As Rough As It May Seem,It's Still Steady As You Go...
This last week was most likely the highlight of my career thus far in the Navy. In the words of our supply officer, Lt(N) Robichaud, I’m “extremely spoiled”. Rota, Spain was my first time outside of North America, and as amazing an experience as that was it had nothing on South Africa. Cape Town.
Our visit to the Cape was preceded by a meeting with the South African Frigate Isandlwana. Several of their crew came aboard our ship and stuck around for a few days. I was paired up with a junior officer who does the exact same training onboard his ship that I do onboard Toronto. The similarities between their Navy and ours were astounding: same rank structure, same interaction between NCMs and Officers, same workhard/playhard attitude.
The following day we came alongside Cape Town. I was speechless at the sight of it. Providing a magnificent backdrop to an already beautiful port rose Table Mountain. I can’t describe in words how picturesque the scene was – I can only hope this isn’t the last time that I visit it. The six days spent there were amazing.
Besides the expected indulgences that a junior officer may seek upon completion of 30 days at sea, there were several Wardroom functions and cultural activities that I was able to partake in. The second night in port we held a junior officer’s party in our Wardroom that went over without incident. The Admiral commanding our fleet and his wife showed up just in time to see their most junior officer dancing up a storm – mostly by himself.
I was duty on the third day, and as exciting as duty is I’m sure you’ll all understand if I skip to the fourth day. Toronto held a cocktail party that night which was funded in part by the Canadian High Commission in South Africa. I rubbed elbows all night with some people that were most definitely leaps and bounds above my pay grade. I try not to schmooze too much with them – just talk to them like normal people, because generally that’s what they are. For example, I didn’t hesitate to ask the High Commissioner how she got such a “jammy” job. She laughed and answered that it’s not as “jammy” as I like to think and that cocktail parties get old pretty quick.
We were also entertained by a local dance group that is sponsored by Cirque de Soleil. Usually I’m somewhat uninterested when it comes to the performing arts – but I was surprisingly veryentertained. In fact, the dance group was outstanding and most of the guests’ mouths hung open for the majority of the show. After the party I was able to secure a hotel room right in the downtown core. I took advantage of the 7 to 1 exchange rate and lived lavishly for the rest of the port visit. There are several markets where one can barter with the locals for unique items such as handcrafted masks, paintings, and drums among other things. So, Mom, if you’re reading this I’ve got some great Christmas gifts.
The next evening the wardroom went for supper at a fantastic vineyard outside the city. The entire place was open air and consisted of covered bars, treehouses, and walkways lined withtorches canopied by large trees. The dining hall was a large tent that had two stages for entertainment. We were treated like royalty by the staff and we ate like kings. At a certain point half of the wardroom was somehow allowed to go up on one of the stages and perform an interpretive dance. If you don’t already know, the Toronto is well known for their interpretive dances. Commander Virgin will often put one of the engineers on the spot, telling themto interpretive dance one of the ship’s systems, whilst the rest of the Wardroom has to guess which system it is.
The one we did for a rather large crowd at this vineyard involved the Assistant Supply Officer, Lt(N) Klassen, acting as a snake being charmed out and subsequently poisoning his fellow officers.
It was a riot, and as unprofessional as it may seem to the casual observer, it must be noted that the crowd and staff loved it.
On Sunday a few of us hiked up Table Mountain. After our trip out to the vineyard however, I decided that instead of hiking I would take the cable car up. I wasn’t the only one with this idea.
The view from the top of that mountain is impossible to put in words. The airfare to South Africa is worth it if this is the only thing you do there. We could see the entire city as well as the range of mountains that kneel down and eventually become the Cape of Good Hope. All at once I was able to see a city containing millions of people, the coastline, the mountains, as well as the Indian and Atlantic Oceans.
There is a restaurant at the top where a few of us sat down for a coffee and just enjoyed the fresh mountain air. At one point we were able to listen to absolutely nothing, and it was amazing. Nohum from an AC unit, no running diesel generators, no voices, no traffic – just nothing. On the cable car ride down we were speechless.
We slipped from Cape Town the next morning and as sad as I was to leave I’m glad we’re heading back to sea. My wallet, liver, and sleeping patterns can only take so much of one place. I know for a fact that several of the crewmembers will be returning here of their own accord whenever it’s possible for them. Not only is the exchange rate fantastic but there is also so much to do. I hit the tip of the iceberg. Others were able to go shark diving, golfing, diving, and on winery tours.
S. Lt(N) McEwan
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