Sir Peter's work to go on

By PAULA OLIVER AND NZPA

A quiet determination is growing among the friends and colleagues of Sir Peter Blake to continue the environmental work he lost his life pursuing.

Sir Peter's close friend and business associate, Alan Sefton, said yesterday that blakexpeditions, the organisation set up to draw attention to environmental issues, had been flooded with messages urging the team to continue.

"We are going to complete the expedition to the Amazon we are on now. Things are on schedule despite the awful thing that has happened.

"That is because we all think that is the way Sir Peter would have wanted it done."

Mr Sefton said the long-term future of blakexpeditions had not been considered, but the Seamaster had already left Macapa, at the mouth of the Amazon, to continue its voyage.

Sir Peter had a long schedule mapped out for the boat next year, including trips to Greenland and Bermuda.

Final preparations were being made on both sides of the world yesterday for the yachting legend's funeral, as his body travelled to Britain on a Brazilian Air Force plane. Three Seamaster crew members accompanied the coffin.

After initial concerns that Sir Peter's mother, Joyce Blake, might not be able to attend the funeral, a doctor yesterday cleared her to fly to England from Auckland.

She will leave tonight with other family members.

Prime Minister Helen Clark confirmed that she would leave today to attend the funeral.

After speaking to Lady Pippa Blake, she had been asked to deliver a eulogy, a speech she said would be the most difficult of her life.

"They're very appreciative. I think in the circumstances it's important to be there."

Helen Clark said the decision to attend was due to Sir Peter's status. That she was one of the last people to see him during a recent trip to the Amazon convinced her that the decision was the right one.

The Prime Minister will meet Lady Pippa in Hampshire on the day she arrives, and will attend a wake with other New Zealanders that night. The next day she will go to the church service.

She will arrive back in New Zealand on Sunday.

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