Hanging Out In The Deep End – Hobart, Australia

Thursday, 23 November 2023
Day 1 of 110ish

After a restless sleep, I rolled out of my bunk bed and gathered myself together. 8am. Here we go! This should be interesting. 

Soaking It Up

Did I mention that I’ve never worked in a commercial kitchen? Did I mention that Mr Know-It-All who has done this gig many times before and was going to be my guide and my rock is still in Noumea? Did I mention I’ve never lived or worked on a commercial boat before? Nothing like the deep end!

My mission today is to be a massive sponge…to soak up as much information as I can from the leaving cook so that I can pass this intel on to Tom. I had a day and a bit for this. No pressure! 

I collected myself and wandered down the hall and up the stairs and down another hall to the mess. There I found Phil, the leaving cook. And a very full-on day ensued. 

Sucking It Up

Backing up, when a vessel comes into port, it’s a VERY busy time. There are crew changes, contractors coming and going, product coming off and supplies coming on. I understand that each day the vessel is in port it costs around a million dollars. Mind blowing! So it is all happening and fast. And today was no exception. 

So not only was I learning how to make meals and operate the kitchen equipment, we were moving an amazing amount of boxes. Pallets of food (fresh and frozen) and dry goods. Thank God for the deck crew who pitched in. Many hands makes light work and it certainly did today! 

Surprise Tiki Tour

No sooner was I getting my mojo on than I got asked to hop in the car with one of the vessel managers, Marty.  I needed to get my lung x-ray for my medical permission to work on a commercial boat called ENG1. Excellent! An opportunity to see some of Hobart plus I got to bum some hospital wifi to have a chat with my boy. I haven’t had internetness since I left the airport. Noooooo!!!!

So off I trundled with Marty and another crew member, Damian or Damo. I didn’t know it at the time, but Damo would be cooking with me on the way to Bluff, NZ from Hobart, Australia. 

Marty, being the stand up guy that he is, asked if I wanted to walk back to the boat instead of being chauffeured. If you know me at all, you know that it was a resounding ‘Yes, please!’ He made sure to tell me to not rush back. Sweet!

Off to the hospital I went. It was almost as if they were waiting for me. I was in and out in a matter of minutes. Literally! No queue and it took me longer to get out and back into my clothes than the time it took to take the x-ray.

Swanning Around Hobart

After a wonderful chat with my sweetie, I waltzed out into the great wide world of downtown Hobart. The esplanade wasn’t very far away…maybe a five minute walk at most and that was me taking it slow. 

So along the waterfront I walked, taking in the beauty of Hobart…with the rest of the cruise ship people.

In no time, I was back at the Aurora where the madness continued. Somehow in amongst the handover, Phil managed to serve up lunch and we continued on.

The day persisted long into the evening. I finally knocked off, stepping into a nice, hot shower and fell into bed for another restless night’s sleep on that rock hard mattress.