Wet, windy, high and then going down under

Friday 14th

It’s been a while since I updated the blog. That has mainly been because there has not been too much stress or excitement worthy of note in the last few months plus I have had some pleasant time off.

There have of course been a number of stories requiring a drive south on the A1 or M6, a few GVs, vox pops and pieces to camera that would come under the category of run of the mill.

Interspersed with those were opportunities to get very wet in the storms that hit the west cost, see the spectacular views over Blackpool from the newly renovated observation platform in the pleasant company of funny men Cannon and Ball along with weather expert Kirsty McCabe, and share the surprise and joy of one of the couples Daybreak will be taking to Australia.

The waves lash the coast at Largs.

Glad to be shooting that one from the dryness of the car!

View from the Blackpool tower (locked off camera and Sat' truck down there somewhere!)

Ah, there they are truck, radio link antenna and licked of camera with a shot of the tower.

Kirsty, the meat in a Cannon and Ball sandwich.

Sound recordist Mike fits up Bobby Ball with his radio mic. Or is he just going through his pockets? Tommy Cannon's not so sure.

James the producer reaches the dizzy heights of polishing the floor before we go on air.

It's not everyday that I can boast of straddling a weather girl!

The satellite truck hidden in an alleyway ready for the doorstep surprise.

The unsuspecting couple live in this row of terraced houses in Darlington.

Presenter Mark Little chats to the surprised couple Sean and Amy with baby Harry.

Michelle gets left holding the baby (as ever) when the couple are getting dressed.

Now, after an awful lot of form filling, visa applying, equipment testing and long streams of e-mailing involving; ITV Daybreak, ITN, Sky News, The BBC, Buckingham Palace and 10 Downing Street I am laden down with even more kit than usual off on what amounts to a triple assignment on the other side of the planet.

Assignment one is with the Queen as she tours her dominion in Australia. Butting up with that is assignment two with the Prime Minister and his fellow Commonwealth leaders at the Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting in Perth, Western Australia and then a hectic week ahead of filming and live broadcasts with some of the one hundred people that Daybreak are taking to Australia.