Brisbane

2016-11-07
Just now I am sitting at the Seafarer's Centre, outside the vast harbour area in Brisbane, Australia. I put on a helmet and an orange safety vest (which is compulsory) and went down the gangway, found myself standing on solid air for the first time in 11 days. No problem, I wasn't reeling about or anything, the ship I've been on, the Aglaia, is so big she doesn't react much to normal waves, and the weather had been quite nice all the time. She weighs about 70.000 tons with full cargo, so she a pretty stable lady (not old lady, she was built in 2010). I pressed a button and waited for a bus to take me to the gate. You are not allowed to walk about (which the aussies otherwise like to do, ha ha) by foot here, and, worse, you're not allowed to take any pictures. So I still don't have a picture from the outside to show what Aglaia looks like.

Anyway, at the gate I found out about this Sefarer's Centre, so I walked here. Here they have access to the net, but of course I had forgotten my phone. So I'm knocking this down on an old computer, writing in English not to bothered by the many aa:s, oe:s and ae:s instead of, well you know what I mean.

It has been an extraordinary experience to go by freighter ship on the big ocean. It's like a completely new and foreign world opening up for you. The captain is a convivial fellow, who wants everybody to eat, drink and be happy. He's selling very cheap whisky in a shop on board. Well, he says, we're trying to be  normal... The officers of the crew are from eastern Europe and the ordinary crew from the Philippines. Very nice people. When we passed the equator we had a big grill- and karaokeparty. Me and the bosun (baatsman, tror jag) performed House of the Rising Sun together. I sounded absolutely terrible, but everybody was happy anyway.

At about 19.00 tonight, if the unloading and loading of some of the 4000 containers we carry is finished, we will depart for New Zealand. Planned arrival in Auckland Friday morning, Nov 11.

See you then,
Passenger Larsson