Dear Mat,
I just wanted to express my profoundest appreciation to you for all your hard work in bringing to fruition our great trip to the South Pacific. My only regret – possibly not shared by you! – was that we did not get to spend more time together at the Brando, or elsewhere, but here’s hoping there may be another occasion. My few days there – to say nothing of Bora Bora, which was stunning, or the outlandish Rangiroa – were truly unforgettable. Teihotu could not have been a more companionable guide, the setting was beyond all expectations, and for once my luck was in when it came to the fishing – not too much bungling, plenty of shots (more than I had perhaps anticipated) and a wonderfully relaxed ethos (not always the case, as we both know). So, a big thanks to you. I shall certainly do everything I can to recommend this astonishing place to anyone who may care to read or listen. I am not much of a photographer, I’m afraid, but we have a few nice images here on the laptop. I have circulated several of them already to certain interested parties, and the response is a mixture of envy and disbelief. I can share a few more with you when we meet up – maybe my camera chip would just slot into your pc? I imagine Alex (who was such fun) and Peter may have some others to choose from. Incidentally, when I showed Brian Fratel the image of me trying to keep a hold of my biggest bone (which we sadly never measured – it was just before Alex kayaked out to join us) he reckoned it was well into the teens, possibly as much as 13 pounds or so. The pic does suggest a very impressive girth – maybe Alex would care to hazard a scientific guesstimate (and perhaps you could let me have a contact email for him sometime)? So, in all, a triumph. Anything else I am lucky enough to do this year will surely pale into insignificance: it was a real privilege to have been out there, and I hope one of these fine days I may get to visit again….
In the mean while, many many thanks.
Best wishes as ever,
David Profumo, UK
