A Diary the Size of my Little Finger

While Vol. 1 of Edward's Diary is available as a free Google ebook, Vol. 2 is not. I've got facsimile copies of both volumes but I don't want to have to cart them around when I start travelling in Edward's footsteps so I needed to get Vol. 2 in digital form. Not having a scanner I initially contemplated manually typing it into my computer. That seemed like a pretty major task but I figured that Edward would have written it all long hand himself and then his printer would have had a probably more time consuming task of typesetting it all word by word, so I didn't want to seem like a modern day sissy.

Fortunately, however, I was able to get access to a scanner through the Albany Historical Society (thanks guys) so now I am sitting in an office in Albany's Old Convict Gaol, scanning Vol. 2 onto a thumb drive. What would Edward have made of such a marvelous little device that could hold his entire diary, and much much more, in something about the size of his little finger.

Yesterday too, I was at the printers, arranging the typesetting of cafe newsletter that I have a hand in. I was marveling at the way in which the printer was whizzing around his keyboard, achieving in seconds what typesetters would have needed hours for just a couple of decades ago.

So in word processing, information retrieval and printing we've come a long way but not necessarily so with everything. As I mentioned, I'm in the Old Gaol. The initial part of this building was the original convict depot, constructed in 1852 so it would have been here when Edward visited in 1854. He doesn't mention it but it would likely have been visible as he made his way up from the jetty and he does mention the convicts.

While modern buildings have some improved materials and techniques, they built places to last in 1854. Its been renovated in recent times but some of the brickwork in this place looks like it went up yesterday and they really had the right idea about climate control. With thick walls, high ceilings and steep roofs, unless there is a run of exceptionally hot or cold days, this place remains a constant and reasonable temperature.

                                                       Albany's Old Convict Gaol

Documentary Film Production 101

Yesterday was educational. Met with Cath, my daughter's producer friend, who over a glass of sparkling water in a Leederville cafe, gave me a potted education in the process by which documentaries are made. To Cath's way of thinking the idea needs some more development before it would be likely to be taken up as a commercially viable project but she gave some helpful ideas on possible "hooks" on which such a project could be based.
More importantly she outlined who locally might be able to be involved and some of the costs and pitfalls associated with documentary making so in all a profitable afternoon.
Perhaps most important of all, the discussion with Cath got me thinking more about a variety of aspects of the project, all of which is useful because the more I think about it the further the journey is likely to progress. I'm often refer to myself as "an ideas man" meaning that I get ideas but don't always pursue them. I'm lazy. I like to come up with the idea but when it comes to the hard work of progressing it... that doesn't always happen. (One of my ideas once was to sell ideas to other people. Never did it, but a top idea. See how my thinking works?)
This journey is one idea though that I am determined to follow through. My bets are hedged a bit in that what I am committing to is to recreate Edward's trip. That I will do. The incidental bits as to how I record it are still up for debate but in talking to Cath I'm pretty sure I will be able to film it on some level. Whether that be a "home movie" or a full fledged documentary, only time will tell.
As a side issue to my thinking about the trip, I have thought about the many other descendants of Edward Ogilvie and wondered whether I should try and track some down and see if I can find anyone else who is interested in taking this journey with me. Co-incidentally Cath mentioned that one of the principals of a local production company is an Ogilvie. Might he be from the same line of Ogilvie's? Won't that be a spooky co-incidence? As Edward had 8 daughters most of his descendants don't carry the Ogilvie name but who knows?

Every Journey Starts With a Single Step

So how do I do this? Planning this project has definitely become a constant theme of my day dreams. I'm constantly thinking about the best way to make this trip and to document it. Do I try and do it as Edward did, as one continuous trip, or do I do it in stages? Do I try and recreate it exactly as he did? Travel by horse where he traveled by horse, by ship where he did etc, etc?

An exact re-creation was ruled out pretty quick. While I was a fair horseman back in the day, I haven't been aboard a nag for more than a decade and from experience I know that riding is not a physically soft task. Old Edward might have been out riding the day he died aged 81 but he had been doing it pretty well every day of his life till then and was undoubtedly a harder man than I. On that basis I was ruling out sleeping under the stars, with a few blankets on a mattress of brush too. Like I said. Tougher than me.

It is still possible to travel by P&O from Sydney to Southampton via the Mediterranean on a similar, but not exact, route as Edward. At around $8,000 that isn't a cheap option although Edward quoted 150 Pounds as the full fare to England in a shared cabin. That converted roughly to current figures is about $12,000. However, probably the principal obstacle to this method is that today, P&O cruise ships only stop for a day or so in most of the ports and there is no hop-on, hop-off option. There might be only one or two cruises per annual season. In Edward's day, there was a ship along on this, the major mail route, at least every six weeks and you could miss one and catch the next. To explore each destination to the same extent as Edward did would not be possible in a day or so, so a P&O cruise is out. Who said the world is necessarily a smaller place?

So it seems that an exact re-creation is off the table. However, I am still pondering whether I need to make the trip in one continuous effort and if the impact will be the same doing it in separate stages. No decision on that yet.

Next question is how do I document my "travels". Well this blog seems to be up and running so that is the bottom line. Do I add to that though? Does blog morph into book?  Do I film it? There will be photos on the blog 'cos that's easily achieved but what about a documentary? Is it interesting enough to consider a full scale documentary? How do you achieve that? What would it cost? To resolve some of those questions, my lovely daughter Cushla who is a radio producer with a myriad of media contacts has lined up for me to meet with a documentary producer to suss out some of those issues.

Who knows? At this stage the only definite is that I will do it...for my own interest and pleasure. Exactly how, and how to document, remains to be concluded. I guess I just follow my nose and see what happens. Stay tuned...