Cast of Characters

G'day! I want to add some info about our journey from the US to Oz. It was so cool and included a great cast of characters.

Right after we boarded the ship in Los Angeles, we were brought up to the bridge to meet the captain. He introduced himself as Trevor (no need to call him sir or salute or suchlike), so it was informal from the start. He's a Kiwi and a very talkative, funny one at that. He entertained us with various stories and his take on world events/situations at nearly every meal. He also gave us some cool pics of the ship and crew. The deputy captain is from Russia but now lives in NZ. He told us a lot too, and at the end of the voyage he wrote up his own recommendations for sights to see in Moscow and St Petersburg (cheers, Mikhail!). The chief engineer, Christian, is German but now lives in South Africa. He loves to travel as much as we do, as well as watching the amazing sunsets only visible at sea. Here's hoping he got to see some dolphins after we left the ship! Here's a picture of Iff and me with Christian (left) and Trevor during the barbecue:


The voyage itself was such an experience, so different from our one cruise. We were the only passengers on the freighter (compared to 2,000 on the QM2), there were only 26 crew members (compared to the QM2's 1,000 crew members), we got food that tasted like home cooking (including a barbecue on deck one Saturday evening), we got to wear jeans/shorts all the time, we had a cabin suite much bigger than the one on the QM2, we could go all over the ship (provided we didn't get in the way of the crew), we could visit the bridge the whole time, and we even got a tour of the engine room. There weren't lessons on how to fold napkins and tie scarves and the assorted musical atrocities which were committed on the QM2. Each night we saw so many stars, which we just don't get to see in any city. And we got to sit on the edge of the bow of the ship to watch for dolphins as the sun set. Genius! Plus the weather was almost always perfect...hardly any rain and only one day of medium-heavy rolling. What a brilliant introduction to the southern hemisphere, the South Pacific, and the Southern Ocean. Here's a lovely picture Trevor gave us of a sunset seen from on board (better than the sunset pictures we took ourselves!):


The voyage and crew were nice and informal, and that didn't stop when we got to the Melbourne port. The Ozzie immigration and customs guys came on board and were so friendly, nice and relaxed -- all smiles, as opposed to the usual immigration and customs officials we've encountered at every airport we've ever been to. One of them even came up to our cabin to search our backpacks. He was a lovely Melbourne native who happily gave us advice on things to do and see in his city. Miles away from the usual customs experience! So right off the bat we got a great impression of Oz. Once we left the boat, we got a taxi into town. When our taxi driver found out it was our first time to Melbourne, he pointed out all places of interest on the way to our hostel. It was so cool!

Now I'll leave it to Chris to post an update about our time in Melbourne. It's all good!!!