Definitely... maybe

From the archive list of this blog one might be led to believe that not a lot's been happening in my life this year. Well, not much worth writing about anyway. Such an assumption would be completely off target. Especially given that I'm rather partial to venting my less than nice experiences in this space... Oh well, I'm not going to rave and rant about possibly pointless and ridiculous gag orders that are in place about certain incidents and images etc. So let's just say a lot has happened, but I'm not going to be able to write about any of it.

notice anything missing?!

I'm finally back in Perth. Almost didn't expect to be, but am. Not an entirely bad thing. But the Trident's trip to the North Sea has been rudely hijacked by another boat, and we'll be back in the North West Shelf. That's right, Australia. Again :-<. So hopes of European escapades rest entirely on the quick materialisation of the Norwegian visa that has been applied for (I've been told). In the mean time, I'm planning to make a better effort at using my time here. (Read travel more around this country.) But plans are funny things. You make them, and then they backfire on you. The only good thing in the last 10 days on the boat was one boat trip that I went on. As is evident form the image above, I managed to do a pass ahead of the ship in the small boat. (It was easier, I was driving, so I made the call :P.) Of course, driving one handed and taking pictures with the other wasn't the ideal thing, but you'd be surprised how much easier that is in a boat that in a car :D.

For the rest, it was just a continuous nightmare of fantastic proportions. Uncertainty over crew change not the least of the demons. Finally we managed to sort things out so we could have the port call. There had been several times over the previous week when I'd told myself, "It couldn't possibly get worse than this." Each time I'd been proven wrong, but I think that first night in dock might just stand the test of time :|. Then in the morning things started clearing up so fast, the night seemed like a distant haze :).Took me three nights in hotels in Invercargill and Christchurch (this time the trip was a meagre 50 mins, as against the spectacular 7 days as on the prior occasion :-<) till I even got on my first flight out. And when I did finally land up in Perth the heat was quite a shock compared to the still frozen South Island. I think I spent most of the day and night trying to sleep off the effects of an altogether very strange trip. It's only just beginning to work...

Feeling: drained
Listening to: The Calling - Wherever you will go