Location: V&A and Robben Island
Today was an action-packed and busy day. It started off with an early start and breakfast, kindly made by Captain Callum and his sous chefs Kiki and Maddy, and it was bangers and mash with a side of scrambled eggs??? Interesting stuff indeed, but it was certainly rather tasty. After a quick breakfast, everyone sun creamed up, packed their bags, and off we went to the ferry over to Robben Island, where Nelson Mandela spent his last 16 years. The ferry ride over was very fun, with everyone getting involved in some card games and Shane finding my mini monopoly rather amusing. Upon arrival at Robben Island, we started with a lovely bus tour and guided around the island, getting a brief description of everything it had to offer. Benny and I also took an interest in the tortoise population, which seemed to be booming on the Island, as well as the endangered African penguins. After the bus tour, we got into the main prison, where we had a fascinating talk with someone who was sent to the prison himself. This made the talk a lot more personal and interesting. We then went and saw the exact cell in which Nelson Mandela was held, with his bed on the floor and a bucket as his toilet. This pretty much wrapped up our tour of the island, so we headed back to the ferry, but not before a quick stop in the souvenir shop where I blessed Kara, Cecily, and Benny with a taste of a Cadbury’s crunchie bar, which they’d never had before. CRAZY! Darien also got herself a lovely embroidered shirt from Robben Island. Next up was the ferry back to the mainland, where everyone had their lunch. After we got back to Argo, we got a splendid run-through from Kackie, Shane, and Nicole on the pin rails and how to tie them off, haul them in, and coil up the remaining rope.
Kara, Isaac, Talia, and I absolutely smashed it with the help of Nicole, Olymous, Syler Darien & Kiki looked like naturals under the tutelage of Kackie, so now Maddie, Benny, Kara & Nini, along with the rest of us all now, know what Make ready, stand by, ease, hold and take in mean and how to respond when told! Now, I believe we are all ready to get Argo on the seas! Coming towards the end of the day, all of us crewmates went to shore and got some Ice cream with some interesting choices from Nini and Cecily. Olympus got herself a nice slushy after not reading the board telling her what dairy-free plonker was. Then came dinner with some more eggs from Callum in a Spanish omelet-type thing and a birthday cake for Kackie kindly made by Ben and Nicole, which was delicious. Finally, Kiki, Talia, and I had our first PSCT course, which is certainly going to be a tough one, but with Callum and his funky accents, it’ll be a good time. This wraps up a solid day with many more to come.