Jon Kudelka

NOTE: There are now 5 Imaginary Friend rewards available for $350 each. If you want to upgrade to this reward from another reward, please contact me and I'll talk you through it. There has already been one upgrade, hence it looks like there are only four available altogether. Sorry about the slightly inelegant solution, it is probably First Dog's fault.

WELL, THIS IS EXCELLENT. We made our goal, so the trip is on. Thank you backers, you are the best. However, if you would still like to back the project, if we can get to $13 000 we can print the book in full colour throughout, which would be pretty cool, though it will mean breaking out the good crayons. So please feel more than welcome to pick up some rewards.

*** WE MADE OUR FULL COLOUR GOAL, SO WOW, THANK YOU *** Any further funds will go into a larger print run and side trips (we have already confirmed a detour to Bruny Island to investigate the important nexus between whisky and cheese). Remember: we are doing this for our country and in fact the entire planet. You're welcome.

Best,

Jon and Firstdog

(Just for the record, the order of events will be: ride the bikes, drink the whisky, bit of a lie down, hearty breakfast, coffee, repeat, as otherwise it would be illegal and we also don't want to die. Drink whisky responsibly! Hahahaha (no, really, this is serious).
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Jon's Bit:

Look, here's the thing: First Dog and I would like you to give us money so that we can cycle around Tasmania on electric bikes and drink whisky.

The goal of the trip is to self-publish our tour diary as a book in which we interpret the whisky, the bicycle journey
and the mystery of existence through the medium of cartoons (and possibly dance and terrible song depending on the level of whisky consumed). We're planning to go in March 2014 and have the book available in extremely good bookshops just in time for Christmas.

Now before you go hahahaha no you wacky cartoonists and give all your money to some lesser project, whisky is a pretty big deal in Tasmania these days. There are nine distilleries and two independent bottlers operating in the state with another three distilleries going online in the next couple of years. Somebody needs to investigate, and in all honesty the only people capable of doing this properly are me and First Dog. From the bottom of Tasmania all the way to the top, rain, hail or shine (which in Tasmania is usually all at once) the whisky must be drunk by investigative gonzo cartoonjournalists, if only to keep warm.

Seriously though, whenever First Dog and I get together we drink a great deal of whisky and are immensely entertaining if we recall correctly, so essentially we have been in training for this trip our whole lives. We are willing to record this journey in words and pictures in old-fashioned "book" form for you, the good burghers of Australia. To be blunt, this is the greatest and most noble endeavour in the history of crowdfunding. At the very least, you have to be curious as to what we will come up with.

Firstdog's bit:

I don’t know how I feel about this. I mean it sounds like a good idea and obviously if it works out I will be happy to take credit for thinking of it.

However when Jon originally suggested it to me (unless it is a good idea in which case I suggested it to him) I was a bit suspicious.

He managed to convince me though (or me him) when he (or I) said, Whisky, Bicycles, Lovely Scenery and Meeting the Local Marsupials, Farm Animals and General Gentle Country Rambling. Also Bicycles Good Food And Whisky Again. No sleeping in ditches.

So it will be excellent. And all the while through the magic of internet I look forward to blogtwitting all my facefriends on instachatsnap thingy as we journey about the Apple Isle.

I wonder if Tasmanians hate it being called the Apple Isle. I would. Let’s find out!

I am glad I thought of it. Probably.

The major part of the funds will be used for printing the book, which will have a rather stylish leatherette cover. The remainder will be used to pay for the bikes, whisky and accommodation. If we go over our goal, we'll print more books, because our goal allows for the absolute bare minimum print run and it does become a more economic proposition if we print a million or so. We will also be able to avoid sleeping in ditches (or at least I will because dogs love sleeping in ditches I believe). Let's face it, we won't be skimping on the whisky.

The three distilleries labelled "Not Sure Yet", "Maybe" and "TBA" on the map are still in the planning stages so if we get a bit of extra cash, we'll see if we can visit those too and find out what's happening there. There are a few other interesting places we'd like to look at on the way as well and we'll factor those in depending on time and cash available.

The more obstacles and challenges there are, the better the book will be. A flat tyre in the middle of the Great Lakes in a howling snowstorm will provide a very entertaining chapter, if being not as hilarious at the time as it will be in print.

Hopefully most of the bad stuff will happen to First Dog.

We are cartoonists. We will overcome.