Rolling into Australia

The week heading into Australia was an exciting one. Ashley and Muriel were still working down in the engine room, and Abishai and I were alternating between the bridge and deck work. The ladies were helping out with the work being done on our third power generator engine, and Abi and I were working at chipping away rusty metal, and then priming and painting it up. One day I got to work away at some really thick tough rust by beating it up with a sledge hammer, which was a lot of fun until the third engineer came running up on deck telling me that the sledge hammer had shook the overhead so much it knocked off and then set off a fire alarm below, so no more sledge hammer in that location. 

All in all, the work was good and some great learning experiences all around the ship. 

The real excitement this week came with the waves. We had previously been rolling pretty steadily through the Indian Ocean, between 5 and 10 degrees of list, and a maximum of 15, but in this weeks waves we maxed out at 25 degrees of roll. The swells built up to about 3 meters over the last three or four days into Australia, and with a true wind speed hitting 40 knots at some times, we saw the ship handle some more challenging waters. When the spray first started going up over the bow, Abi and I would go all the way forward after work for about an hour each night and just watch the boat slam through the waves. Seeing the anchor that had been 30 feet above the water line in port, go submerged into a wave, with spray that shot up and hit us in the face was some new excitement. And we both loved the look of the bulbous bow constantly surging forward through the clear blue waters. Each night we would run back towards the house after the biggest wave had sent enough spray into us to thoroughly soak our clothes. Dozens of flying fish jumped out of the water in front of the ship to get out of the way. Rather than taking the anticipated parabolic path back into the water, these fish took off like birds rapidly flapping their wing like fins to fly up and down over the waves, occasionally staying out of the water for forty or fifty seconds. One day we got to check out one of these fish up close which had gotten tossed over the bow with a big wave, and then found by the bosun. 

In the following days the waves got bigger and the winds quicker, and soon there was spray that went above the forward mast, and then spray that got all the way up to the bridge, dousing the entire ship.

Eventually the waves were big enough that green water covered the deck. One day no one was allowed to work on deck and the house was secured to make sure no one got swept overboard. That day the ship really started to pitch and surge as well as roll. Several slight course changes were made throughout the day to try and find the smoothest ride, but even with these adjustments, there were at least three waves we observed where the whole bow actually went under the water line, sending a rush of water back over the deck. On these couple of days lots of things became a challenge, all the glasses and food in the mess had to be carefully stowed, and the chairs were all bungee corded to the tables; even with this there were many meals where everyone eating would slide 10 feet away from there spot in their chair with the roll of the boat. Still luckily, no one has gotten sea sick at all.

On Saturday morning we came in sight of Australia; it was a beautiful day and there were hundreds of pleasure craft, both sail and power, out in between Fremantle and the barrier islands. I got to watch the lowering of the anchor, which was quite cool to see it drop from looking over the side of the bow. Once we were in place, a launch boat came out to meet us delivering some additional crew members and some fresh provisions. We then were lucky enough to hop on that launch and head into shore. 

We arrived in Fremantle and caught an uber a few miles North up the Swan River to a park called Blackwall Reach. It was a beautiful day and there were tons of people out swimming, sailing, and boating in the river/harbor. At the end of the park was a nice beach with a view of Perth across the harbor. We ventured up the bank of the river and found a cool spot where the bank turned to steep rock formation up above the water. There were many boats below enjoying the summer day, all anchored together in a party barge, playing music loud enough for us to enjoy. On the rock wall of the river, there were tons of local Australians there for the day jumping off the rocks, swimming around, and climbing back up. We participated in the activity, and had a great time, and even convinced Muriel to jump a few times too. 

We next contacted Abi's great aunt and uncle, and their son, who live in Perth, and they came and picked us up and brought us back to their house. We got to hang out and talk with Abi's family and they made an awesome home cooked Indian dinner for us all to enjoy. It was great getting to meet his family and hear their stories, Muriel even got to talk about raising chickens with them, which they do in their back yard, and she does at home in Texas. Abi stayed the night with them at their house, and Muriel Ashley and I headed back to Fremantle to check out the nightlife there, and then return to the ship. 

The next morning we came back ashore and checked out the local market. Then we met back up with Abishai and his uncle, and he brought us to a park a little ways out from the city where he thought we might get to see some wild kangaroos. He was right, we got to see four of them up close, maybe 10 or 15 feet away, before they got startled and hopped away into the woods, as well as many more from a distance asleep in the shade under some trees.

On the way back to town Abi's uncle brought us through the city of Perth, and then to a big park overlooking the city with awesome views of the harbor and the city.

Back in Fremantle we got a nice big lunch of fish and chips down on the docks by the marina, and then decided to find our way to the beach for the afternoon. We headed to South Beach, where we got to relax in the hot sand and go for a nice ocean swim. There was a swim platform a little bit out which was fun to go to and jump off of. From the beach you could see our ship, the Peary, anchored with a few other ships. There was a man clipping along past us on a windsurfer, which got me pretty jealous, but it is hard to beat hanging out on a beautiful Australian beach. 

Our last item to check off the list before headed back to the ship was to try some kangaroo. So we ordered a plate of kangaroo kabobs which we all got to try, and the meat was actually very tasty. 

We had a great two days in Australia, and are now back on board the ship. We take off tomorrow morning, and from there the next stop is Antarctica!

See yeah next time from the bottom of the world!