looking so young and clean is that I eat lots of green vegetables, and always wash and do my teeth every night and morning.
 
One of the things I would really like to do while I am on a visit to your world is to go down to Antarctica and see where Sydney has been having all his wonderful adventures.

I did hear from a friend that you will be going back down to the ice in a few months’ time. Could I please come with you?

I will be no trouble and still have time to get all the right gear and pack my case. Please say “yes”.

Another letter arrived from a long way away. Inside there were two photos of the look-alike Sydney and Hobart the Penguin (remember the fridge photos?).

Apparently I’m to understand that there is a parallel world, where either a member of Sydney’s family survives, or it is a mirror image (just changed a little) of Sydney… and his name is Yendys.  

He even has his own email address.  I will write and see what is happening.  Keep you posted soon.  

Here it is — my first eBook! The Journey takes you and our hero Bernard to some very odd places — some of them are the wrong way up but everything comes out right in the end.

Its 64 pages are full of games, puzzles, recipes and plenty of weird adventures among the Plummers, the Garden Whingers and the mysterious Pole of Inaccessibility, in search of the secrets of herring pies and the ultimate plum jam formula.

I drew and wrote it for children aged seven and above, and I know they will have as much fun reading and using it as I did in making it.

Even grown-ups can’t resist join-the-dots and board games about those strange creatures, the Pickle Lights, or the recipes for tasty toasty toppings.

This eBook version is just $12.95. Read on screen or, better still, print it and assemble the multi-page maps and games.