Well finally I’ve got a chance to post a blog entry!
The port call has been manic and been we’ve been maximising the time here between work and sampling South African culture!
The flight out to Cape Town was 11 hours long – not including the hour delay on the tarmac at Heathrow! Take off was an interesting affair as there was a very large bang that left everyone looking around worried – but we made it no problems and landed in an overcast South Africa at 0930 (local time) on the 22 nd.
The weather rapidly deteriorated and we were subjected to a massive torrential downpour – I didn’t see the famous Table Mountain until the 23 rd when it stopped raining and the cloud cleared! After we arrived in Cape Town we waited at the airport for nearly two hours for everyone to assemble! The next step was immigration where we met the scientists from the previous crew and waited for another few hours before clearing immigration – it was a very interesting affair!
Once we had cleared immigration it was off to the hotel – finally a chance to freshen up! Unfortunately my room wasn’t ready and I had to wait another two hours before they would let me in. However, when I finally got into the room my annoyance at waiting was immediately quelled. I think we could have parked the Jumbo we flew to South Africa in – in the lounge! My room was amazing and getting a drink of water from the kitchen required hiking supplies!
However, I couldn’t linger in the hotel and headed down to the ship for a quick handover from one of our technicians who has just got back from a mammoth 50+ day cruise! A handover consists of the technician showing his replacement what has been done during the cruise and any changes that have been made to equipment…..
The RRS James Cook is moored right in the middle of the Victoria & Albert Waterfront complex – an amazingly trendy shopping and dining area on the Cape Town waterfront! Probably the best place I’ve ever docked! We are surrounded by restaurants, bars, shops and stalls offering shark cage diving, Huey helicopter flights and big game fishing… Wish I had time to spare!!
The only problem is that the ship has become something of a tourist attraction along with the group of seals that live on the jetty behind the ship (and spend most of the day sleeping!!)
Hundreds of people have been admiring the ship and you can’t go on deck with someone asking you “What does this ship do?”, “Where are you from?”, “How big is this ship?”
After the hundredth time I was asked the same question – and with a bit of prompting from the crew! I decided to produce a quick A0 fact sheet about the ship and this was stuck to the side of the ship and helped reduce the number of interruptions whilst we were mobilising the ship.
Despite the interruptions, it was good to see the interest the ship causes. She is a unique looking vessel that is impressive to look at and does work that captures the imagination of the general public – it’s weird to see dozens of people wanting to have there picture in front of the ship!
The next 24hrs was spent preparing the ship for sea. Getting the various scientific, positioning and computing systems up and running and checking everything works! I’m taking over from two very good technicians who have eased the burden quite a bit as it’s only me this cruise – but nevertheless there is always a lot to do at the start of the cruise! From setting up laptops so the scientists can access the internet to checking our complex swath systems are working.
My first problem was the laptop used to communicate with the phone server had become corrupted and I spent some time fixing that…. Joy!
On the 24 th I finally got some time to do something I wanted to do since I arrived in Cape Town – go up Tabletop Mountain. A few off us caught taxi’s to the cable cars that take visitors to the top of the mountain. The cable cars are very impressive and make the steep ascent to the mountain top – which is 1086m (incidentally the same height as Snowdon!!) - in just over 10 minutes – spinning on the way to give a 360 degree view. The view from the top was amazing – although slightly overcast! We spent an hour visiting the attractions before hiking down from the summit. The walk took us about 2.5 hours and was amazing! The views were breathtaking! I’m glad we decided to walk down – not up. The walk down was gruelling enough on the muscles and the amount of exhausted looking people we saw backed this up!
Once we got to the bottom we walked along the base of the mountain before arriving back at the cable station and making our way back to the ship.
On Christmas Eve we went up town for a few drinks before making our way back to V & A where we met up with a big crowd from the ship and had a few drinks.
I got back before midnight to put up my stocking for Santa!!
Christmas day was an early start for everyone! Equipment had to be moved from the hold and a lot of equipment had to be moved around the ship and setup. Unfortunately with so much to do we can’t have a whole day off – even if it is Christmas Day!! The whole morning was a hive of activity preparing for departure tomorrow!
Work stopped at midday and we all had drinks in the bar before an amazing Christmas lunch prepared by our catering team! Everyone had a good time and fun was had by all!
In the afternoon I headed into the shopping district and picked up a few trinkets and mementos of my time in Cape Town and a few drinks whilst listening to a jazz rendition of “Men of Harlech”……
Merry Christmas!!
Above: Scientists and Techs on the bus to the ship!
Above: The immigration building which we spent so much time at! I think this building won no architecture awards
 
Above: Unlike my hotel room which would have won many awards.... Shame we only stayed there one night!!
Above: RRS James Cook alongside at V & A
Above: South African flag and Blue Ensign flap in the breeze
Above: view across V & A towards Table Top Mountain
Above: Panoramic image of V&A. The Cook is located on the left og the image
Above: A panoramic of the Focsle looking towards Table Mountain at night
Above: Another panoramic of V & A
Above: Christmas Day panoramic image of V&A looking towards Tabletop Mountain
Above: Seal napping!
Above: Seal napping
Above: Seal giving me the "evils" for waking him!
Above: Big sleeping seal!
Above: Ain't I beautiful.......
Above: Another seal
Above: And another.....
Above: And another!!
Above: Sign at Tabletop Mountain
Above: Cable car to get up the mountain
Above: The route up the mountain!! Not for those who don't like heights
Above: The intrepid explorers!!
Above: Looking out as we head up the mountain
Above: Great view.... Not good for those who get jelly legs!!
Above: looking down from the mountain
Above: The ship from the lower cable car station
Above: The ship from the top of Tabletop Mountain with a big lens!!
Above: ANother shot of the ship
Above: View from the top
Panoramic image of the view
Another panoramic of the route down
Above: View from the top
Above: Sculpture of the mountain
Above: Author with his flag..... (For those who asked - it's not the same one from last year!!)
Above: Random Welsh people we met who wanted thir picture with the flag
Above: We set out down the mountain
Above: On the way down
Above: Steep descent
Above: On the way down...
Above: Nice view
Above: Time for a break!!
Above: ANother nice shot of the view
Above: On the way down...
Above: Trying to see what the flower is...
Above: About halfway down!!
Above: Descending. We climbed down the valley visible in the image
Above: Getting directions!!
Above: Nice view of the city!!
Above: Taking the path to skirt the base of the mountain
Above: Hugging the mountain
Above: Don't look over the edge.....
Above: Walking the base
Above: UFO
Above: Picture for TMK
Above: Everyone in the bar for pre-lunch drinks
Above: our Doctor (left) and officers
Above: At the bar!
Above: All smiles!!
Above: Tables decked out...
Above: Going crackers!!
Above: Bang!
Above: Officers
Above: Scientists
Above: More scientists
Above: Christmas Dinner!
Above: Our superb catering team!!!! Well done!! Great lunch!!
Above: Some adhoc notes to the public!! |