Thanks all

The whisk I used was a Braun 300watt handblender. Their cheapest model,
single speed, but pretty quick. It comes supplied with a tall, narrow
blending pot. Plastic yes, but it had been thru the dishwasher last week and
hot rinsed again today.
I used an egg separator and no sign of yolk.
The recipe book does agree with the above posters and states 'whisk to soft
peaks.' It also warns against over-whisking as this may lead to hard or
brittle meringue.
So, I may have underwhisked, as I don't recall the soft peaks, prior to
adding the sugar.
I'll try this recipe again in a couple of weeks and try and nail it!! Thanks
again - much appreciated.

Bertie