The search for fame.

Sad news that kayaker Andrew McAuley is presumed dead after days of searching the Tasman sea off New Zealand. McAuley was attempting to kayak from Fortescue Bay in Tasmania to Milford Sound in New Zealand, leaving Tasmania on January 11 and expecting to arrive in Milford Sound on February 11. His upturned kayak was spotted seventy-five kilometres short of it's destination - but his fate is unknown.
It was an awesome adventure that nobody had previously achieved. A month at sea in perilous waters - often with sharks for company -in a fragile kayak that required human paddling endurance to make progress. There would be occasions when he would need to enter the water to access food and other supplies from a forward compartment, adding to the dangers.
Many people shake their head in disbelief when they read of the adventures some undertake in all parts of this planet. No mountain is too high to climb. No stretch of the earth's surface too hot - or too frigid - to be crossed. Sailors brave the cold and lonely Great Southern ocean in search of speed in international sailing races. Some of them succeed - and some of them meet a tragic death.
Why do they do it ? As a famous mountain climber once replied when asked why he was attempting to climb Mount Everest - " Because it's there ! "
These days there is another reason that intrudes beyond pure adventure. Fame has rewards. If you manage to do something that brings your story and photograph to the front pages of newspapers there is a very good chance that you will become rich from sponsorship deals. It is not even necessary for the event to be heroic or glamorous. In some cases fame comes from stupidity - as evidenced in the early days of the last century when an aviator set off to fly around the world - and headed off in the wrong direction.
Unfortunately attempts at fame come with a price. Sometimes it is the death of the adventurer, but there is also the cost of rescue expeditions and large scale searches. It costs big money to keep helicopters and Orion search aircraft in the air but this is a price countries gladly pay to keep the spirit of adventure alive.
Scarely a week goes by without the media reporting on a fresh attempt to gain fame somewhere in the world - and many of those stories will also feature the attempts of brave men and women to attempt rescues. That is the price of the search for fame !