Frank Fyfe

I've tapped the ash out of my pipe into the earthenware ashtray that my old mate Frank gave me on the night the Balladeer coffee bar closed. I spent most nights singing there in 1965-6. My eyes are moist, as I'm reading his Obituary 27 June 1997. I got the message too late to get from Stewart Island to Greytown for the Wake - it was a ripper I understand. I'd have seen a hell of a lot of cobbers from 30 years earlier. They sang Waltzing Matilda at his funeral. However, I associate Frank more with Irene Goodnight - it was our normal close-down song, making up verses as we went along. All I can say mate is So Long It's Been Good to Know You!

Anyway, sport, I bend my knee to your superior scholarship. I've found a photo of Open Bay Islands. They are further offshore than I thought. Furthermore, the sealers who were left on Solander Ialand for five years were rescued by Captain Murray of the Perseverance. They left a sealskin purse behind, which is now in Southland Museum. I couldn't track down the ripper airphoto of the Solanders I found a few years back, but, here's the next best

How would you like to be marooned for a few years on either of 'em, me hearties? More to come...

Cheers - Sam