Dr. Marks and I had the great pleasure to stay on the Australian LCH's this past week. I was on the Betano and she was on the Wewack, sister ships who will be decommissioned next year. Let me just say, the Australians have been awesome and they welcomed us with open arms. Of course, there's a crew of sixteen or so on each ship and I think they were happy to have some new people to talk to.
On the Betano, we had a younger crew with a CO who knew how to have fun. The LCH's have very large tank decks for holding supplies and ours had been converted to a party deck after the first day at anchor. It was complete with weight room, pool (no diving), and a movie screen projected onto the side of a module. A module was what we slept in and it resembles an eighteen wheelers trailer, but much smaller. We were racked 3 high and I banged my head a few times on the bunk above before learning my lesson.
The Australians also were a great help at the clinics. They helped the dentists with extractions, pre-packed meds for us, handled crowd control, and all the while they did it with a "No worries mate." Afterwards, exhausted and sweat-soaked (I really want to drive in how hot it was), we would pile into the flatbed and head to the Auki Lodge to have a few refreshments, Solbrew, before heading back to the pier to catch a zodiac to the ship. From there we'd enjoy a hardy meal and cool down in the pool.
Sadly, the Australians will be heading back home after next week so we will lose a very large support arm of the mission. Cheers!
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