If there was a golden age of Australian adventuring, it was the late 20th century. From the 60s to the 90s there was a palpable spirit of possibility that had a certain alchemy with our affinity for wilderness and an almost nation-defining pride in the Big Crazy Undertaking. Earl de Blonville was a part of this mix, from the time of his solo sea kayak baptism at the age of 11 through a paddling circumnavigation of Tasmania that no one thought possible.

Fast forward past countless other Big Adventurous Ideas, to the primary subject of this tome, Earl's seventh major kayak expedition tracking a 1000km, 1930s Arctic route of British Arctic explorer Gino Watkins who disappeared paddling in Greenland (his kayak was found floating full of water, his body never found). Gino was Earl's inspiration and the homage heart of this 1986 expedition. Yet for the reader, Gino is just the spark.

It's inspired writing and willingness to go into dark, ego-busting territory that has us gripped, as Earl's expedition goes from ambitious to haphazard to downright foolhardy. It provides fertile environment for Earl to peer into the mirror and contemplate – what makes an adventurer? What makes a leader (or undoes one)? What maketh the man? This is exploration of the explorer as much as of the expedition.

Australia's reputation for Antarctic exploration and research is well known. Not so well-known is the country's foray into the Arctic that Earl de Blonville describes in this book. The story is told with a refreshing honesty that obliges readers to consider what they themselves might have done in the challenging circumstances. It sanitises neither the interpersonal tensions that arose between personnel, nor the conflicts between individual ambitions and group commitment. It raises the moral and practical responsibility of the designated leader for all contingencies.

For the first time, the story also produced a plausible explanation from the recollections of local Inuit people for Watkins' demise. To say more would steal the thunder of a harrowing adventure, full of twists and turns, only a few of which, with 20/20 hindsight, might have been avoided.

For my part, the book made me reflect on the importance of ability, stability, and compatibility in the selection of personnel, and of the need for leaders to pay as much attention to developing a workable pattern of leadership to suit their group, as to verifying the knowledge and prowess in other respects claimed by individual members. On many levels the book and its author are to be admired.

Seventh Journey provided a lot of management material to reflect on. What sets it apart from most leadership books is its frankness in describing both successes and failures. In my first years of leadership at World Wide Entertainment, my experience was similar to that which Earl faced in the Arctic (although I did not nearly die and had a warm bed to go to every night): I did not stamp my personality and expectations on the team early enough.

While I wanted to empower my team, I did not clearly define my expectations or create the right disciplines and team 'rules'. The result was chaos. In hindsight, had I removed a few people early on, I would have ensured more team harmony and created more long-term value for the company. I think that Seventh Journey makes valuable reading for today’s business leaders.

Book Review
WILD Magazine 117
May-June 2010

In 1986 Earl de Blonville led a disparate crew of young adventurers to the frozen East Greenland coast. Their mission was to recreate and film Arctic explorer Gino Watkins' seventh journey by open boat and kayak in 1931.

This is a disarmingly frank account of the personalities that battle, not only the extreme landscape, but each other as they overcome wild storms, mechanical failure and near deadly dunkings as the winter freeze descends.

The writing soars when the author describes scenes of beauty including the northern lights and the iceberg-ridden coastline that the expedition must battle through.

There are moments of high drama, such as when the team is split during a violent pitoraq (Arctic wind that reaches speeds of up to 140 knots), and moments of bizarre group dynamics, such as when the leader is physically assaulted by another team member.

A fascinating insight into ambition, courage and perseverance against the odds.

Earl de Blonville is a great, but unsung, Australian hero, courageous, strong, confident, and with outstanding leadership qualifications. Seventh Journey is a powerful account of an expedition that he led to East Greenland in 1986.

Seventh Journey is a powerful story of privation, courage, obstinacy and tenacity, full of sharp insights, vividly written, well illustrated with useful maps - an unvarnished record of a major achievement. The expedition took place 23 years ago, but the story, with its freshness and immediacy, is timeless, demonstrating what charismatic leadership can achieve, against all odds.

"When I first sat down with Seventh Journey I expected to read a few chapters a day. Just 36 hours after opening it, I closed the last page at midnight and collapsed into bed. The action is utterly engrossing. However, with each harrowing tale I expected to learn how leadership saved the day and how the lesson could be applied to my own situation. When the lesson didn’t appear I was frustrated. I pushed on – increasingly impatiently – waiting for the infallible secrets of leadership to be revealed; for the universal aphorism, the checklist of do’s and don’ts, the user’s manual to leadership.

But that lesson never came. It was not until I finished the final chapter that I understood the book's real point: that leadership cannot be taught, no leader is infallible and there is no single recipe for success. The important thing is that whatever the circumstance, we must continue to lead, to make decisions, to not sit still and simply wait for the tide to take our kayaks. On reflection I was also relieved; relieved in the knowledge that even the greatest leaders are not superhuman but sometimes make the wrong call and suffer guilt, indecision and cowardice. I can now approach my own life with renewed confidence. It has been an extraordinary 36 hours."