Just Awesome.......!

My last blog was pretty weak I must admit. My bad if it came off really whiny, you've got to understand that I was just using it as a means to vent so as to avoid creating unnecessary conflicts in our little home away from home. But now I hope all that business is way behind us.

This last week has really made the expedition for me. The sights - Restoration, the reef, the coast, the cape, the cays - incredible. The people we met on Restoration, as well as those we met in Tonga, it was just an amazing experience to hear their rich and interesting and diverse stories. The food! Ah, huge crayfish tails, plenty of chicken stew (I had five portions...both nights) and freeze-dried meals that were a real tasty change from ship's biscuits.

What has struck me is the great consequence seemingly unimportant decisions have had. Our choice to stop at the Cay the other day, which led to a great meal and Dave W's apology. What if we had just continued on in search of a coastal anchorage? Would he still have got up and apologized? Would the crew still be in the same high morale? The same goes for a lot of things, one tiny decision changing everything. I could have never looked at the paper on that fateful April afternoon, never read that article calling for crew members. Then where would I be? Talk about chaos theory...

By far, the best thing about this trip has been the people. Even if you stripped everything else away and just left me the opportunity to meet them all, I'd be more than content. Just hearing their stories has opened my eyes to lifestyles and ways of thinking that I'd always just brushed off in the past.

Another thing that has surprised me is just how friendly everyone has been! I mean, when we pulled up on the Cay, with the Cossack Pearl in anchor nearby, I just swam over to say hey and before I knew it they were so generously offering us a load of free crayfish. That's the sort of friendliness we've experienced right the way across from start to here, almost at the finish.

I feel so indebted to the other guys for their support all the way, especially Don, without him I'd still be sat at home daydreaming about things like this. Whereas now, there's a new excitement in the pit of my stomach as I'm just aching to get back and sort my life out.

Only ten days to go and we've all got smiles on our faces. Rejuvenated and with some incredible experiences under my belt, I'm all set for this last burst across the Arafura Sea to Kupang. In the words of Bruce, the skipper of Wild-card, "These boys have a back yard as far as the eye can see. And they don't even have to mow the back lawn."

Put simply, everything is just awesome.

Cheers,
Chris