Ship of Fools
...As some of you know, I did a lot of reading in
preparation for this trip -- much of which involved various
kinds of voyages (e.g. Capt. Cook and other explorers, plus
the adventures of the original settlers -- mainly the
transport of convicts). All of those stories seemed to
capture the microcosm of life on shipboard and the
eccentricities of the passengers. Well, that was my
experience on my voyage as well!
We sailed on the Clipper Odyssey from Wellington, NZ -- 110
guests, about 15 lecturers, and 60 or more staff (primarily
Philipino). Within that amalgam of humanity, we had an
"angry" lady (combat birder and everything else), a lady who
always asked the most obvious and irrelevant questions, the
lady from the airport who simply wandered and talked
randomly (Chris/Jenn/good friends -- please tell me when I
get like that and don't let me travel anymore!). And then
there were the men -- several hyperactive, ADD types, and a
couple of know-it-all professors (including Paul Ehrlich of
ZPG fame). The 110 passengers were part of three groups --
Stanford Alumni, World Wildlife Fund (Rebecca and me), and
the Zeghram Expeditions (the principal tour operator). Most
were retired, and nearly all were apparently very wealthy
(including the Mars husband/wife --the chocolate mogul). I
know this because most of them are constant travelers,
spending $100K to $200 thousand dollars a year to go on
these expeditions! Then there were a few of us less well
off -- retired teachers, government workers, etc. -- who
shelled out big bucks for this trip and will have to save
for several years before doing it again!
The trip leader -- Mike Messick -- reminded me so much of
Johnny Mikes from my Canadian River Expeditions (river
rafting). They both are owners of their respective
companies Zeghram and CRE), have boundless energy and
extremely positive attitudes in the face of any unforeseen
circumstances and/or changes in weather -- the "new option"
for today's activities! The cruise director was a woman from
South Africa by the name of Nadia, and what a woman she is.
Before joining Zeghram to do "expedition" work, she was
with the major cruise lines. We learned one evening that
she was the cruise director on the Achille Lauro when it
sank -- she was in charge of getting 600 passengers off a
sinking ship and did so with a loss of only 4 lives (two
dues to natural circumstances). What a tale it was. What I
can't understand is why she ever stepped foot on another
ship!
A couple of serendipities to report: Cynthia Puskar -- met
a woman from Williamsburg who was also born at Garfield
Hospital (a little before us). My CRE friends -- had a
guest lecturer by the name of Don Stafford from Rotorua, NZ
-- grew up with the Maori and now writes and lectures about
the Maori and the Pakeha (the white people). His best
friends are the Ford family, who have a ranch here and spend
part of the year here in NZ (in fact, Jenn just got back to
Canada from her latest trip here). And Renelle, ran into a
former head of National Audubon (Duryea Morton) who
recruited Stuart Strahl for Florida Audubon. By the way,
Stuart just left for Chicago -- nothing associated with
Audubon.
Bottom line: lots of nice people (mostly Americans),
virtually ALL anti-Bush (and not on environmental grounds).
Now I have to begin saving for the Antarctic!
Just a couple of notes about our last days aboard ship. The
winds kept up at 50 knots, and then went to 70 knots the
last night. Spent the last two nights trying to stay in the
bed! We would have nice, calm ports during the day (more on
that tomorrow), but the nights were spent in the open sea
and no one got much sleep as we crashed and banged through
the ocean. We were supposed on enter Milford Sound (the
termination point for the trip) at 6:00 AM the last morning,
but had to circle in the ocean until about 2:00 PM, when the
Capt finally decided it was safe to enter the relatively
narrow passage into the Sound. I was rather disappointed
because I have been waiting for my whole life to get to
Milford Sound and the weather could not have been more
dismal. Then, just as we entered the Sound, the mist rose
and the blue sky appeared -- as if by some miracle! It was
an absolutely amazing end to the trip!
So here I am in the small town on Te Anau, just inland from
the Milford Wound. Tomorrow I head for the Milford Track
for the day -- another place I've always wanted to go. But
more on that later.
Next installment: The Return of the Alarm Clock -- the
highlights of all our wonderful activities throughout the
voyage.
Take care, |