It was great to hear and see Martyn Farr's presentation, sharing his true passion for his sport (I think most of us can relate to that being passionate divers!) and I don’t think I’ve seen such an enthusiastic presenter as Martin for a long time. However , with my off the beaten track travelling experience, I could totally relate to finding some amazing places that such few people have ever seen.
Martyn is world renowned as a caver and cave diver. He is responsible for the discovery of miles of cave passage in many countries and is internationally acclaimed for his prolific writing and stunning photography. I first heard of him from his renowned exploration in Wookey Hole - 1977 and 1982 but have since found out that his has travelled to some amazing places.
As a photographer myself, it was good to hear how he has (with time and experience) overcome the challenges of not only taking amazing photos within a cave system but also whilst under water. Admittedly part of it is down to luck, esp. in huge cathedral sized under water cave systems, where it is nearly impossible to communicate with other divers whilst positioning them and ensuring their strobes are at the right angle. If all of this wasn’t enough... he’s also still using slide film so he can’t even view the results until they come back from the lab (good to know I’m not the only one still using slide :o)
Above the water, his stories still carried on with the same passion whether exploring the remote Nullarbor Plain of Western Australia or in some other remote locations in Iran, Mexico, Borneo, China, Greece, Turkey or Russia to name a few.
Needless to say with all of this experience, he is the person to do a cave diving course with and with some amazing cave system just over the bridge, I feel that it’s only a matter of time before some of us start venturing over there :o)
