Passengers on board
Captains Log - 0004/ 10rth of March 2024 / 0700hrs
The stars above The Ship
A little bell rang in the radio room. I would like to say that the telex machine spat out words that said “to capt stop enter port majorca stop 3 pax stop” but alas those days are gone and speaks to my years. It was simply a text on my plastic handheld device with a link to the corporates with the words “you have a reservation”. I am not too proud to tell you that we did a little dance.
Our first passengers on The Ship - Bay of Fires were some beautiful travelers from the northern continent. The message received was that “we love to see wildlife and nature”. We spent the day of their arrival eagerly anticipating their traverse up the gangway (sorry, going a bit hard on the metaphors here….but I love it), or our driveway, which meanders up from the road through peppermint gums, tree grass and coastal bushland to open at the top of the mountain to The Ship and the view of the coastal forest and Binalong Bay - the smiles on their faces on their arrival immediately confirmed they had come to the place they wanted to be.
The Gods also smiled on us as for the whole day before their arrival the world was cast under heavy clouds and the view of the ocean had disappeared into the reflection of the clouds mixed with sea mist to a dull (but still beautiful) grey - but ten minutes before our passengers emerged at the top of the gangway the clouds parted and the sun streamed through the trees to frame the Tasman Sea perfectly.
Whilst we are aware that all experiences will differ, our first passengers on The Ship were a delight to host. The Deckhand (Debi) took them on a bush walk through the 27 hectares at dusk where they saw wallabies and were able to witness the awakening of the world of the bush as it transitions to the nocturnal abundance of sounds and activity. As they arrived late, we invited them to share dinner with us on the Deck and shared stories, laughter and wine before they retired to their cabins….but not before a quick star gaze at the universe where the clear skies presented the Milky Way in all its glory. Before their departure they had the “The Captain’s breakfast” on the deck as the sun rises over the sea and the Kookaburras, Magpies and Black Cockatoos awaken to explore what the day provides.
The first voyage of The Ship with passengers on board was a success.
The Captains Breakfast at The Ship
We have been here for three weeks now. How quickly one adjusts to the world of traffic being birds. So, with the need to venture to the 15-minute city (Launceston) for work stuff and supplies beckoning, I rowed ashore and jumped into my trusty chariot to journey the two hours to “the big smoke”. What an interesting experience that was. My first observation was that there is a new stain on the landscape with glaring, smiling and some serious cardboard faces watching me from the moment I turned right on the main highway. As with all elections, the pressing need for those wanting to secure their ticket is to ensure saturation of name and face recognition by way of their colour of representation and a headshot designed to look you in the eye as you fly past. Sirens blared on entry to the city, and everyone seemed busy and eager to be somewhere. It was lovely to visit the heirs at our Launceston place, but the weather has not been kind with only three weeks passed and the front lawn looking like a brown outback desert fringe town (I should not be surprised having lived there for sixteen years, but it did make me contemplate how introduced seeded lawns and deciduous trees originally from the other side of the planet, planted in our environment struggles when the climate is designed for what has been here for millions of years). Don’t get me wrong, Launceston is beautiful and full of beautiful people – but the lens changes somewhat after immersing yourself in a different environment.
This was a more appealing sign on the way to Launceston
Our day jobs (ironically, considering what we have named our property), is in international shipping, and unless you have been living under a rock, you would know that this medium for traversing goods around our planet is somewhat challenging (always has been I suppose). A couple of wars going on and the usual chaos of reaction rather than careful planning by some, means that our days can be quite involved in navigating alternate routes from a closed Suez Canal, a drought affected Panama Canal, a port strike, a broken-down truck or a myriad of other events that seem to be created just to distract us from the view. On one particular challenging day of chaos, the sixteen hours straight of unravelling solutions fell heavy on the soul so a remedy was required. Swimmers on, towel in hand and two minutes later we walked from the carpark to the main beach at Binalong Bay dropping towel to the sand and without a break in the stride walked into the sea and dived in. Instant remedy. If you could compact that into a pill for the 15-minute city folk it would be the new addiction of the moment.
Not a bad place to go for a dip.
Thank you for reading my ramblings again – keep safe and see you next week.
The Captain.