The Big Adventure: Series 1

Click on a date to listen to the show.

Programme 7: 26th February 2007
Never too Old
In the final programme of the current series, Manchan is joined by Irish Mountaineer Joss Lynam, now in his eighties, and 72 year old adventure seeker Donal Attig. They'll be discussing their travels, experiences and expeditions.

Programme 7: 19th February 2007
Adventure Running
Manchan will be joined by Irish adventure runner Fergie Hughes, whose extreme running has taken him across Siberia and the Sahara. With no medical backup or support every run carries a 70% chance of something going terribly wrong.   

Programme 6: 12th February 2007
'Rocky Mountain High'
From rock climbing to sky diving, Manchan uncovers the passion of those that like to live the high life. Bren Whelan of Mountain Training.ie and David Byrnes from Skydiveireland.ie will join him in studio to share their experiences.

Programme 5: 5th February 2007
Big Foot and Back Again

This programme features an interview with former big game hunter and Big Foot specialist Peter Byrne.

Peter Byrne was born in Dublin and educated  in St. Mary's College, Dundalk.  He spent five year in the Royal Air Force before leaving to work in the tea growing business in Bengal until 1953 when he resigned and walked from Darjeeling to Kathmandu, Nepal. Here he obtained a professional big game hunting concession of 60,000 acres  in the remote and untouched southwest forests of the Nepal Terai.   He worked as a professional big game hunter until  1969.

He then became concerned with the decline of the wildlife of the Indo Nepal region and gave up hunting. He returned his concession to the government, eventually turning it into a protected wildlife park.

In the Seventies he got involved in commercial white-water running, during which he opened up four of Nepal's unknown Himalayan rivers to this sport and did the first (exploratory) runs on rivers in Kenya and China.

He then returned to Nepal to work with wildlife conservation programs doing animal counts (deer and tiger), elephant studies, etc.

Peter Byrne is the author of THE SEARCH FOR BIGFOOT, Simon and Schuster, New York, an investigation of the Bigfoot/Sasquatch mystery of the Pacific Northwest. TULA HATTI, THE LAST GREAT ELEPHANT (Faber & Faber 1998) the story of the largest elephant in Asia, discovered by him in the WGP, with an introduction by Jimmy Stewart. GONE ARE THE DAYS, (Safari Press, Huntington Beach, CA, 2001) an account of his years as a White Hunter in north India and Nepal, with an introduction by Charlton Heston. SHIKARI SAHIB, (2003) is an account of the great man-eater hunts of the legendary Jim Corbett and including some of his own experiences with man-eaters.

Gentleman hunter, (Safari Press, 2006 is his latest book) and can be purchased from  http://www.safaripress.com

PETER BYRNE'S WEBSITE:  www.Internationalwildlife.org

Programme 4: 29th January 2007
White Water Pursuits
Understanding the mind, power and precision of white water kayaking and sea-kayaking. Manchan will be joined by Karen Weekes, a lecturer at Tralee Institute of Technology. She has trekked in Nepal, Argentina, Chile, Kilimanjaro and Mount Kenya and was part of the Irish K2 expedition. She has sailed across the Atlantic twice. Sea-kayaked in New Zealand, Indonesia, Fiji, as well as being part of the first female duo to ever circumvent Ireland.

Programme 3: 22nd January 2007
Manchan examines the world of Surfing here and abroad. How the scene has changed, - Aill na Searrach the famous new wave, kids surfing every day after school, and he learns a few tips before hitting the waves. He is joined in studio by top Irish surfing champion Easkey Britton and surfing instructor Maritn Culinane.

Programme 2: 15th January 2007
FAMILIES
This week on The Big Adventure were looking at families who dare to set off into the unknown. Brazen mothers who pack up their broods and go wandering the world. Families that undertake journeys around the world share their adventure experiences with us. Joining us in studio will be Christine Breen, a New Yorker living in the remote townland of Kiltumper in County Clare who set off on a nine-month adventure around the world with her husband, novelist Niall Williams, and their two children. 'So Many Miles to Paradise' is Christine's engaging and inspirational account of this journey, the like of which most of us will only dream about.

We'll also be joined by Dr.Geraldine Osbourne from a studio on Nunuvut Canada. She and her husband Danny traveled for six months in the Chilean Altiplano with six llamas and one daughter. Big Adventures, even bigger risks.

Programme 1: 8th January 2007
ADVENTURE JOBS
People whose occupations involve adventure travel
 
John Murray of Crossing the Line Films who makes adventure travel documentaries

Martina Tyrrell PhD, Environmental anthropologist working in the Canadian Arctic with Inuit marine mammal hunters, primarily exploring the social and cultural impact of beluga whale and polar bear hunting quotas.