Catching up!

So I have finally succumbed to peer pressure and started one of these crazy blog things. Up until now, I’ve been a bit of a blog voyeur and haven’t really contributed much except for the random (and usually obnoxious) comment, so it’ll be interesting to live on the other side of the glass for once.
I’m currently writing this from the middle of the ocean. We just passed latitude 60 as we continue south toward McMurdo Station, Antarctica. I’ll try and catch everyone up on how I ended up here.
I left New York on December 17th, and after about 35 hours of travel, ended up in Guam. My sea partner Don and I met the ship later that night and the vessel stayed in the harbor for the next week while the vessel unloaded its cargo and took on bunkers (i.e. topped off the fuel tank) before we left for Brisbane, Australia. Don and I would typically work during the day, except for holidays and Sundays and for a few days, we had a rental car that we were able to explore the island with. Guam isn’t very large, but it still took us about 4 hours to drive around the entire island, most likely because of the slow pace we maintained as we looked around. Extremes abound as we traveled from the hotel district with Tiffany’s and Diamonds International, to the smaller Chamorro (the native people of Guam) villages at the southern end of the island. In between those two extremes was the navy Base at Apra Harbor, and Anderson Air Force Base on the north end. The first day we were out, Don and I picked up a mask and snorkel set for each of us and we made a point to go for a swim every day after work to the beach that was within walking distance of the ship. Certainly a nice change from the cold weather of New York! We left Guam on the 27th of December.
It took roughly a week to travel from Guam to Brisbane through the Solomon Islands and the Coral Sea. On the way, we exchanged our ballast water (Australia, like the US has strict rules to try and prevent invasive species from being introduced into their harbors) and I worked with the engineers doing various repairs and routine maintenance. The vessel I am on is the USNS Paul Buck, which is a roughly 700 foot tanker that is owned by Military Sealift Command. It moves various products wherever they are needed and as such, the schedule is random and for the most part, unknown until we are getting ready to go there. This type of service is known as “Tramp Service” in contrast to “Liner Service” which has a set route and schedule.
We arrived in Brisbane on Monday morning, arriving at the anchorage around noon. We spent a couple of days at anchor while the tanks were inspected before taking on the cargo that we would be taking down to McMurdo Station. Australia - and Brisbane specifically has made it into at least my top five if not top 3 favorite places I’ve been. The people are very friendly, the city incredibly clean, and a lot has been into parks and landscaping and the general set up of the town. Everything from bus stops to walking bridges looked and felt like a work of art. Aesthetics was a high priority on everyone’s mind when designing the city. With my limited budget, I did a lot of walking and was glad I did! Lots of paths in and around downtown and the further away I got, the cheaper the beer was which is always a plus! Almost all of the beers were at least Australian if not made in Queensland. I think I saw only once place that even offered an American beer, and that doesn’t mean it was in stock.
We left Australia, wishing we had a bit more time, even though we had been there for about a week. We’re now continuing south, having crossed the Antarctic Circle and we expect to see some ice in the next few hours. If I don’t get back to you for a few days, we’re out of satellite range, but I’ll keep writing and post my observations once we head north again.
If you have any questions for me, or want me to go more in depth on a particular place or topic, let me know!