Embarcation

We had a nice walking tour of Dunedin ahead of today’s departure. Additional murals have been added since our last visit 2 years ago, and we actually encountered a muralist in situ.

The ship, the Douglas Mawson, was commissioned in December and was named after Australia’s most famous Antarctic explorer. He claimed to have fallen into a crevasse returning from a trip and, he says, he dangled at the end of 14 feet of line only extricating himself after several attempts to haul himself out with frost bitten hands.

The ship is a peach, and get this: unlimited wine with dinner.

Leonards luggage didn’t arrive and he’s the happy owner of a new wardrobe which he intends to lay off on American Airlines.

Cousin Lester is adjusting well to his first time out of the sight of land coupled with the deck heaving under his feet. We have a comfortable cabin on the 3rd deck – the cheap seats.

So as the sun slips below the horizon we bid a fond farewell to the south end of the South Islad and shape our course for Macquarie Island.