Day Four: Home Run
| Yes, he sucked me in again. A last chance to share with
my first born, the joys of galley life. 0600 and Tony sets me to cooking
bulk bacon for the hungry crew and visitors about to appear with plate
in hand. I thought the bacon looked good with their nice curly edges and
all those rich black bits hanging off them, but the chef frowned, swept
them into the hungry jaws of Igor and slapped a new batch onto the hotplate
in record time. He then suggested that I might have more fun over in the
scullery washing dishes! |
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After breakfast, Tony has wangled some time off to watch
our arrival in Newcastle after a short cruise up the Hunter River. The
crew are dressed in work rig for this harbour entry because it is a quick
touch & go operation of about twenty minutes duration merely to pick
up passengers for the daytrip to Sydney. The first line is cast ashore
to the waiting RAN ratings on the wharf.
Kanimbla's berthing is aided considerably by a bow thruster |
| The reason for Tony's eager presence on the upper deck was that one
of the people expected on the dock was his new and much loved wife, Kellie.
The absence of three months was definitely showing by now. His worried
expression here is due to Kellie being nowhere to be seen! |
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The girls attack the berthing lines with vigour as we tie up in preparation
for the boarding of the last lot of seariders. |
| Bingo! Contact is made. Kellie arrives and as soon as the gangway is
down, Tony swoops. |
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The gangway party preparing to hoist their charge back onboard after
embarking all the passengers for the day.
The girl here is always the first person to step ashore by virtue of
her job. |
| The fo'c'sle party once again haul in the hawser as we break our link
with Newcastle and make our way back to the ocean and Sydney by day's end. |
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The Tank Deck. In a combat situation, this might be considered the
heart of the ship, as this is where all the action starts. It is a huge
area which totally divides the ship along the centreline. When at sea with
an empty tankdeck, this ship rolls like an old trawler due to the high
flotation of the wide flat-bottomed hull. Two forklifts and a turntable
at each end aid the packing of the vehicles. |
| Behind this large door is the Pacific Ocean. It is the actual stern
surface of the ship. This is where the amphibious vehicles take to the
water or a landing craft could nose up here for a transfer between the
two ships. |
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Home at last!
The sight that every single sailor onboard Kanimbla has been eagerly
waiting for. Sydney Harbour Bridge in the background and Fort Denison mid-harbour
bring home the point. |
| Garden Island, Fleet Base dead ahead and Kanimbla's sistership, HMAS
Manoora tied up at left. Feet are definitely twitching now! |
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As the non-duty crew prepared to disembark and sweep their loved ones
into their arms, the coxswain's branch came onboard and started a full
search of everybody's luggage (including the Captain!, at left). Reason
being that the ship was returning from S.E. Asia, a drug risk area and
as such was subject to more stringent search than usual. |
| I am climbing through the hatch in the flight deck which is immediately
above my mess located two decks below. There are always a number of ways
to get anywhere on a warship due to the need to maintain watertight integrity
in the event of damage and still keep access. |
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This is the moment. Dressed in civvies and about to step ashore at
home base after a long deployment is always a happy time. |
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