ÿþ<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"> <html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"> <head> <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8" /> <title>Introducing Mark Tanner - Adventurer, Writer and Amateur Beatboxer</title> <meta name="description" content="A brief history of Mark's adventures including the world-first Blue Nile paddle to the sea, pedalling across Canada midwinter, treasure hunting in Iceland and much more."> <meta property="og:title" content="Mark Tanner"/> <meta property="og:type" content="athlete"/> <meta property="og:url" content="http://www.marktanner.com/"/> <meta property="og:image" content="http://www.marktanner.com/fbimage.jpg"/> <meta property="og:site_name" content="Kiwi Adventurer, Writer and Beatboxer"/> <meta property="fb:admins" content="607716202"/> <meta property="og:description" content="A log of Mark Tanner's adventures; paddling the Nile, cycling across Canada in the middle of winter, hunting for treasure in Iceland, living in China and lots more."/> <style type="text/css"> body { background-color: #000; } #Background { width: 968px; background-image: url(Nile-Sudan-Background.jpg); background-position: bottom; background-repeat: no-repeat; } </style> <link href="Mark_Tanner_CSS.css" rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" /> <script src="SpryAssets/SpryMenuBar.js" type="text/javascript"></script> <link href="SpryAssets/MarkMenu.css" rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" /> <script type="text/javascript"> function popupform(myform, windowname){ if (! window.focus)return true; window.open('', windowname, 'height=576,width=420,target="new",scrollbars=yes'); myform.target=windowname; return true; } </script> <script type="text/javascript"> var _gaq = _gaq || []; _gaq.push(['_setAccount', 'UA-21979777-1']); _gaq.push(['_trackPageview']); (function() { var ga = document.createElement('script'); ga.type = 'text/javascript'; ga.async = true; ga.src = ('https:' == document.location.protocol ? 'https://ssl' : 'http://www') + '.google-analytics.com/ga.js'; var s = document.getElementsByTagName('script')[0]; s.parentNode.insertBefore(ga, s); })(); </script> </head> <body> <div id="Sphere"> <div id="Background"> <div itemscope itemtype="http://schema.org/Person"> <div id="Top"><a href="http://marktanner.com"><img src="Mark-Tanner-Logo-and-Name.png" width="424" height="127" alt="Mark Tanner Home" /></a> <div id="Features"> <div id="Subscribe"> <form name="contactform" method="post" action="subscribe.php" onSubmit="popupform(this, 'Subscribe to MarkTanner.com')"> <h4 align="right">Stay in Touch </h4> <h6 align="right"><label for="Name"> Name <input value="" name="name" type="text" maxlength="80" size="25"> </label></h6> <h6 align="right"><label for="Name"> Email <input value="" name="email" type="text" maxlength="80" size="25"> </label></h6> <h6 align="right"><input type="submit" value="Subscribe!"> <a class=boxpopup3 href="#">What's this about? <span>By subscribing you'll be the first to hear my news, views and updates about my book!</span></a></h6></form> <h6 align="right"><iframe src="http://www.facebook.com/plugins/like.php?href=http%3A%2F%2Fmarktanner.com&layout=standard&show_faces=true&width=70&action=like&font=verdana&colorscheme=light&height=30" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" style="border:none; overflow:hidden; width:77px; height:25px;" allowTransparency="true"></iframe></h6> </div> <h2>A Kiwi Lad</h2> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><img src="Mark-Tanner-mugshot.jpg" itemprop="image" width="150" height="214" alt="Mark Tanner" /></p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><strong>From:</strong></p> <p><span itemprop="addressLocality">Wellington</span>, New Zealand</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><strong>Loves: </strong></p> <p>His wife, mango lassies, colonial architecture, wild weather, duct tape, singing</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><strong>Would love to:</strong></p> <p>Play guitar, speak Chinese, have abs (without eating responsibly), go mountain biking with Richard Taylor, beatbox before an All Black's test match</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><a href="http://twitter.com/Tannernz"><img src="http://marktanner.com/twitter-follow25.png" alt="" width="25" height="25" border="0"> Follow @Tannernz </a></p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <table width="350" cellpadding="5"> <tr> <td bgcolor="#BEBEBE"><p>&nbsp;</p> <p><strong>A few snaps from the old days</strong></p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><a href="myself/home&car.htm">My old house and car</a></p> <p><a href="myself/nzsummer.htm">Holidays from school and university years</a></p> <p><a href="myself/21stBday.htm">The 21st birthday</a></p> <p><a href="myself/wellington.htm">Wellington</a></p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><strong>A few sites I like</strong></p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><a href="http://www.gradamusic.com" target="_new">Grada Music</a> - one of the world's best Irish bands</p> <p><a href="http://www.greatwalldvd.com" target="_new">GreatWallDVD</a> - Nathan's Gray's really long walk</p> <p><a href="http://www.kevinbiggar.co.nz/" target="_new">Kevin Biggar</a> - crazy kiwi adventurer</p> <p><a href="http://www.adventuresportnz.com/" target="_new">Adventure Sport NZ</a> - champion adventure/ multisport athletes Richard and Elina Ussher</p> <p><a href="http://www.tour-sudan.com/" target="_new">Tour Sudan</a> - with local legend Midhat Mahir</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>&nbsp;</p></td> </tr> </table> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <h6>SPREAD THE GOOD WORD!</h6> <a href="http://twitter.com/home?status=Check out MarkTanner.com: World-first Nile paddler, Viking treasure hunter, midwinter Canada cyclist and current China resident" target="_blank"><img src="../art/twitter-icon.png" alt="Tweet it" hspace="3" border="0" /></a> <a href="http://www.facebook.com/share.php?u=http://www.marktanner.com" onclick="return fbs_click()" target="_blank"><img src="../art/facebook-icon.png" alt="Share on Facebook" hspace="3" border="0" /></a> <a href="http://del.icio.us/post?url=http://www.marktanner.com" target="_blank"><img src="../art/delicious-icon.png" alt="delicious" hspace="3" border="0" /></a> <a href="http://www.stumbleupon.com/submit?url=http://www.marktanner.com" target="_blank"><img src="../art/stumble-upon-icon.png" border="0" alt="Stumble Upon" hspace="3" /></a> <a href="http://www.linkedin.com/shareArticle?mini=true&url=www.marktanner.com&title=Mark%20Tanner:%20Adventurer,%20Writer%20and%20Amateur%20Beatboxer&source=http://marktanner.com+&summary=World-first%20Nile%20paddler,%20Viking%20treasure%20hunter,%20midwinter%20Canada%20cyclist%20and%20current%20China%20resident" target="_blank"><img src="../art/linked-in-icon.png" alt="Linked In" hspace="3" border="0" /></a> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> </div> </div> <div id="Menu"> <ul id="MarkMenu" class="MenuBarHorizontal"> <li><a href="myself.htm">Myself</a> </li> <li><a href="travels.php" class="MenuBarItemSubmenu">Travels</a> <ul> <li><a href="/niletrip/aboutnile.html">The Nile</a></li> <li><a href="/blog">China</a></li> <li><a href="/bike/biketrip.html">Canadian Bike Treak</a></li> <li><a href="/treasure/thestory.html">Viking Treasure</a></li> </ul> </li> <li><a class="MenuBarItemSubmenu" href="curios.htm">Curios</a> <ul> <li><a href="sudan-recipes">Sudanese Recipes</a></li> <li><a href="beatbox.html">Beat Box</a></li> <li><a href="ratty.html">The Rat</a></li> <li><a href="family-history.html">Family History</a></li> </ul> </li> <li><a href="contact.htm">Contact</a></li> </ul> </div> <div id="Left_Column"> <p><a href="/niletrip/aboutnile.html"><img src="Nile-Adventure-button.jpg" width="75" height="75" title="Dodging crocodiles and terrorists for 5,000 miles of paddling through NE Africa" longdesc="Dodging crocodiles, terrorists, armed bandits as we paddled 5,000kms over five months from the source of the Blue Nile to the Mediterranean Sea" /></a></p> <p><a href="/blog"><img src="China-Adventure-button.jpg" width="75" height="75" title="Our Chinese adventure" longdesc="Follow Ellen and me as we bumble our way along living in the world's most populous country" /></a></p> <p><a href="/bike/biketrip.html"><img src="Canada-Bike-Trek-button.jpg" width="75" height="75" title="The Great Canadian Bike Trek" longdesc="My solo 8,000km solo bike trek across Canada in the middle of winter" /></a></p> <p><a href="beatbox.html"><img src="Beat-Box-Tile.jpg" width="75" height="75" title="My Beat Box Greatest Hits" /></a></p> <p><a href="/treasure/thestory.html"><img src="Viking-Treasure.jpg" width="75" height="75" title="All about the search for ancient Viking treasure in the hills of Iceland" /></a></p> <p><a href="sudan-recipes"><img src="Sudan-Recipes.jpg" width="75" height="75" title="Delicious Recipes from the heart of Sudan" /></a></p> <p><a href="wedding.html"><img src="Wedding-Tile.jpg" width="75" height="75" title="Our Big Wedding Day" /></a></p> <p>&nbsp;</p> </div> <div id="Main_Content"> <h1>Introducing Mark Tanner</h1> <p>I always wanted to be an <span itemprop="jobTitle">adventurer</span>. As a young lad, I would scale the bush-clad hills around <a href="myself/wellington.htm">Wellington</a> harbour, puffing and slipping up the steep slopes, immitating Sir Ed's ascent of Mount Everest as best I could in shorts and sneakers. I was like many kiwi kids, out exploring the hood by bike, scooter and foot or floating down the river on tire tubes. They were my happiest childhood memories. </p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>My desire for adventure didn't falter, and as a green 23-year old with little money and even less experience, I set off on a solo <a href="bike/biketrip.html">bike trek across Canada</a> in the middle of its bitter winter. The sense of achievement powering myself over more than 8,000km on a sheepskin-padded saddle, the people I met, places I saw, character traits I discovered and feeling of freedom made me hungry for more.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>With Les Jickling, who'd joined me on the last leg of my bike trek, I concocted all sorts of adventures including <a href="treasure/thestory.html">searching for Viking treasure</a>, lost in the hills in Iceland for 1,000 years. </p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>It was a few years later in 2005 when Les and I became the first people to <a href="niletrip/aboutnile.html">paddle from the source of the Blue Nile to the Mediterranean Sea</a>. Five months and 5,000km on the river through some extraordinary parts of Ethiopia, Sudan and Egypt was an adventure than exceeded even my wildest childhood dreams. We overcame wild animals attacks, tropical disease, deadly rapids, extreme weather, war zones and terrorists while experiencing majestic scenery, colourful cultures and jaw-dropping ancient wonders.  Because there were so many stories to tell from the adventure, I have written a <a href="niletrip/aboutnile.html#manuscript">manuscript</a> which I am hoping to have published. </p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>I don't believe adventures have to be traversing the river or scaling the peak, but can be found in almost everything one does.  What makes it an adventure are the people you meet, the culture, the experiences that push you and allow you to reflect upon on your own life and enrich it. I hope I will be adventuring for the rest of my life.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>Last year, I <a href="wedding.html">married the woman of my dreams</a> and we are currently on a whole new adventure, <a href="blog">discovering China</a>. We're not sure where it will lead, but there is no doubt that we'll have all sorts of interesting experiences along the way.</p> </div></div> <div id="Footer"><a href="http://marktanner.com">Home</a> | <a href="myself.htm">Myself</a> | <a href="travels.php">Travels</a> | <a href="curios.htm">Curios</a> | <a href="site-map.php">Site Map</a> | <a href="contact.htm">Contact</a> <a href="http://www.apollohosting.com/green-certified/marktanner.com" target="_new"><img src="../art/wind-energy.png" alt="hosted by wind energy" border="0" width="109" height="64"/></a> </div></div> </div> </div> <div id="social"> <div id="insidesocial"> <g:plusone annotation="none"></g:plusone><br> </div><div id="insidesocial"> <iframe src="http://www.facebook.com/plugins/like.php?href=http%3A%2F%2Fmarktanner.com&layout=standard&show_faces=true&width=24&action=like&font=verdana&colorscheme=light&height=30" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" style="border:none; overflow:hidden; width:24px; height:30px;" allowTransparency="true"></iframe><img src="../art/facebook-edge.png" /> </div><div id="insidesocial"> <a href="https://twitter.com/share" data-via="Tannernz" data-count="none"><img src="../art/tweet-button.png" alt="tweet this page" border="0" /> </a> <script>!function(d,s,id){var js,fjs=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0];if(!d.getElementById(id)){js=d.createElement(s);js.id=id;js.src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js";fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js,fjs);}}(document,"script","twitter-wjs");</script> </div><div id="insidesocial"> <a href="http://www.reddit.com/submit" onclick="window.location = 'http://www.reddit.com/submit?url=' + encodeURIComponent(window.location); return false"> <img src="../art/reddit.png" alt="submit to reddit" border="0" /> </a> </div></div> <script type="text/javascript" src="https://apis.google.com/js/plusone.js"></script> <script type="text/javascript"> var MenuBar1 = new Spry.Widget.MenuBar("MarkMenu", {imgDown:"SpryAssets/SpryMenuBarDownHover.gif", imgRight:"SpryAssets/SpryMenuBarRightHover.gif"}); </script> </body> </html>