Hi Everyone,
Wonderful folks of the Southern Hemisphere, as I near the end of my current tour here on the wonderful Pacific Dawn, I thought it only fitting to offer some feedback and sincere words of gratitude to the wonderful Pacific Dawn, a gracious lady who has accepted me as her Captain and treated me well, the wonderful crew who have supported me and looked after our passengers so admirably and, of course, to the 10,000 warm, fun loving, welcoming, delightful and sometimes ‘mischievous’ passengers who I will have had the pleasure of meeting and taking on holiday during my current tenure.
I do indeed disembark Pacific Dawn on April 10, handing over the ignition keys and owner’s handbook to the delightful Captain Box. I will then be winging my way back to rural Derbyshire in the UK and into the bosom of the ones I love – but be warned “I’ll be back!” I have thoroughly enjoyed my time here on Pacific Dawn and truly appreciate the kind comments passed through my earlier blog and expressed to me personally on board – I must say that I have truly warmed and fallen for the ‘Aussie’ ethos and way of life.
Since February, we have visited the most scenic ports of New Zealand (including the magnificent Milford Sound), the islands of New Caledonia and Vanuatu and we are currently enjoying a wonderful cruise of Fiji – where incidentally, Jayne and I, took our honeymoon some 10 years ago. I even managed to squeeze in an unscheduled daylight passage of the Havannah/Boulari passage and Woodin Canal westbound last cruise as we routed south away from influence of TRS Ului – fortunately my management haven’t seen the ‘petrol bill’ yet but all passengers, I believe, thoroughly enjoyed and appreciated the detour!
In summary of the remarkable and warm reception I have received here Down Under, I would like to share what has become one of my favourite moments, which nicely puts my experience in a nutshell. It was one of those moments in life that warms your heart and diffuses an otherwise tense moment into a feeling of belonging. This was nicely demonstrated by way of the very first Captain’s interview that I conducted here on Pacific Dawn.
Setting the scene – the event format is the Cruise Director interviews me on stage in the theatre followed by opening up to the floor and inviting any questions from passengers. Now while I can handle most Cruise Directors and the sublime tangents that they often choose during such interviews, the unknown quantity is always what mood the audience is in and are they going to go for the jugular or give you an easy ride?
One can usually expect questions as diverse as, “How do you handle the sewerage on board” to “What’s it like having the responsibility of the ship and everybody on it?” Nothing, however, in my 26 years before the mast, could have prepared me for my first ever question from an Australian audience! I had successfully fended off a barrage of probing questions from Sandy the Cruise Director and now the floor was open to the audience. The microphone was randomly taken to what appeared to be an unassuming petite lady in the third row. I braced myself, palms were sweating with anxiety, I took a swig of water to wet my dry mouth and then came the immortal question that will remain with me until my dying day!
” Hey mate, ave y’ever thrown a sickie?” And it was from that moment that I truly felt at home and akin with the wonderful folks of Australia. Incidentally, I have since discovered that a ‘sickie’ would appear to be an established annual leave entitlement widely accepted as being in addition to one’s standard annual holiday leave – and to that lady in the third row with whom I made a true connection that day, the answer of course is (this being a company web site), “No dear, I’ve never thrown a sickie – but I very nearly did that day as I almost choked on my swig of water!’.
Regards
Captain Turnbull
