The Voyage of Macgellan

Dram: My NZ South Island Map

As you can see on my map of NZ's South Island, I have covered what amounts to something like two-thirds -- maybe even three-quarters -- of the "main" roads. Although that's a lot, it's not at all unusual for visitors to do here. After all, the island really isn't very big and there just aren't that many roads. I did it in about six weeks -- including time on my own and with Betty -- but it could easily be done in a month, and I have met folks who have done it in as little as two weeks. That isn't a pace that I'd suggest, but it does give you an idea of what you can cover if you ever take a holiday to this tourist paradise.

Dram: What Are The Chances?

Just a brief glimpse at this photo is probably enough to help you understand why I did a double-take in the parking lot of my little motel this afternoon. A little bit closer look may explain why that became a triple-take plus a look at my key to see which was actually mine! Seriously, what are the chances of these two cars winding up in the same place at the same time?

Dram: Dag Crushing

I'd never heard of "Dag Crushing" before, so I stopped in to check this place out. It turns out that there is enough wool content in "dag" -- the Australian (and therefore New Zealand) term for the dung-coated wool on a sheep's hindquarters -- for an enterprising young man to make a business out of it. He collects bags of dag, dries it in the sun then runs it through a custom, purpose built machine of his own design which thrashes the "non-wool" matter out and mostly -- though not completely -- ventilates it out of the building. The clean wool which has been extracted is then bagged and sent off to market right along with all the other "normal" wool. It's a pretty nasty job and I didn't get the sense it pays particularly well, but it seems to be a busy little business... and something else you probably wouldn't hear much about except from The Voyage of Macgellan!

Dram: Driza-Dog!

How cute is this!

A "Driza-Bone" is the "Down Under" -- and arguably best -- version of a full-length, waterproof riding coat. While wandering around Invercargill today I happened to see this modified version for dogs! They come in all sizes from puny to gigantic, and you can even get them with fleece lining for those really cold days!

I was really tempted to send one to Teddy in time for the Iditarod -- which starts in just 10 days! -- but I'm pretty sure all the other dogs would be jealous and make fun of her for having such a cool coat! (Plus, Aliy has plenty to do without having to manage a custom wardrobe for my dog!)

So, it'll have to be the thought that counts... Good luck to all of my human and canine friends in this year's Iditarod! I'll miss you again this year, but maybe next year...?

Dram: NZ Rent-A-Wreck

First of all, don't worry... It wasn't me!

Okay... now here's the story: For my extended exploration in New Zealand, I have rented a Toyota Corolla. It's not much of a car but it was relatively cheap, especially after the great deal I got from the manager of the Thrifty office in Dunedin whose dog I happily made a big fuss over. (It pays to be a dog-person!) I picked the car up this morning and headed south -- more or less along the coast -- on the "Southern Scenic Route" between Dunedin and Invercargill. Because I did so much driving "on the left" in Scotland and northern England last summer, I was quite comfortable with that aspect of the experience. Because all of the road signs are in English and the signals are all pretty normal, I was feeling quite at ease. Along the way, however, I became mindful that driving in New Zealand can be tricky and even dangerous.

For one thing, the roads are pretty narrow, even the main highways which are only one lane in each direction with occasional passing lanes. For another, there are a lot of big trucks that create such a big wind effect when passing that a dinky car like mine gets a pretty good shove toward the shoulder. Add in high gusting winds that roll off the sea, steep and winding hills, the distraction of beautiful scenery, etc., and you can easily find yourself in trouble pretty quickly.

At one point the road changed from asphalt to gravel and I had limited traction to add to the equation. Driving along a riverbed between steep hills which created poor visibility around curves, I slowed myself way down and thought, "Wow... This could really be dicey for someone not accustomed to driving on the left, in an unfamiliar vehicle. Especially some of those folks who are driving RVs."

No sooner had that thought made its way through my brain than I came around a corner and saw the sight in the first photo above. It had obviously happened just minutes before because I was only the second car on the scene. I hopped out and found the first passer-by talking to the people involved, quickly finding out that there were many bumps, bruises and small cuts but no major injuries. The fire/rescue truck arrived a few minutes later and the professional took control of the scene.

Based on the amount of damage you can see in the second photo, the people involved were all very, very lucky to avoid major injury. I didn't stick around to find out the details, but it certainly looks like both vehicles were going too fast, saw each other too late around a blind turn, lost traction on the gravel and maybe even instinctively turned the wrong way at the last instant. No matter what happened, you can count these as two NZ rental RVs that won't be back in service for a while.

As for me, I turned my dinky little Corolla around, found a detour back to the highway and took a while to really let it sink in: Be especially careful when driving in New Zealand!

Dram: Great Bitter Lake Wait

Because the Suez Canal is only one ship wide, there can only be one "convoy" of ships -- moving either north or south -- in it at a time. Fortunately, there is a large body of water about half-way called Great Bitter Lake where convoys can safely pass each other. Although this helps improve the efficiency of the process, there's still a lot of waiting involved in transiting the Suez Canal. In our case, we had to wait almost a whole day in Port Said for a northbound convoy to clear the northern half of the Canal, then wait almost a whole day again in Great Bitter Lake for another northbound convoy to clear the southern half of the Canal. Here's a Dram of the Great Bitter Lake wait.

(Having trouble watching this video? Click here to view it on YouTube.)

Dram: Bizarre Bazaar

I have commented in the Logbook that we picked up a number of local characters in Port Said who were purported to be pilots, inspectors, etc., for our transit through the Suez Canal and that I had my suspicion that it was all part of a local "works" project. During my occasional trips up to the bridge deck, I would sometimes see one or two of them in the wheelhouse, drinking coffee and making comments to the officer on duty. I never saw more than a couple of them at a time. During lunch today while we were waiting on Great Bitter Lake, I asked Randy -- the steward/messman -- where all the other guys who had come aboard were. With the first scowl I have seen yet on his face he replied, "They are downstairs sleeping in the boatman room." Almost as an aside, he then added, "They have a bazaar. You should go take a look." I wasn't sure I understood him correctly, but subsequent conversation with my fellow passengers determined that we had all heard the same thing: The Egyptian boatmen were downstairs sleeping and holding a bazaar. Now that we just had to see! So, after lunch we all climbed down to the main deck and found the room that is designated for the Egyptian boatmen during their time on board for the Suez transit. It is a cabin with six bunk beds, each of which was occupied by a sleeping man. Strewn all over the floor was the most bizarre collection of stuff you could imagine, including everything from miniature pyramid souvenirs to fishing tackle and shaving cream. The man closest to the door must have heard us because he jumped up immediately and invited us in to "Take a look!" It took me less than five seconds to see that there was nothing I wanted, but Charlotte jumped into the fray and gave it all a good look for about a half a minute. Back on deck we moved away from the door and broke out laughing. It seems that the boatmen have figured out that as long as they are going to sleep all day, they might as well bring a whole bunch of crap on board and see if they can sell some of it to passengers and crew who were not able to go ashore. After all, "If you can't bring Muhammad to the mountain, bring the mountain to Muhammad."

Dram: Beethoven's Birthday!

In honor of Beethoven's 237th birthday I am posting this little video Dram from Vienna, starring my niece Jennifer who has once again proven herself to be an outstanding co-explorer on The Voyage! Happy birthday to Beethoven, and thanks to Jennifer!

(Having trouble watching this video? Click here to view it on YouTube.)

Dram: Trumpetus Interruptus

Legend has it that during a Tatar raid on Krakow, a guard watching from the tower of Mariacki Church in the Old Town center saw the invaders approaching and took up his trumpet. Sadly, his alarm was cut short by an arrow through the throat. Today, every hour on the hour, he is honored by a trumpeter who plays the sombre hejnal melody, halting abruptly at the point he was supposed to have been hit!

(Having trouble watching this video? Click here to view it on YouTube.)

Dram: Universal Health Care

Well, it was bound to happen sooner or later, and today was the day. What was a bit of a stuffy nose when I went to bed last night was a full-blown head cold this morning. So for the first time in 478 days on The Voyage I'm having a "sick day." I certainly can't complain... and won't. In some ways it's almost just as well, because it's been a blizzard here in Krakow for the past two days and there's not much to do besides hang out in my little room and enjoy a little iLife. So, that's what I've been doing: drinking fluids, watching videos, catching up on email, Skyping the world, taking naps and taking care of myself. There is, of course, an aspect of exploration to everything -- including being sick in a foreign country -- so here's a little story that I thought might be worth a Dram:

After a hot shower and a little breakfast this morning, it was obvious that I really did have a raging head cold and that it was going to persist for a while. So, I decided to go out and get myself a large supply of fluids -- juice, tea, water, bullion, etc. -- so that I would be well stocked and could stay in for the rest of the day. I bundled up and went downstairs where I greeted Diana -- the nice lady at the desk -- then put on my best pouty face and said "I have a cold!" She expressed her sympathy and told me that if I wanted anything from the kitchen -- like chicken soup -- all I had to do was call her and she would send it right up. I told her that was very nice and that I appreciated it very much, then walked down the block to a supermarket. There, I had an unusual shopping experience in that I don't usually buy things like orange juice and hadn't had to try to figure out which -- from the astonishing array of products -- I might like best. In the end I just picked a couple of containers that had pictures of oranges and other citrus on them -- along with an encouraging "100%" figure -- because, frankly, "z miazszem bez dodatku cukru" really doesn't mean anything to me.

On the way back to my hotel I stopped in at a pharmacy and -- again with my best pouty face -- told the lady behind the counter about having a cold, to which she replied: "I'm sorry... Welcome to Poland!" I had no hope of figuring out what was what on the shelf, so asked if she could recommend something. Seconds later she had a package of Sudafed in her hand which I said that would do nicely and paid my tab. As I was leaving she called after me and said, "I hope you feel better soon!" How nice is that?

When I got back to my room, two ladies were in the process of making it up. When they saw my "bags o' fluids" and took a look at me, they immediately got the picture. They proceeded to inspect what I bought, give their approval, check my forehead for fever, turn up the radiator, get an extra blanket for my bed and generally make a fuss. One of them went on at length -- in Polish -- with what must have been her version of cold therapy instructions, playing charades that were pretty obviously along the lines of "Drink all of this, sleep all day, stay warm, etc." At one point I swear she said the word "hospital" and I assured her that was unnecessary. They really went out of their way for me and couldn't have been more attentive.

Finally, because I had scheduled with Elke and Gustavo -- my friends from the "Gdansk Gang" who also happen to be here in Krakow -- to get together for dinner tonight, I called them to say I was sick and ask about rescheduling. Elke, bless her heart, said "I'm so sorry! Of course we can reschedule. If you need anything, anything at all, don't hesitate to call. We're only a twenty minute walk from where you are." Do I need to say more?

So, there you have it, a whole different kind of "universal health care." It seems like there's something different everyday that illustrates the kindness of strangers and the goodwill of all people. Even a "sick day" is full of insights on The Voyage.