THURSDAY 2ND FEBRUARY 2006

We headed down for breakfast about 7.30am. It is our own call whether we go for meals or not, but if we do;
· Breakfast – 7.30 – 8.30am
· Lunch – 12.00 – 1.00pm
· Dinner – 6.00 – 7.00pm
Most days we try and go on time, especially for lunch as the noon pips ring out over the ships public address, and we know it’s time for food. It’s not that we need the nourishment, the food is plentiful but the rate you burn it off is not commensurate with the intake. Oh well, just have to watch the waist band and keep up the constitutional walks in the arvo. One of the inherent problems is the snacking we have found ourselves doing. Lollies are sitting on the coffee table in a bowl, right beside the fruit. Guess what seems to win? If we walk the ten steps to the lounge on our deck, there is an air pot always on the boil and a bickie tin right beside it. Bloody hard to resist these German delights, and a couple always seem to come back with the coffee cups. We should stick to brewing the coffee in our cabin, but we have tried to save the good coffee for the early wakeups, and use Mr. Rickmers for the rest of the day.

After breakfast we ventured to the bridge and timed it just right for the arrival of our pilot. He was a guy of about 50 years of age, and when he reached the top of the bridge stairs he was relay huffing and puffing. Give him his due, he had just climbed a rope ladder for about 6 meters, and then 7 flights of stairs, but he was doing it hard. All was revealed about 10 minutes later when he asked the Captains permission to smoke! Well in the next hour he had 4 cups of tea, 4 smokes and 3 wee’s. As we got to our berth he stated that he would have to have the door beside the 2 chairs Judy and I were sitting on opened. This was no problem we responded. WRONG! Bloody freezing, about minus 6ºC and a wind chill to boot. Anyway, we survived the cold, but the Pilot and Captain didn’t seem to be best of friends during the berthing. Apparently there was disagreement over the speed and distance from a berthed vessel that caused our Captain a bit of concern, but in the end, with them both giving orders and a lot of maneuvering by the 2 tugs that were assisting, we tied up to the wharf. It was a tight squeeze though, about 6 meters clear on the aft end, and similar at the bow.

The Captain told us a very interesting thing just prior to the arrival of the pilot. As it was the New Year holiday, there were no fishing boats to contend with on our arrival. Normally he would have had to keep a very sharp lookout so as to avoid collision/s with the fishing fleet working the seas in this area. He told us it was normal to have anywhere up to 2,500 boats bobbing around in this area, and their understanding of seamanship and right of way was sometimes loosely interpreted. Certainly they all displayed lights at night, but the color and positioning of said lights were also questionable. He was right about the holiday though, not a fishing boat to be seen.

We met the ships agent straight after lunch, and he gave us and our fellow passengers a couple of options for tours etc. We decided to head into Tianjin today, and opt for a Beijing/Great Wall tour tomorrow. Tianjin was about 1.30 minute drive, and the agent had arranged for a driver and car to take us and wait to bring us back. Well our driver had a slight command of English, but boy could he laugh. It was in factious and he was just a crack up. He drove like a man possessed, spent most of the time either making or receiving calls, and spoke so loud the person on the other end of the call probably didn’t need the phone within anything closer than a foot from their ear. He took us to the recently re-constructed Ancient Culture street, and this street depicted life as it was in china many moons ago. In the same area was an ancient Confucius Temple. It was right slap bang in the middle of the New Years holiday, so the temple was pretty crowded. By the time we had walked the street, the cold was really biting into us. Don’t know the actual temperature, but we had never experienced anything this cold so I guess it was below freezing. We headed for a large shopping mall and found our old favorite, Carrefour, the shop you seem to be able to find all over Asia and can buy almost what ever you want. Well we went there on a mission, more long johns! Got what we wanted then detoured via the other old favorite, McDonalds. Yeh something’s don’t change, and we both knew we could point at the order sheet, it would be edible, and the coffee would be red hot. Not disappointed, we spent another 20 m minutes eating the usual fare and warming ourselves up.

We braved the cold, and walked back to where we had left our driver, and after we waited for the older of our fellow passengers, Don, to get back a little late again, we headed back to the ship. Well not quite direct. Don told our driver he needed some “fine dining” for his supper, and whilst Judy and I weren’t all that hungry, we really had to go along.

Well I need to paint a picture here. Of all the people I have met in my life, this character, Don, is unique. He is very self opinionated and seems to have a view on most subjects, particularly in relation to health and the environment. He does adopt an attitude where he tends to portray the view that he is an authority on a lot of subjects (don’t you smart a***s start thinking I am looking in a mirror when I say this!), but after talking and listening to him, he quite obviously reads a lot, and forms his assertive debating skills based on his prolific readings. He is easily led into situations of debate, and these can be as simple as discussions on food, customer service, cigarettes, plastic food wrap, white sugar, etc etc, the list goes on! Cam, his fellow Canadian appears, to at times, to be at his wits end. He has had this fellow’s views and ramblings for 2½ months, and it isn’t hard to see how this is playing on his mind most times. It is easy for Judy and me as we have each other to keep ourselves sane, but I don’t think Don and Cam will be pen friends when they get back to Canada!

Poor old Don, he simply cannot accept that things are different in China, and really doesn’t seem to understand Chinese culture at all. Obviously he is having trouble dealing with the persistent badgering you get from street hawkers, and he just can’t deal with their systems (or lack of systems) at all. You have to know China to appreciate their traffic flow and pedestrian habits. There is no system for either, it’s just pot luck, but if you do as they do, you just might survive to explore another day. Well having said all of this, he is pretty good company if you can keep a handle on the flow of the conversation. He is around 75y/o and has gathered a lot of general knowledge, so most times; he is alright to get into a sensible conversation with as long as you know when to bail out.

Well this was one of those times we should have bailed out!

First call at a fancy restaurant (remember this is china and it is a seaside port), and he asks as we enter, "Is this a smoking restaurant?” you guessed it, it is and did he stack a turn on. Next stop, after we explained to our driver that he wouldn’t go into a smoking restaurant, sees us in the foyer a real large hotel restaurant. We all head to the loo as we figured it might be clean here as it was part of a large hotel. Then of to the rear to find the food. Shock, horror, it’s a pick your own and we will cook it for you. There were all sorts of gill fish, and all sorts of shell fish. There were sea anemones, sea cucumbers, sea snails and more. But the “coup de gras”, MONKEY! Yeh, live monkeys in a cage, you just picked the one and it was yours. Well I don’t remember the name of the show, but I do remember what happened to the monkey when the top of his head poked through the hole in the table top, and I know my mum used to cook the brains first! Not for this black duck. They had all of there sample dishes laid out on a bed of ice, and each plate was covered in cling wrap so you could see. The smell of fish was overpowering, and even Judy and I were having second thoughts. Well our Don was almost distraught by this stage, “this was not fine dining!” he bleated. I’ve got to say, for our driver and the other customers in this place, this was fine dining, and Don just didn’t realize he was in China not Canada!

Back into the car, and off we go to take 3. Judy and I made up our minds that this was it, and no more embarrassing scenes would be tolerated by these 2 Aussies. We walked in, and similar to the last place, the sample meals were laid out, and the fish were still swimming in the tanks. We selected duck, beef, pork, rice, vegetables and dumplings, and we had them served as a banquet. Well the old bugger loved it, and certainly had his fill. The lady of the house, obviously unaccustomed to having 4 westerners in her restaurant, gave us complimentary “Moon Cakes”, a Chinese delicacy not unlike a donut but a bit like a cross between these and dumplings, to finish the meal. They were very tasty, but a bit on the chewy side. One point I forgot, Cam and I were the only ones who enjoyed the pork. Judy had a piece and nearly did a double take. It was hotter than Hades, and neither of us could work out what they had used to spice it up, but high octane fuel would be a distant second to it. It was superb, and god help us tomorrow.

Back into the car, and we headed back to the ship. Although we invited and paid for our driver to dine with us, we organized a doggy bag for what was left for him to take home to his family. A friend for life at this stage. That is until Don saw him smoking outside, and the other streak came out in him again. At some point during the trip back he said “This is my holiday and I won’t have it compromised by anyone”. What he was on about none of us knew, excepting that as far as he was concerned we should not have to put up with cigarettes, bad drivers, cars ignoring him on painted pedestrian crossings, people not understanding English in the spoken form, or when he wrote things in his note pad and showed it to them expecting understanding. Boy does he need to travel in Asia more often.

We arrived back to the ship and headed straight to bed. We had arranged for a 7am pick up for tomorrows tour, and none of us wanted to sleep in.

Just an aside before I close for today, the gang plank is progressively getting further from the wharf every time we berth in China. This time we had to get to the step at the bottom, then try and turn at right angles and step up onto the wharf without slipping down between the ship and the wharf. You all know Judy has not got a head for heights, and does not like to have to look down through any steps or ladders. She is not coping with this all that well, but she manages to put on a brave face. I add, the last step has no hand or guard rail, and if you don’t step right, you are in the drink!




FRIDAY 3RD FEBRUARY 2006

Ready for a big day, we headed down the gangplank at 6.55am. Well we weren’t disappointed because the fireworks started as soon as we got in the car. Our driver from yesterday had organized a slightly larger car for us (turns out it was his brother), but as we got in, Don, who was getting into the front seat, saw that the driver was smoking a cigarette. The antics were something to behold. Judy, Cam and I were happy to go with the flow, but not Don. He yelled at the driver “Put the damn cigarette out” over and over. The driver refused, and even though his brother was trying to pacify the situation, it was all going down hill. The driver using hand gestures, told us to get out. His brother with broken English, said stay there. Don with yelling and gesturing was intent on not getting in at all. Then it blew up. The old bugger stood back and slammed the door that hard I thought the whole car would fall apart! Well that pretty well sealed the deal, out we got and into the little car from yesterday once more. With a trip of some 3 hours each way, the back seat was not going to be real comfy for Judy, Cam and I. This car was about the size of a small four seater in Oz, and certainly not big enough for this trip. We took off at a great rate of knots, but as quick as our driver was behind the wheel, he was quicker on the mobile telephone. Don was in quite vocal form saying he did not have to put up with things not to his liking, and about the same time Judy made it known that “this is China, get over it”. I couldn’t help myself, I had to throw in the quote he had made yesterday about “This is my holiday and I won’t have it compromised by anyone”, but I added that “this was our holiday too, and we don’t want it compromised either”. Well it worked, it shut him up and we all moved on. We did not know who the driver was calling, but it was a very loud, and appeared to be, a very heated conversation. About 5k's down the road he pulls over and announces he has a non smoking driver and a bigger car, and he will be here in a few seconds. Sure enough, bigger car (VW Passat style) stops behind us and we are invited to get in. Driver asked that Cam sit in front, and the other 3 of us in the back. You have probably worked it out by now, same driver as before, just no cigarette in hand. Don did not seem to be aware of the subterfuge, so off we went.

The trip was interesting and we could see that the Olympic Games were certainly foremost in Chinese minds at government levels. The roads were exceptional, the signs readable and no trace of the old china was to be seen beside the expressways. Don’t know what they have done with all the buildings, but there has been a major demolition and reconstruction effort going on. Where they have left the older houses and buildings, they have planted thousands and thousands of trees, that come the time for the Games, there will just be a scene of greenery either side of the major arterial roads and expressways to the venues.

We arrived in the area of the Great Wall, and as it was a public holiday, there were people everywhere. We drove on to Baling where there was another piece of the wall open to the public, and this proved to be a winner for us. Hardly any crowd to speak of, but lots of persistent hawkers. It was freezing cold, a cold like never experienced before by Judy and I. the Canadians were also comparing the temperature to the worst of their winters, so we knew it had to be real bad. A hot coffee, over priced to the max, but given where we were, it was probably to be expected. Normally you might pay 5 to 8 RMB for a cup, but this was 30RMB. Oh well, I guess they have to make a living too, and the customers weren’t all that thick on the ground. We brought a Cable Car/Great Wall combined admission ticket, and set off to see the sights.

This was certainly the most amazing piece of the wall that we had viewed from the road while driving up, but when we got off the cable car at the top of the mountain, the view of the Great Wall was incredible. It went on forever and ever, changing direction at the top and bottom of each disappearing hill. Turrets, steps, ramps, on and on it went. We climbed the nearest bit and it was breath taking. Now I don’t just mean the views. By now we were in a quite windy environ, but the ambient temperature was around -20ºC and when you added (or is that subtracted?) the wind chill, it was unbearable. The Chinese couldn’t handle it, the Canadians couldn’t handle it, and us two Aussies moaned and moaned. The soreness of my hands when I took my gloves off to take Dons photo defies description. It was as if my hand and fingers had been crushed by some sort of press or the like, I cannot say I have ever before felt, nor for that matter ever want to feel these sensations ever again.

We spent about an hour there, and then we got back to the car and headed for Beijing. This took about 1½ hours, as the Chinese were now heading back to their homes in Beijing after visiting their families beyond the city for New Year. We managed to explain to our driver that we wanted to get close to Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City. He did well, and we only had about a 15 minute walk to the main gate. Judy and I walked with the other two to the ticket booth, but as we had been here before, we left them and went our own way. We agreed to meet back at the car at 6pm.

It had now warmed up considerably from the temperature at the Great Wall; it was now around -6C and no wind. Generally it was bearable, but if you didn’t have gloves, beanie, coat and scarf, that would not be the case. We walked the length of the square, and just like on our last visit, the Memorial Hall was closed in the afternoon. Oh well, next time. The entire surrounds of the square had taken on a new look since we were here in 1999. The Drum Tower that we had climbed all over back then was closed for renovation and completely covered in scaffolding. One thing that was similar was the count down clock mounted on the front of the museum. Last time, in 1999 I think, it was for when China was to resume control of Macau, this time it was for the start of the Olympic Games. We tried an internet café, and this one was quiet and well set up. They served hot coffee and hot chocolate while you used their computers. We needed the internal warmth of the drinks, we didn’t need the screen display half Chinese and half English. We managed to work through most things with just our memory of where the right places to click were, but we had to give up on a few things in the end.

After dawdling for another hour or so, we came across a group of Chinese Soldiers drilling on a small court yard at the side of the barracks beside the museum. It was a crack up, they were trying to be serious but they could not stop laughing. We watched them sent running at full pace by their commander when they stuffed up. We watched them go over and over the same drills when they stuffed up. It was very un-Chinese to see such a show of mirth. We then headed back for the car, but as we were over an hour early, we told our driver that we were going into the hotel, that we were parked near, to get some food. We went into the Grand Beijing Hotel, and found a small bar/café situated in an atrium on the third floor. Very fancy, and service to match. We both had club sandwiches and cake, and of course coffee. We paid the account of 461RMB ($77.00 AUD), and we headed for the car. It was worth it, good food and lovely setting. Both Cam and Don were in the car, and the driver was off looking for us. Don’t know why, we were still 5 minutes early of the agreed time.

The drive back to the ship made the whole day worthwhile. The expressways are all toll ways, and the rate seemed a little high when you gauged it on the general Chinese salary. Our man drove like the devil incarnate, and the trip we thought would take 2½ hours was considerably shorter. Best move I have ever seen taken took us all by surprise. Our driver turned off the expressway into a petrol station. We anticipated that he was heading for the WC, but no, he drove straight past it. He was now on a small road that went through a tunnel under the expressway, but when we emerged, we were heading back from where we came and behind another service station that was beside the road heading towards Beijing. A bit of tension was starting to come to the fore from us passengers, as our man was now on the phone having a quite animated conversation. It was almost pitch black and we were now stopped at a high cyclone wire gate that seemed to be heading into a farm block or similar. Our driver got out, pushed the gate open, got back in the car, and drove into this black paddock. The road was just a dirt goat track, and not the sort of road you would normally take your car, certainly not when it was carrying 4 western tourists who had no idea what was going on. I didn’t make it clear earlier, but our man did not speak a word of English, so what ever we asked fell on deaf ears. We were on our own and had no idea where we were or where we were going. Judy lent across and said “I don’t like this”, and Cam and Don were quietly voicing there concerns as well. I put 2 and 2 together, and I thought I knew what was going on, but I will leave this until I finish with describing the journey.

After a few tight turns, a small hill and a creek crossing, we emerged on a small dark back road heading off to god knows where. We traveled along this road for about 10 minutes before making a turn into an even darker and much rougher road. Just what was going on, where was he taking us, will we ever be seen again? Headlines scream. “4 WESTERNERS FOUND MURDERED IN COUNTRY!”. Well I am sure that these were the thoughts going silently but rapidly through the minds of my fellow passengers. Another turn and low and behold, we drove right under the expressway. Straight away our driver turned left and we were at a small toll booth leading on to the same expressway we were traveling on before. Now you should have worked it out by now, and if not, you are as dumb as the other three in the cab with me! In China, you get a ticket at a toll booth just after you drive onto an expressway. As you leave you hand that ticket to another booth and pay just for the distance traveled. Our man, with his bush jaunt, had managed to turn a trip of some 200 kilometers into a trip of just 5 or 10 kilometers. He just presented the ticket that he had got at the last booth, and threw the first one away. Blind Freddy could work it out I thought, but the other 3 blind Freddie’s in the car with me were so sure their days were numbered that they couldn’t put 2 and 2 together and come up with the classic scam!

We then pulled in for fuel, and Don almost had a hissy fit when our man had the attendant fill his car with petrol while the engine was still running, Look we all know that’s not what we do in OZ, or as it seems, Canada, but we weren’t in either place, we were in China and that’s the Chinese way. A soon as he had refueled he made a phone call, stopped the car 30 meters from the petrol station apron, and we waited for god knows what. Once again blind Freddie could see what was going on, but the logic was not happening from my associates until I prompted them that we were waiting for the brother in the little car to come and collect us to take us back to the ship. Judy, Cam and I didn’t mind this, but poor old Don really got the S***S when our man got his revenge. He lowered the window to the windward side, and lit up a smoke. It was so hard not to laugh, but some how I contained myself.

Our driver’s brother arrived in due course, and we headed back to the ship. One detour via his street to show us where he lived, but I think his nose was out of joint when we declined a dinner invite. When we got back on board, Ferdinand, the 3rd Officer told us the current temperature was -13ºC and was expected to fall to at least -15ºC overnight. We headed to our cabin, but not before having a look at the water where we were berthed. Ice and the whole area around us and as far as we could see, was white not murky brown as it should have been. Awesome!

SATURDAY 4TH FEBRUARY 2006

We decided to have a day on board. There was still a fair bit of loading to happen, and I just knew if I didn’t supervise things might go wrong. Well I should have gone on deck about 1am and sorted things out! We were woken from our sleep just after midnight, as the stevedores were attempting to load containers against the wall of our cabin. The ship is set up to take about 120 plus 20 foot long containers in racks that abut the forward wall of the superstructure. The fellows loading them were D**KHEADS. At about 1am as I watched, one stevedore was signaling the crane to jib up. Another was signaling to slew left. A third was signaling to lower the hook. Well the poor bugger in the crane had no idea what to do, and I think he tried them all at the same time! The next 3 hours, until I called it quits and went back to sleep, was a comedy of errors. We headed for breakfast about 8.00am, and joined in the conversation with the other passengers regarding today’s itinery. We had already decided that there was no way we would be venturing out with Don again; it simply wasn’t worth the hassles that no doubt would come up at some stage during another jaunt off the ship. Anyway, we wanted to see what was happening with the stevedores, and how much cargo was still to be loaded/off loaded. We told the others of our intentions, and left them to do their own thing. We went to E-Deck to check out the ice in the day light and it was just amazing. The whole area was like one ice cube, and no wonder, it was still -10ºC. A ship berthed near us was being moved out into the river by 2 tug boats, and as it was dragged sideways, the ice flow just went with it. We lasted as long as we could out on deck, but the cold was unbearable. In the sun, which was now shining brightly, it was almost all right to stay out, but get in the shadows and this wasn’t a place to be. We watched the stevedore’s antics with more containers. One container was lifted 5 times with different configurations of slings, shackles and lifting beams, but they just couldn’t get it into place. It turns out that they were trying to go beyond our cranes reach by having their lifting beam on too long a sling. Our Captain sent the 3rd Officer down to tell them it could not be done with what they had, so use the ships lifting beam with the shorter slings and all will be well. He was right, and eventually they got the show on the road again. We loaded for all of the morning, and had the whole job complete by 5.30pm. Our cranes were tied down and we awaited the dreaded pilot. First call was he would arrive at 1730hrs. Next was 2300hrs. Well the captain thought neither would occur, and reckoned about 3am. Spot on, I awoke to feel the ship sliding into the centre of the river courtesy of 2 tugs. No sense going up on deck now, so back to sleep to the sound and vibration of the engine, I will get the gossip at breakfast.


SUNDAY 5TH FEBRUARY 2006

Down for breakfast at 7.45am, and Cam told me he took a few photos of our departure. We are saving and burning his photographs to DVD for him, so we are keeping a copy for ourselves. He takes hundreds, some good, some bad, but he certainly has the full journey covered. While I visited the bridge, Judy cleaned up some of the paperwork we had around, and then she played on the computer. A lazy morning followed.

I knew I had to catch up on this blogger, so my afternoon and evening was planned, but not before I walked around the deck for an hour and a half. It was so cold in the wind that I had to have a shower to thaw out when I got back. Judy did 1 lap, but it was too cold for her. The sea was like a mill pond, no swell at all. With the flat seas and a tide from the stern, we were making the great speed of 21.6 knots (so I was told on my bridge visit before lunch). That is fast enough to water ski, but at this temperature, the brass monkeys would need welders if they fell off and went in the water

We just sat, read, and got on the computer for the rest of the day and evening. Well almost, we had to have a bridge visit after dinner. There were ships visible in all directions, and the Captain said we were surrounded by no less than 150 vessels. The images on the radar were incredible, yellow dots covered the whole screen.

Slack days make you so tired………..zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz


MONDAY 6TH JANUARY 2006

Woke up and looked out the bedroom window and the sea was like a mill pond, no waves, no swell. We were really charging along and had the entire sea to ourselves, not another vessel in sight. Looking to the horizon you could see that a storm was brewing, and thick dark clouds were in our path. Just how quick the conditions may change was hard to imagine, what with our limited seafaring knowledge, just how long does it take for a storm to hit out here in the middle of the South China Sea? At breakfast the Captain informed us that it had snowed during the night.

Back in our cabin, Judy decided to do some house work, not that we had to do much as Freddie, the Steward, called in every day to check things out and empty bins etc. But despite his visits, you still have a few things lying around that need to be put away and the ironing won’t do itself. I went to the Bridge to check that all was under control and got into my usual inquisitive mode with the guys up there. It is interesting to spend a bit of time with the different people on the ship as they all have their own tales to tell. Ferdinand, the 3rd Officer was his usual very polite self, and as he normally does, showed me exactly where we were at this point in time, as well as our intended track and ETA to the anchorage at Shanghai. The AB (Able Bodied Seaman) on duty today was a fellow named Librado Rodrigo. He was from the Philippines, as was nearly all of the crew. The exception being the Polish Captain and Chief Engineer. He told me he was 28y/o and had a 2y/o son and that his wife was 4 months pregnant with their second child. He had been at sea for 6 years and he thought he would continue until he was 40y/o. At home he could expect to earn between 10,000 & 15,000 (pesos, or whatever their currency units are) a month, but at sea he would earn at least 60,000 a month. Certainly puts things in a different light when you make the comparison. I certainly wouldn’t like to be away from my family for the 9 months duration of their work contracts, but it seems that the only way to get ahead is for them to do this. He told me that the fellows who go away to sea make enough money in this time to set themselves up quite well, and that it gives them sufficient funds to provide for their families quite well. Librado had to take English language lessons to be able to get a job at sea, and now that he is on the payroll, he can expect regular advancement if he continues with maritime studies. It was an interesting conversation and offered an insight into the lifestyle of people in another country, a lifestyle far removed from what we seem to be privileged to have. Good old OZ rates pretty high from what I have seen during my travels. The others are all right to visit, but we are the “lucky country” that’s for sure.

Anyway, back to the Bridge. At any given time there is at least one officer on duty there. This may be either the Chief Officer, the Second or Third Officer. The Captain comes and goes as he sees fit, but is always in command when the Pilot is on board, during anchoring or anchor retrieval, or when we are in areas where there are a lot of other ships or vessels. As well as the officers, there is an AB, and it is his job to man the helm and keep a sharp lookout across the seas. The ship is equipped with an Auto Pilot, so quite often in the open ocean; the AB is just walking from side to side of the bridge keeping watch. Any change of direction requested by the Officers is spoken out aloud, and then repeated by the AB as he begins the change. When he reaches the requested heading, he again voices aloud that he is on the heading. It’s a pretty fool proof system, and when you are up on the Bridge having a gig, as we often are, it really puts you into the picture. More on the Bridge another day.

Well during the mid morning, the storm hit, rough seas with about a 4 meter swell, accompanied by very strong winds. Both of us felt a bit off color, not really sea sick, just a little bit out of sorts. Could have been the lunch of “oven baked milk fish” (which we think was salmon cooked in foil), but that would be a fib to blame the food. Anyway, we both lay on our beds reading for most of the arvo, and no deck walk as we would have fallen over the side if we had tried. We had anchored off Shanghai during lunch, with the intent of just an hour or so until the pilot boarded. He was due at 2.20pm, and we would berth about 4½ hours later. Ha ha, Plan A got the flick real quick as there had been 2 days of rain and the port was once again behind in their schedule. We were soon told it was to be Plan B, 3.30am for the pilot. As we were enjoying a bottle of Merlot with the Chief Engineer at the end of dinner, the latest news came, Plan C, it was now to be 3.30pm tomorrow. You have to have patience in this sea faring caper, always hurry up and wait!

Speaking of dinner, tonight we had cake for desert. It was Sammy, the Cooks birthday so we all got to share in a cake. You never know if, or when, you are going to have desert, and we have decided that that is just how we like it, unorganized. Freddie, the Steward, said this way it’s always a surprise.

I seem to be all over the shop today, but just remembered a part of the Bridge trip I need to tell all of you about. The Captains son is a 3rd Officer on a Swiss container ship that plies the water between China, Korea and Japan. He has been hoping to meet him in one of the ports we visit, but no matter how close, it doesn’t appear as if it will happen. Well it didn’t until today. Both of our vessels were due in to Shanghai this afternoon, and our Captain was most excited. As I stood with him, he had the pilot station radio quite loud, and was listening with much anticipation, to his sons ships Captain conversing with the pilots. All seemed good for about an hour, and then the inevitable happened. His sons’ ship was cleared to go straight in while we were still at anchor. They were due to sail again at 3.30am, so at the best, they would get to wave to each other across the water. The disappointment on his face was clearly evident, but when I asked him if we would be close again, ever the optimist, he replied with “maybe Korea”. Time will tell.

After dinner we watched a movie then headed to bed about 11pm. It was a rough night with the ship at anchor but rolling from side to side, and we had continual buffeting of strong wind on our windows. You sleep in these conditions, but are regularly disturbed from your slumber. You go straight back to sleep, but do feel quite tired by the time you do get up in the morning. All good though, it’s all part of the experience.