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Nairaland Forum / Nairaland / General / Travel / Dad Cant Afford Plane Ticket, Mails Himself To Australia (1075 Views)
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Dad Cant Afford Plane Ticket, Mails Himself To Australia by PilotOz(m): 7:45am On Mar 13, 2015 |
Things were so much simpler in the 1960s. There were three channels on television, a doctor could deliver a baby without removing the cigarette from his mouth and a down-on-his-luck dad could successfully mail himself halfway around the world. Plane ticket? What plane ticket? In 1964, Reg Spears was a world champion javelin thrower, but the Australian learned that didn't come with a lot of perks like, say, steady work or a paycheck. He was stuck in the United Kingdom, desperate to get back to Australia to see his young daughter on her birthday, but couldn't figure out how he could ever afford the trip. During a night drinking with fellow javelin thrower John McSorley, they got the idea that Spears could just ship himself back, inside an oversized wooden box that he could build himself. Like most ideas that happen over too many drinks, this one was terrible. But it worked. Spears had been working in the cargo area of an airport, so he knew a lot of insider information. The pair built a 5′ x 3′ x 2'6″ crate (the maximum size that could be shipped), fitted with straps for him to hang on to and designed to open at either end so he could get out and walk when he'd been safely loaded inside the plane. He packed some provisions including his passport, a change of clothes, canned spaghetti, bottled water and some candy, climbed into the box and McSorely drove him to Heathrow airport (Spears used the empty bottles and cans to pee in. We know you were curious). The trip was almost a disaster from the start, after heavy fog delayed flights out of London for a full 24 hours. He was flown from London to Paris to Bombay, where he was left on a tarmac in the hot sun (and upside down) for hours before being loaded back onto yet another plane. After an unscheduled fuel stop in Singapore, he made it to Perth, 63 hours and 13,000 miles from Heathrow. The box was placed in a cargo shed, but Spears found some tools, cut a hole in the wall and climbed out. He changed into his clean clothes, pulled out his passport and walked out of the airport. After hitchhiking from Perth to his home in Adelaide, he surprised his family. The only mistake he made was forgetting to let McSorley know that he'd arrived; McSorely called a reporter friend and there was a massive-for-the- time media circus that picked up on Spears' story. The hardest part, he said, was convincing his wife that he was telling the truth. She didn't believe me. But then she thought about it and thought 'He must have done it, how else did he get here?' So eventually she rode with it. Spears is now 73 and still lives in Australia after spending several decades (and a couple of prison stints) as a drug smuggler. Say what you want about him, but the man knows how to pack. SOURCE--- http://www.news10.net/story/news/weird/2015/03/12/dad-cant-afford-plane-ticket-mails-himself-to-australia/70215446/ |
Re: Dad Cant Afford Plane Ticket, Mails Himself To Australia by pinkyruledworld(m): 8:00am On Mar 13, 2015 |
Wow, the guy try o. Tru love for #family |
Re: Dad Cant Afford Plane Ticket, Mails Himself To Australia by tdayof(m): 8:33am On Mar 13, 2015 |
So serious! |
Re: Dad Cant Afford Plane Ticket, Mails Himself To Australia by PilotOz(m): 8:43am On Mar 13, 2015 |
yea... I trust our Nigerian brothers. It wont be long before they start pulling this type of stunt.... |
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