Endeavour - in Port Adelaide

A huge replica of Captain Cook's ship that came to Australia in the 1700s came to Port Adelaide over Cam's birthday weekend. I thought, what an opportunity NOT TO MISS! So we signed up to volunteer & sleep on-board overnight. Our job (for 2 hr shift) was to make sure no one came on board from the water side of the ship. I guess there have been attempts to take it over in other ports & the volunteers help to prevent that. All we did was fill out some paperwork, have a federal police check (easy since we've had one from the visa), and show up. It was an AMAZING experience, we're both happy that we did it, and one night was enough.


We got to the boat about 7:30 pm and were there till about 8 am. We snapped some nice shots, and are going to have a contest (see below & vote carefully because a beer is riding on the winner). This shot has the Endeavour in the foreground and another tall ship that lives here in Adelaide in the background. The best story is that when the Endeavour arrived to dock, no one bothered to tell the bridge people when they would be arriving. They had to sit just outside Port Adelaide for about 1 hr before the bridge lifted.

We got to wander around, before either of our shifts & before we tried to sleep. This is at the back of the ship where the head 5 or so people including Joseph Banks (botanist) and James Cook (captain) would eat. It really reminded me of the ship from Peter Pan.


Like I said, we tried to sleep in these hammocks, but really neither of us did. We were docked and every time anyone on one of those hammocks moved, the other 3 of us felt it. I can't begin to picture what it would have been like at sea, swaying back & forth. I had a hard time because of my knee hyper-extending. I moved to that hard bench in the foreground and "slept" much better.

My shift was the 4-6 am shift and I spent most of my time trying to translate this photograph into a drawing. The perspective was really challenging and the light was dim, but serene. The rudder runs from the back to the right out of the photograph. All the ropes and details didn't quite come out in my pencil drawing, but it wasn't bad.


Cam had the 6-8 shift, so he was on deck while the rest of us swept up under the hammocks. The boat was built as a coal transport vessel & converted for Cook's voyage. Thus, one deck is about 1/2 the size in height as a usual deck. That is where most people slept. I guess since they would be lying down, no need for a full-height deck. C & I weren't too tired, but we went home & slept a couple of hours.

NOW onto the photo contest. Two were mine, two were Cam's. We are asking YOU to pick 1 image and vote for that image in the comments part. The one with the most votes after Sat March 31 5pm EST will win and the loser must buy a beer.

Ghost or Not?

Sunset or Sunrise?

All a-glow.

Picture perfect night.

Sydney & the Family

Cam & I headed to Sydney to check out all the new additions to his family. It was a great weekend and lots to eat. I went with MaryEd to get her haircut, the guys hung around the house, and we went on a super long walk at the north head (the entry to Sydney Harbor). On this trip too, Cam went to see The Wall in concert with Steve. There were lots of kids and less sleep than is our usual, but a great weekend overall.

The newest addition to the family was Aidan, son of Ted & Song. He was not very fussy at all, although he smelled like milk, all the time.


Here are Tony & MaryEd with all 6 of their grandchildren. They range in age from 12 to 3 months. How adorable are all of them?

Toby & Yalda traveled with their little Andia all the way from Chicago. She did well on the plane, and really liked spending time with her cousins. I even think I was able to convince her that the Superbowl was quite a fun game... She sat with me for the whole first quarter! Toby was convinced that was just because it was TV, but I think she enjoyed hearing all about it. Lets face it, this year's game was pretty exciting too.

The Bowral clan was also there in flying colors. We had a bit of a windy day, but that just made the Chinese lanterns and red or pink balloons take off.

Both Michelle and Nick are Godparents to the Shanghai crew. Here's a photo of Michelle, who spoke about the Chinese astrology. Sydney (in the front) was keen to inform me that the city was named after her. I tried to explain who came first, but I wasn't convincing.

All of the grandkids and their parents joined together to hold onto a red ribbon, symbolizing the blood line that runs through them all. I think the symbolism may have been missed by the little ones, but the photos will help tell the story when they are a bit older. Cousins unite!