Thursday, October 06, 2005

Finding Mr. Mungo

Yesterday morning, I received an email from my cousin Mungo saying he was a few hours outside of Sydney, in good wind and would be arriving in Darling Harbour that afternoon. We had known he was coming for a few weeks, but the time span of his arrival would shift along with the direction of the winds. If it was blowing at his back, as the passage from Fiji was due West, he was going to be here sooner. If it was still out at sea, he would be here later. The life of a sailor's cousin, I guess.



I hadn't seen Mungo in half a lifetime. Last we met was in the Scottish highlands, in a cow pasture outside his house that's now a golf course. He was 9 and I was 15. Funny thing is, I recognized him amongst a crowd of a half-dozen similarly aged guys immediately.

It was such a thrill to have left campus knowing that I was going down to the harbour to see if a ship has come in. I felt as if I'd stepped back to the 1800's, signing sea shanties and putting lime in my quinine. His ship was hard to miss. The Adix is a three masted sailing ship, over 150ft. tall and parked next to the James Craig, an antique vessel that is owned by and parked outside the Australian Maritime Museum. The amount of attention that this vessel garners from ferry drivers, tourists, security guards, port officials and general passerby is incredible. They're like rock stars when they sail into town, having to fend off questions and requests, all the meanwhile trying to get their work done.



Coming aboard this ship was like stepping into a five-star hotel. Mungo gave us a tour of the place, it was complete with satellite television and internet access, polished tique inside and out. It has to be worth (easily) seven digits. Mungo is town for the month of October before he heads off to New Zealand, then onto who knows where. We'll be sure to make the most of our short time together.

Word is that there are some vacancies on the ship, including a deckhand and a stewardess. Peggy and I are somewhat seriously contemplating putting in a CV and seeing if we can have a go. Ummmm, I'd be the deckhand.

posted by ncawthon at 10:06 PM