The crossing between Sydney and Shanghai was to have been the longest of the voyage, exceeding by one day the time between Guayaquil and Tahiti, Had it not been for the medical evacuation that took place shortly after leaving Guayaquil that necessitated our backtracking to the nearest point of land, the Galapagos Islands, that is. I think they are equal now, unless the medical evacuation that took place after leaving Sydney will lengthen this trip. I don’t think it will because we have been charging through the water at over 18 knots per hour for much of the way so far. I am writing this as we are expected to arrive in Shanghai after two more days.
But before I write about the evacuation, I’ll say that the first few days out of Sydney were idyllic, with beautiful, sunny skies and warm weather – a welcome respite after the chill of Sydney during our last three days there. The seas were calm and sunsets were beautiful.
Calm water, blue skies 9637
Close-up of calm water 9638
Sunset coming on 9639
Sunset 9647
I’ve written before about a few goals I wanted to achieve while I was in the Southern Hemisphere, including seeing the Southern Cross and touching a koala. Another was seeing water drain counter-clockwise (or, anticlockwise, as the New Zealanders and Aussies say it). I made it a point to observe water draining from my bathroom sink to see if it were true. It was! I was very excited to see water spinning counter-clockwise as it made its way into the drain. After puzzling how to show this phenomenon in this blog, I concluded I needed to take a picture of it, even it if the direction of the water was not easily determined. So one day after washing a batch of dirty socks in my sink (so the water would be darker and hopefully show up), I took the following photos. Can you tell which direction it’s draining in?
Water draining in a counter-clockwise direction 9648
Last of water draining counter-clockwise 9649
Now you’ve seen it for yourself!
A day and a half later, I took this picture of the map that shows on our tv screens. It shows the direction we were heading. After leaving Sydney, we went straight north and then, as shown in the photo, turned dramatically to the left (see the arrow).
Direction of travel 9650
The next day, the sea was flat and as calm as could be.
Flat Pacific 9654
That evening, a group of faculty and academic staff helped celebrate Elisabeth’s birthday with an ice cream cake, a specialty of the kitchen staff. I happened to be sitting next to her at the dinner table so I got some great shots of the event. She is from Spain, which will explain the writing on the cake.
The cake 9655
Elie starting to cut the cake 9660
Then she got distracted with people wanting to take pictures, so I ended up cutting and serving the first half of the cake. Nancy did the last half of it. It was a nice celebration.
MEDICAL EVACUATION
Later that evening, it was announced that one of our passengers was very ill and had to be evacuated. We were heading for the “nearest point of land,” which was Papua, New Guinea, and at about 10:00 PM, we would anchor offshore and the evacuation would take place. The evacuee was a member of the teaching staff who was very popular with colleagues and students. We were all upset that he was so ill and that he had to be evacuated (because we would miss him) so most of us were on the deck to watch the evacuation. It was the first of our several evacuations to take place at night. I did my best to record it on film but it was a challenge, with the ship rocking and the rescue boat rocking. Here it is in pictures and pardon the blurry ones.
Lights on the shore of Papua, New Guinea, with rescue boat coming toward TSS 9663
Tug nearing TSS 9672
Tug coming alongside TSS 9675
Tug close enough to manage the transfer; our evacuee was able to step ashore and walk into the tug 9676
Name of tug 9678
Tug pulling away after transfer of evacuee and accompanier 9679
The tug’s crew was very responsive to the yells and cheers of TSSers; they waved, did little jigs and other gestures of response. When our evacuee boarded the tug, TSSers burst into cheers, applause and yells of goodbye and encouragement. He turned and waved to all of us and then walked inside the tug. Then the tug pulled away and started moving in a direction not in a straight line toward the shore. We were puzzled until suddenly a student yelled, “He’s doing a 360!” Sure enough, TSS blew its horn in signal and then the tug started blowing its horn and turned in a complete circle before heading directly to the shore. We were cheering and applauding and yelling positive reinforcement. It was amazing to see and hear. See for yourself.
Pulling away 9691
Starting the turn, although we didn’t realize it 9692
We thought it was getting ready to head for shore 9693
Maybe it was going to go toward the shore to the left 9694
No, it was doing “a 360”! 9695
Coming abaft (I think that’s the term) 9696
Facing us head on 9697
Turning outward again, having finished its 360 9698
Was it going to do another? 9699
No, it headed off toward shore in a straight line, still blowing its horn with TSSers cheering enthusiastically 9700
And away they go! 9701
Far away now 9702
Just a blip on the horizon 9705
Going, going, gone 9706
We later had word that our evacuee was resting comfortably and getting medical care, and then that he had been transferred to a hospital on Australia’s Gold Coast. Only several days later did we learn that the transfer had taken place in the evacuee’s “own Learjet.” Well, that was an eye-opener. The evacuee, in all the time we had known him, had never given an indication that he was a Learjet owner! You learn something new every day.
Where We Were
About an hour and a half later, I took some pictures of the TV screen that showed the route we had taken to accomplish the medical evacuation. Notice the direction of the arrow.
How we got there 9707
Where we were on the globe 9709
The next morning, I guess we were still passing New Guinea, or some other piece of land. I got some good photos of the mountains in the distance with the lovely calm water in the foreground.
View 1 9714
View 2 9716
View 3 with great clouds over the mountains 9718
Then I got breakfast from the buffet and sat down at a table with Kim, the Shore Excursions person. Suddenly she pointed out to sea and said, “Look at that ship!” I turned and saw a lovely sailing ship with sails billowing in the breeze. Of course I whipped out my camera to take some shots of it but the camera was doing its stubborn act and would not zoom in any closer than what is shown below. The general consensus was that it was a fishing vessel. How they came to that conclusion I do not know, but it was a lovely sight.
Sailing/fishing vessel 9720
A little later in the day, I finally had the opportunity to get my temperature taken. It would be logical to wonder why it was needed. No, I wasn’t feeling ill or feverish. It was a requirement of the government of China that everyone on the vessel had to have their temperature taken one week before docking in China. That information had to be forwarded to the Chinese officials. It also involved each of us filling out a form with our identifying information on it that the health professional could write the temperature reading on and then stamp with a circular red stamp. After the process was complete, we each had to take our form to the ship’s Reception Desk where they gathered them, made sure everyone had complied, and kept them. What was my temperature? I don’t remember because it was recorded in degrees Celsius. However, my point in writing this is to say that while I was in the Medical Center waiting room, I saw on the table a book about international health that had on its cover a colorful collage of photos from around the world. Guess what animal appeared in one picture? A camel! I tell you, camels are everywhere. To prove it, here’s one of the photos I took of it.
Camel at sea 9723
Crew Talent Show
The well-publicized and much looked-forward-to Crew Talent Show occurred the next evening. Rumor had it that it was going to be good and that we would be very surprised by the talents displayed by our many quiet, self-effacing ship’s crew members. Although I don’t necessarily attend all of the events aboard, I decided to show support of the crew by attending this one. It was to be held in the International Lounge and I got there early to get a good seat. Others had the same idea and got there even earlier so I ended up more to the left of center than I would have preferred but in the front row of the second section. Fortunately the seats are tiered, so I had a pretty good view of the stage. The curtains on the stage were closed and the evening’s theme was attached to the area above the curtains.
Show’s theme above stage 9724
Close-up of sign, “A Night to Remember Crew Talent Show” 9726
The evening’s MCs, two TSS females and one male from the crew 9727
The first act was a rock band, Oceanic Crew Band, made up of various crew members including “Ding, the pastry chef,” who could really rock. They did “Smooth” and then The Zephyr Song, which really showed Ding’s great singing voice and finally Stand By Me, which the students particularly liked, swaying with arms in the air and singing along.
Oceanic Crew Band 9733
Ding, on right, getting into it 9734
Audience with arms in air on Stand By Me 9737
Another singing performance was of a different sort, with our Navigation Officer – who usually speaks to us from the bridge at Noon every day to let us know the sea, weather, wind, barometric and other navigational information including how far we’ve traveled from the last port of call and what the nearest point of land is and at what distance in his Filippino-accented English. He always starts his Noon announcement with, “Good afternoon, Ladies and Gentlemen.” However, we had never seen him. So, when he walked onto stage, we didn’t have a clue. Then he spoke, “Good evening, Ladies and Gentlemen.” We all went into fits of hysterical laughter because we immediately identified the voice. Then everyone was clapping and cheering. But when he began singing, first Hello Dolly and then Love Song, we were blown away. He sounded EXACTLY like Frank Sanatra – with no Filippino accent! It was amazing and enthusiastically received. All the photos I took of him turned out hopelessly blurry, unfortunately.
Then came the Singing Waiters. We see these good men every day wearing their bright yellow shirts and they are always quiet, courteous and efficient. They can whisk away our use plates, glasses and cutlery without us even noticing it has happened. Fairly often, however, they make off with things we still want to use or food we are intending to eat! When they appeared on stage wearing identical brightly colored tropical print shirts, they were loudly cheered and applauded. At the end of their performance, a student yelled, “Wear those shirts everyday!” which also received applause. They sang about three songs but since they’re not listed on the printed program I saved, I can’t remember what they were although they were well done.
The Singing Waiters 9746
Then came the performance that left me so stunned I didn’t take any more pictures until the finale numbers. After the Singing Waiters was “Copacabana,” staring my male cabin steward, who was named, “and the cabin stewards.” It was musical and most of the performers were singing the theme song as the action took place on the stage. The most hilarious moment was when the white-attired waiter was shot and fell to the floor flat on his back and lay there motionless while emergency workers tried to revive him. However, the shocking part of the event was that my cabin steward played the part of the female vamp who brought about the rivalry that led to the mis-directed shot that killed the waiter. He was dressed in a short gold lame skirt, with a long, long champagne blonde wig beneath which his face could barely be seen but it was made up expertly and he looked, well I have to say it, absolutely beautiful. He had a gold lame shawl around his shoulders and gold lame boots (NOT high heel, fortunately) on his feet. He danced and pranced and strutted all around the stage. Nikki was sitting next to me and since her cabin is two down from mine, also has him for her cabin steward. We were both in a state of shock over this shocking performance. However, most of the audience liked it and I certainly enjoyed the other aspects of it, including the three slender males wearing black-leotards and tights and wings, yes wings. They represented the fact that the waiter had died. Actually, the wings on two of them were white angel wings while the third one was yellow butterfly wings. Amazing.
After that were several other musical numbers including a really cute rendition of “In the Navy” in which all the dancers wore white navy-type tops having blue cord trim. As Nikki said, “WHERE did they get those costumes?”
The finale was “We Are the World,” a great number featuring the Oceanic Crew Band and all those who had participated in the program along with a few who had not. They actually did represent the world, having come from about 35 different countries. They did a marching routine as they sang and at one point, as they marched past a certain place at the back of the stage, they picked up a small flag representing one of the countries of the world. Then, making another circuit, they picked up another flag, so each was holding two. The audience really got into this song, singing along and finally standing and clapping in time. Following that was a prolonged standing ovation.
“We Are The World,” grand finale 9748
Another view 9751
Finally they were all gathered at the front of the stage 9754
Enthusiastic audience clapping and singing along 9757
No comments:
Post a Comment