Dear Family and Friends, 08 November, 1998

After five days on Western Australian land. I'm ready to go UA (AWOL) hahaha....

No, not quite that extreme, but close. :-) Everyone here is extremely nice, going far out of their way to ensure we feel, or better said felt, comfortable. I think the best way to describe it would be to say, Perth, and it's adjoining town, Fremantle, are very much like a large city (scaled down a bit) with a small town mentality. Everyone seemed genuinely concerned for their fellow Aussies.

My first day off the ship, I found out I'd been reserved lodging at a place called "Pier 21 Resort.", which was not my original booking. I'd booked a room at a place called Harbor Village, however, once walking into my river front, three bedroom suite, I swear I'd died and been born wealthy! Haha. It's was absolutely fabulous! The owners ran everything, who were extremely polite and courteous, and the entire complex resembled something off the set of Melrose Place. BUT BETTER!!! It was very very cool!

That first night, I settled into my new home -for the next 4 days atleast- then went out for a bite to eat. I went for a train ride to downtown Perth to explore some, and mingle with the locals. But of course, being a Tuesday night, I would have had better luck impersonating a door to door salesman. No one was out out.

The second day, which was an Adventure Day excursion, was soooo cool! We started out by exploring some caves, about 80km north of Perth, called "Crystal Caves." From there, we headed off to a national park to catch a glimpse of a few Kuala Bears and Kangaroo's. When we left the park is must had been getting close to noon, so we stopped off at some roadside restaurant for a bite to eat. From there, we headed to a ranch in the outback where we were paired off with horses. I ended up getting this really large, and stubborn, horse named "Max". He was alright though. The total horse riding experience was OK. It would have been awesome, except the amount of flies was too great for any of us to enjoy it. It's not like it is in the states. Sure, there are always flies around horses, but the density of these here were just overwhelming. A serious problem to say the least. You'd think that once we were off riding, the wind would peel away the layer of them a bit, but no, it wasn't to be. Anyway, riding was cool. Once we left the ranch, we headed for the coast, where these huge vehicles we were in glided, bumped, and rumbled through the sand dunes as if we were riding in Jeeps. But these were no small vehicles! Large in fact. Huge 4X4 's carrying as many as 22 passengers inside. The vehicle are really miraculous. Oh yeah, I got pictures!!! After leaving the coast, we headed for a tranquil river where we boarded two man canoes and rowed our way 2 miles upriver. Unfortunately, it all came to a tiring end around 6:30pm where we boarded a coach-bus and slept our way back toward the ship. What a day! Myself, and two buddies of mine, took a cab back to my room and had a celebration cigar, talked about the day, and drifted off into a deep sleep. Hahaha, we didn't even bother going out that night. We were beat!

The third and fourth day and nights were very much the same. Went out to eat, relaxed, and spent the rest of the evening exploring Perth and Fremantle's nightlife. By the fifth day, I was ready to go back to the ship early (6pm) and get ready to get back underway Sunday morning... So, that's what did. I never did get a chance to go skydiving here. I was really looking forward to going again, but the closest place I found was too far south, making it difficult to get to. So, we all decided to hold off till we get to Hawaii. :-( hehe Well, I hear it's snowing in Hobart, but believe me, that isn't going to stop me from doing the things we've got scheduled as tours once we get there... I'll write more later and tell you all about it. Take care, and I look forward to hearing from you soon. ~Tony

Dear Family and Friends, 19 November, 1998

I know it's been almost two weeks since I last wrote, but honestly, there hasn't been too much to talk about. After Perth, I intended to write a letter saying everything I'd planned on doing in Tasmania, however, the more I thought about it, the more I liked the idea of just letting whatever happen, happen. So I cancelled everything! What was everything? Oh, well I had the entire stay arranged. When we arrived on the 12th, that first day I was just going to go out and get a feel for the surroundings. Try and get my bearings straight, sort-of-speak. The second day, I had arranged a white water rafting trip, to try and drown my thoughts and put this year behind me. The third day I intended to turn over a new leaf towards progress and hit the greens by going golfing. Perhaps, to start off the next chapter in a new light. Anyway, the fourth day was dedicated to horseback riding, to let the wild streak go full canter and allow the wind to pass freely around my balding head. And after taming the wildness, the fifth and final day was dedicated to a fifteen-kilometer mountain bike decent trek off Mt. Wellington, the highest peak setting in the backdrop of Hobart. All in all. It was intended to being a breaking/building port visit, swiftly pushing my time left at sea and on cruise ahead. Well, like I began to say in the beginning, I let all that go and let what happened, happen.

The first day ended up being exactly as planned. Uncomplicated and relaxing! Well, sort of... I hadn't slept the night before and a friend dragged me out and off the ship along with him, staying out till late that night. Something like twenty-nine hours had past before I was able to lay my tired soul to rest. I was beat! Anyway, even though I had to work that next day (it was my duty day), I stayed in my rack sleeping till lpm. I had become the billboard for an R&R advertisement, no kidding. For duty I took a late watch taking fixes from our radar's, ensuring the ship wasn't dragging anchor, and didn't get to bed that night till early the next day as well. So, again I slept through mid-morning into the noonish hours. Hunger decided to wake me up that afternoon and force me off the ship to replace the emptiness in my stomach with nourishment. It felt so good to leave the ship refreshed. I was ready for anything, but first things first—food had to be the priority—so off we went in search of greatness. Even though I had hoped it was Italian that would find us, greatness turned out to be charred steak and fries (steak & chips - in Aussie lingo) (hehe). Hunger has no enemies! To wash it all down in style, I chose no better after-dinner treats to do it with than Red Cabernet Sauvignon and a 5 1/4 inch, 42 ring gauge, Cuban. Ah, luxuries! Hehe. I would be lying if I said I wasn't enjoying myself. Next time you'll have to join me! :-) Later on, my buddy Wayne and I re-visited a nice little club called "the Republic Cafe and Bar" that I had found our first night in. It wasn't long before we struck conversation with a couple of the locals and began to unwind. Before I knew it, we were all dancing to the music from a local band (which I later met) on the dance floor. The couple we were dancing with was a middle-aged couple who'd lived in Hobart their entire lives, and who later that night, invited Wayne and I to join them that following day for a pleasure cruise around the bay in their sailboat. Man, I was really beginning to like these people! That first day out, the people I encountered seemed a bit skeptical of "us" (the sailors), but as I later learned, they're some of the friendliest people I'd ever meet overseas. While dancing, I couldn't help but notice the beautiful woman dancing next to me (I am after all, only human). So, after a few more sips of liquid courage, I asked the beauty for her company in a dance. Ah, what fun acceptance can be! So we proceeded to dance. Into the night we swayed, swung, and smiled. Every time I closed my eyes it was as if ail things bad earlier this year were slipping away. I was truly enjoying the moment. Man, I couldn't believe how NICE these people were. It was amazing! Anyway, getting back to the experience...

The following day, Jo-Anne (the beautiful woman from the night before) took me into her home, on a country hillside surrounded by trees, where we sat around exchanging views on each other's lives and experiences. Her native South African tongue (mixed with 12 years of Tasmanian/Australian) utterly intoxicated my senses. I loved that accent! At first, she seemed more interested in the U.S Navy than anything I had to say about "home," but after reassuring her it wasn't all as Hollywood portrays it, she began to trust the truth I spoke. I, in return, found it equally as difficult to believe how different certain things are over there. Women's rights, or better said, the lack of, seemed almost unjust and condemning. My eyes were opened to a past almost forgotten in the world I live in. I was astonished just how restrictive the gov't really is there. Wow... talk about turning back the clocks... The next day, my last day there, Jo-Anne and I decided to take a little trip up Mt. Wellington (I made it up there just the same, ha) and viewed Hobart from above. I tell you, the view was magnificent! The weather was really cold, but the view made up for any discomfort the temperature could give. After heading back down the mountain, we took a little stroll along the waterfront and viewed the ship from a distance. Despite being the same age, Jo-Anne has two blessings I lack—two little boys who are absolutely adorable. And like little adventurers, searching for long lost treasure, they took the one-kilometer hike in strides. Overall, it ended up being a very good two days with many memories I'll cherish forever. Now two days later, and many miles between me and the last port, I find myself wishing I'd had another week or two in Hobart. Instead, I find myself thirty feet up looking out over the ocean, from one of the sponsons on the side of the ship, watching the flying fish jump out of the water and sail twenty feet until they disappear under another ten foot wave. Oh, what fun it must be, to be a flying fish... Till next time. take care.

~Tony