The trip home continues. The “Land down under,” the “Land of Oz” with all its intrigue and attraction sinks away behind us.

Our first stop was Perth / Fremantle. I treated myself to three days at a beach resort in Scarborough just outside Perth. White sandy beaches and beautiful water. It was 70-80 degrees and windy most of the time. Great sailing weather. Everybody was wearing t-shirts and shorts while all of us off the ship were wearing sweatshirts and sweaters and still freezing. I guess coming from 120 degree weather to this, we’re not quite climatized yet. It’s still not quite summer here either. It’s still early spring. So here I am in a huge king size bed all to myself, and in the morning the bed’s still perfectly made with the exception of a two-foot by seven-foot rectangle where I was sleeping, the exact size of my rack on the ship. The bathroom alone was worth the $100 a night. Just to be able to enjoy a CLEAN shower or better yet a tub, with continuous, steady temperature water and not have to wear flip-flops in that shower was worth every penny.

Fremantle has always held a special place in my heart. It’s a beautiful, small maritime town at the mouth of the Swan River that leads into Perth but has yet to be spoiled by the city. Home of the ’87 America’s Cup races, Fremantle is based around numerous marinas with fishing boats and sailboats. A town hall with a steeple clock, lots of street musicians and a huge city park. Rottenest Island lies just off the coast for the quick uninhibited “Holiday,” and it’s all accented with Victorian architecture and a very active pub scene. Which, by the way, yields some of the worlds best local beer. There were a few nights I tried to drink all of it. Not Fosters though. “We don’t drink Fosters here mate. That’s xxxx beer we send to you yanks.” Arguing with the locals about which is better, cricket or baseball, later intellectually maturing into which one is tougher, Aussie rules or gridiron, all the while trying to out sing the guy in the corner playing the acoustic guitar and plugging away at all the songs everybody knows by heart. Learned some really cool Aussie folk songs this way, although “American Pie” still gets me every time. Now I know I’m on my way home.

I got a chance to stop by and reacquaint myself with an old friend — the sailing ship “Leeuwin II.” Early one morning when I was here last, I had the incredible opportunity to go aboard. I was invited aboard by the only other person up and around that time of the morning, the Captain, and over a cup of coffee, in the silence of the morning we sat and talked about sailing, places we’d been and the performance goods and others of sailing a 180-foot square-rigged schooner against an 82,000 ton, 8 boiler, 4 screwed warship. We both agreed that the Leeuwin was far more maneuverable therefore a better choice and hands down much more fun. This trip I had to admire her from afar. She was underway for a few days and seeing her off the coast, she looked quite majestic out on the water. On the last day, there she was, parked right behind us just like last time. I walked over and though my skipper buddy wasn’t there, the deck was full of people getting ready to set sail again. I wasn’t able to go aboard this time, but the contact and being able to admire this beautiful ship if even for a few minutes was like a breath of fresh air. Just to back up and passively enjoy the fine lines of an old classic getting underway under the power of the wind.

The trip south around the Australian bight and the Bass Straits was relaxing. We’re only 450 traps away from our cruise goal of 10,000, so the flight ops were few and far between, which allowed a more than usual amount of time off and time to enjoy the outside for a while. There was not a cloud in the sky and little wind for most of the trip. At night, Orion was low to the North, Polaris almost undistinguishable so the Southern Cross showed us the way. So many different constellations down here. It just makes me realize that even on the clearest of nights, you can only see half of what’s out there. The seas between the two continents were deep blue, smooth as glass but still had a roll to em that came at our starboard side from Antarctica. With our 30-knot transit and cooler weather, the ship rode the swells slowly from side to side making for great sleeping weather and a more than chipper attitude throughout the crew. We’re on our way home.

Sydney is a big city with a charm all it’s own. It’s very clean, cultured and civilized with museums, parks and gardens. The hundreds of fountains alone found in these gardens each are a work of art in their own right. Not to mention the famous opera house. A lot of construction as she gets ready for the 2000 Summer Olympics. Sydney is the city, the arts, the people, the clubs, a hilly coastline and very green with trees and vegetation. Fremantle is small-town, pubs, aborigines, didgiridoos on every corner and small town folk more in touch with the “less tame” western side of Australia.

While in “Oz,” as the locals call it, I got a chance to fulfill a fantasy. Just about every night for the past five and a half months, after all the jets shut down and the maintenance guys take over, I’ll go to the band room, strap on my bass and sing with the band I’ve managed to get together for the cruise. We played for the ship’s Steel Beach picnic a few months back, got a name for ourselves, kept practicing and eventually got picked up as the official ship’s band, “Inertia.” A few days out from Perth, I wrote to the Navy liaison on shore to see if they could set us up a place to play. A few days later, we were booked at “the number one musical venue in Fremantle.” We played Mojo’s Bar and “the world famous Bourbon and Beefsteak Bar” in Sydney. Ya know it’s something to play in front of the same people every night, even a few thousand at the picnic that day. But to have the culmination of everything we’d worked and practiced for come together in a place off the ship, outside the Navy, if only for a little while — people come in off the street listen to and looking in there faces seeing that they’re enjoying our music — I don’t have the words. It was probably the best two nights of this entire cruise. What can I say, I’m a ham. I love it.

Our days are numbered as we head east, back to familiar lands and people. “The Land Down Under” though once again, captures my heart.

Brooks Davis
CSC Systems Engineer/Analyst
Space and Naval Warfare Systems Center
San Diego, Calif.