Relaxing in Style Down Under

So I had an absolute blast in Australia! We had a 5 hour transit up the channel to the pier we were going to moore to. An Australian, who knows the channel well, came on board to drive our ship through it. I am part of the sea and anchor detail as a line handler, so I was on the flight deck the and helped him aboard. I was on the flight deck the whole time. Until we were actually needed at the pier, we were mostly just on standby enjoying our first glimpses of Australia. Then we were responsible for tossing lines and securing the ship to the pier. There were several of my ship mates who had their families meet them in Australia. They were all waiting on the pier for them. As we pulled in we passed the carrier we've been escorting, which was moored already. We all got into formation and rendered a salute as we passed them out of respect.

It took us several hours to prep for liberty call. Our spaces had to be cleaned, trash had to be off loaded (so much trash!!!). We formed an assembly line and passed like a hundred bags down to the dumpster. Some stuff we can discard over the side of the ship as we travel, but things like plastics and metal we can't so that’s what it mostly consisted of.

It was a mad scramble to throw stuff in back packs and get off the ship when they let us leave. Australia was a liberty port for us. Which means that we got the day off as long as we weren't on duty that day. Our duty days are 24 hours and we have them 1x every 4 days. It's essentially a skeletal crew to keep the ship afloat while in port. I only had one duty day so I got a hotel with another girl for two nights. They had buses that ran to and from Brisbane or Gold Coast pretty much all day, but the initial buses we so backed up that my group decided to take a cab. We were staying in Gold Coast which was like an hour from the ship. Our taxi tab was...surprising! It was $350 Australian dollars! Ugh! We split it between 4 people and because of the exchange rate it was about $280 US dollars, but still! We just wanted to get our liberty started, so it was worth it to us.

We pulled in with an aircraft carrier with about 4000 sailors on it. My ship has about 300 people so the city was popping with sailors! We had a news segment on the local channel because of the saturation of the city with us all. Night life was incredible! There were people everywhere! It was a Friday that we pulled in and there were the local Australians out as well as over 4000 sailors who have been cooped up for a month and itching to spend their money and relax. You couldn't go to a bar that wasn't crawling with people. There were a lot of live bands and fantastic food! I was able to try kangaroo and I had the best lamb I've ever had. There was plenty of shopping and souvenir shops as well.

We spent part of an afternoon at the beach. It was winter there so the average temperature was about 65 during the day and 50 or so at night. (they use Celsius so when the taxi thermometer read 18 degrees I freaked out a little). Needless to say, I didn't go in the water, but the beach backed right up to skyscrapers and the shopping district so it was relaxing to just sit around and walk the shore and enjoy the skyline.

We also, went to a wildlife sanctuary where I got to hold a koala bear! It was so fun! He hugged me and clung right on. He was really smelly though. During the days leading up to getting to Australia the hot topic on the ship was that most koalas have chlamydia...? I didn't believe it, but the second I got a whiff of him I thought of that! Ahhh!  There were Tasmanian devils, wombats, dingos, and of course kangaroos! We were able to enter the space where they kept the kangaroos. They were very friendly and let us pet and feed them.

I wish I was able to upload some photos. We were moving from one thing to the next so fast that I couldn't hook up to wifi to download what I wanted to...I we are Facebook friends I have a few postings of the photos I took with my phone, but nothing posted that I took with a real camera. I guess there will be a cascade of photos one of these days for you to enjoy.

Australians seemed very nice. They are an English speaking country, but have different words for things. They call elevators 'lifts', parking lots are 'carparks',garbage is 'rubbish', and restrooms are just 'toilets'. They drive on the left side of the road which I never got used to. Even as a pedestrian that changes how you walk on the sidewalk and the direction you look when crossing the street. 

They welcomed the US Military. We were able to exchange memorabilia with the Australian Navy and one of the local police department. There were no major incidents and I had a great time bonding and relaxing with my shipmates. It's a strange relationship to live and work and hang out with them. It's something I was told, but I am starting to feel it's truth. I haven't spent much time on board and already I feel like I have known them so much longer.

We pulled out this morning and I am trying to get back to the grind...I have watch at 0130 and will be up all day tomorrow working and then watch from 2200-0200. Yay to jumping right back into things!! Up for 24 hours, then 4 hours of sleep, and another full day of work....ugh! I should've slept more when we were in Australia...lol

Goodnight!

A Lot of Frazzle With a Pinch of Dazzle

     I haven't written in a while for several reasons. It had been hard to find the combination of time and an available computer. Also, I just wasn't feeling up to it, honestly, the first several days at sea. I was taking in so much information I was completely exhausted come bed time. Now that I have been at sea for a couple weeks I feel like I can paint a fairer picture of my experiences.

     As we ceremoniously stood the length of the boat and pushed off the pier, I saw clusters of families embrace and disappear as we set out to sea. The goodbyes lingered as we passed the air force base and people had lined the shore waving and shouting best wishes and blessings. Our jaws were clenched a little tighter to fight back hot tears. We were now at full capacity with minds on the mission. There were seas to patrol, a country to protect, and a ship to relieve. 

    We hit the ground running with life on deployment and let me tell you, it is a fast paced world. I got lost in the mix for several days. I was feeling overwhelmed with the giant list of qualifications that were staring me in the face. I had few friends to talk to, I wasn't sure what I was supposed to be doing at any given time, I had trouble relaxing and felt anxious all the time. I hadn't contacted home, taken anytime to myself, and the sheer number of qualifications was extremely daunting. This led to even less sleep than our schedule allowed and a recoil into a small depression. I hated life here and bitterly asked God to get me home and why He had placed me here in the first place. I had plans on turning to the Chaplain to see what my options were, though I knew they were few to none. There was absolutely no way I would be continuing this deployment or life as a sailor.

     I did end up talking to the Chaplain. However, God has other plans for me than letting me quit when things get rough. The Chaplain was able to bring me back down from the misery I was feeling. We made a manageable list of goals for the next two weeks. We prayed and he told me about the church service he was holding the following Sunday. He stressed the need to take time to myself everyday and do things unrelated to the Navy. He taught me how to be on deployment.

     Since then I have turned a corner. Trust and believe that there are times, on almost a daily basis, I feel like I can't possibly get through another day; that I've met my breaking point. But with God I can do all things. I have shifted my focus to my smaller list of goals, daily devotions, and concerning myself with how others are feeling. We are all feeling similar heartaches and are in the same boat so to speak... ;)

     The command had done a fantastic job of providing activities and distractions a few days a week to help with our moral. We have had an ice cream social and karaoke, a talent show, board games, bingo and popcorn, and we have a 'steel beach picnic' on Sunday afternoons. The grill is brought out to the flight deck for a BBQ, there is music and lawn chairs, and people bring out their fishing poles and guitars. We are able to socialize right there on the flight deck, play games, and watch the sunset. It has been something to look forward to each week and an opportunity to get to socialize and build comradery.

     Daily life is hectic, demanding, and long....My unit performs general maintenance on our system and runs through strike scenarios almost on a daily basis. As a ship we run training such as general quarters (simulated attack on the ship), man over-board drills, active shooting/anti-terrorism scenarios, medical emergencies, live fires of most of the weapons on board, and fire fighting. We train for the worst and hope for the best. In reality there are several flight ops a day as well as investigations of various contacts we monitor on a 24 hour basis, an enormous effort from the food specialist, and engineering department to keep the ship and crew running.

     We got a break from seriousness last week as we left the northern hemisphere to enter the southern hemisphere when we crossed the equator. The Navy has a tradition in which a ceremony is performed when this happens. They also have a tradition when the ship crosses the date line. We just so happened to do both at the same time! Sailors who have crossed the equator in the past are nicknamed Shellbacks and those who have not are nicknamed Pollywogs. The 'Wogs' undergo an initiation to be honored with the title of Shellback. It mainly consists of mildly embarrassing tasks including a silly uniform, a lot of singing, and a water logged obstacle course. This lasted all morning and about 150 of us not only earned our title as Shellback, but Golden Shellback for crossing both the equator and the date line at the same time. (I am now 16 hours ahead of the Central time zone).

      I will not have photos until we port. We are not allowed to insert anything into the computers on board for fear of operational security breaches.

     Thank you for your continued support, and love from afar. I'd love to hear from you all! Email, regular mail, photos, and packages are welcomed. There will be plenty of people who need a pick-me-up so if you feel so inclined to send mail to my shipmates or my entire work center please do so. Let me know if you'd like the mail to go to someone else in need and I am happy to deliver.