While Charlotte Town is located inside a bay on the south side of an island, for Sydney it is the other way around. It is located in a bay on the north side of an island, namely Nova Scotia, or New Scotland. Again the founding fathers found the most sheltered spot in the area to build a City. Same as with Charlotte Town; sheltered is a relative word as it can blow here enormously. In the past I have aborted the call at Sydney quite often. Either by not going in, or by going into the bay, having a look and then turning quickly around and racing back out again. With the wrong wind blowing it can be a scary place.
Every captain with a bit of wits about him, swings on arrival and docks nose out, so in case of a sudden spell of inclement weather, the ship can race to safe waters as quickly as possible. As a result the HAL ships always dock with the nose out.
Today there were no issues. The sun was shining, not doubt the birds were singing as well and there was no wind. Great weather to mess around with boats. Today was practice day for the Lifeboat trainees and they all have to learn how to drive a lifeboat. Getting the show people/ entertainers in the boat is always great fun as they treat everything as an adventure with the emotions running from scared to amazed, to excited, all in a matter of minutes. Today there was no difference and while the boat went down it was of course necessary to sing “Michel row your boat ashore”. And I do not mind at all to sit in a boat with a number of nubile young ladies who need some fatherly advice in how to run a lifeboat. There are worse things in the world.
Captain Arno Jutten and Hotel Director Francaois Birarda supervising the cook – out
The rest of the crew were excited as well, as a crew barbeque had been organized. For the last four weeks the plans had been cancelled due to the rain but today we had glorious sunshine and all the crew streamed ashore to have lunch in the sun. Most ships organize these sorts of things on a regular basis and in general it is very much appreciated by the crew.
As long as the cooks do not run out of food.
The Al-Fresco Crew Mess Room in Sydney
Most of our crew members are very slender and you would think that that was because they do not eat that much. On the contrary; it is mind boggling how much food gets consumed. Not only in the consumption of rice but also on a day like this when there is Corn on the Cob and steak on the menu. I enjoy a good dinner but there is no-way that I can keep up with these guys. Being small is obviously not a reason to eat about double what a much larger person would consume. And the cooks kept bringing more and more ashore to be enjoyed. It was very nice of the Port authorities to allow the ship to do this. Thank you very much of behalf of a lot of happy crew.
Sydney considers itself the fiddle capital of the world. In the dark winter months music is very popular here and there is great interest, also among the younger population, for traditional Folk Music. Some very well known fiddlers come from this area.
I wonder if it is the biggest one in the world
And to let the world know, an enormous violin has been erected on the East side of the Pier. When the ship goes Northbound, towards Quebec, a group of fiddlers come on board to entertain the guests. Southbound as on this cruise, there is not enough time as the ship leaves early to get to Halifax on time.To get there, it has to sail first out of Sydney, then North East around Cape Breton and then has to come down the East Coast of Nova Scotia. Halifax is also situated inside, in a fjord in this case. So getting in there also takes time. As a result the schedule is quite tight on this stretch of the cruise and hence the ships sails at 1600 hrs. instead of later.
The weather forecast for tomorrow is a mixed bag. Sunny and wind still in the morning and then slowly changing to overcast with rain and increasing winds. We will not be the only ship for change. Coming in after us is the Amadea (sailing for a German company) and the Carnival Splendor. It will be a good day for the local shop keepers. As Halifax considers itself the bag pipe capital of the world they cherish their Scottish roots, so there will be a lone piper on arrival, and if all goes well, a whole group of them on departure. Halifax is located on Nova Scotia – New Scotland. I wonder if they would consider going independent of Canada if their brethren in Great Britain decide to split up from England next week.
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