Thor Heyerdahl

Throughout an adventurous life that took him all over the world, Thor Heyerdahl never lost his fascination for the largest ocean on our planet, the Pacific.

His first expedition, the famous Kon-Tiki voyage from Peru to Polynesia took place in 1947. Fifty years later, shortly before his death, he was planning yet another Pacific journey of discovery, this time to Samoa.

For some it is the sheer vastness of the Pacific Ocean that is the main challenge. For thor Heyerdahl it has always been the mystery, the unanswered questions. And providing us with his own unique and challenging theories, he has left behind an inscription carved stone. Even if the waves wash over it for many thousands of years, it will still be there for all to see, and wonder at; Thor heyerdahl's permanent legacy to the Pacific Ocean.

More than half a century ago, Thor Heyerdahl took his young bride to a remote island in the South Seas. The first puzzle to recieve the Heyerdahl treatment was that of the Polynesians.

No armchair theoretican, Heyerdahl's solution was action: the legendary Kon-Tiki was born. This flimsy balsa-wood raft carried Heyerdahl and his team on the first voyage in a long quest of discovery.

By the mid-sixties, Heyerdahl's interest had shifted from the Pacific to the Atlantic. He was convinced that one clue to the similarities between the civilizations of the Old World and the New was the reed ship. The Tigris was greated. In this frail craft, he and his men set out on an ancient voyage which took them through the hazards of a modern world.

These fascinating programmes are not only the story of one man's adventures; they are the story of discoveries that have shed new light on our own beginnings.