The Southern Ocean...

The large vast ocean BELOW Australia is known as THE SOUTHERN OCEAN. It is little known except to Aussies, New Zealanders, mariners and students of geography.

It only extends from Australia to Antarctic. The Pacific Ocean is to the right of Australia and the lndian Ocean to the left of Australia. [There are a few bits and pieces like The Tasman Sea, the Davis Sea and The Ross Sea around as well.]

The Southern Ocean encompasses the latitudes from 35 to 70 degrees south. That includes the latitudes known as 'The Roaring 40's'. That is where we are as I write this. We left Melbourne yesterday at 6 PM and are northwest through the Great Australian Bight. That means three days at sea until we head up north to warmer weather and Perth.

We have encountered quite a bit of movement since leaving the protection of Tasmania, or 'Motion on The Ocean' today. Too cold to go outside and it looks like a good day to snuggle up with a good book.

Question please. What exactly are "The Seven Seas?"  Atlantic, Pacific, lndian, Arctic, Southern  ?  ?  Also what makes an Ocean and what makes a Sea?

 
Change in Subject:

I think I have decided on my routine. It is sort of like this: Port days, no holds barred, go till you drop if that is what we want to do. Take advantage of the hours ashore, and dine when we want upstairs, not in the dining room. Day after Port days, take the day off. Sleep in, skip exercise and take in what lectures take your fancy, regain your strength. On successive sea days, try not to get stuck into a routine, but do exercise, walk as much as possible, read and again take in good lecturers, catch up on photo editing etc.

Fellette goes with me on the flow, she is a very good wife but still manages to get in her bible study, scrabble, coffee chat thing, puzzle time, and choir practice, on sea days. We do appreciate our time apart on the ship.

We are happy with our new table mates, even though we have had only one meal with them. I am actually looking forward to going to the table tonight.

Yesterday in Melbourne with friends was a very emotional day for me. Moe and Fellette also had a great time, but in reality it was My Day with two great 'long distance' friends.

Lyn told us yesterday that she just last week gave a talk to the church ladies about the difficulty that I, [Doug] had with the pronunciation of Australian names when we were visiting with them in the fall. Actually I finally gave up on trying to pronounce them correctly and just said something that I could handle. Take Wagga Wagga for instance, how would you pronounce that? [never mind living in a town with that name!] Well, surprise it is pronounced Wogga Wogga. I give up. Try the following, Campaspe, Echuca, Nirebo, Goolgumbla, Pooginook. Deniliquin is when I gave up, I said that it sounds like a cure for Goolgumbla!



Anyhow, you can see that there is not much to report.

Some news from home. My longest friend Andy's wife Merle lost her Dad this week he was 99 years and 11 months. Since we left home we also lost a friend in our complex at home, friend Ernie Billings. 

On a cheerful note we had a lengthy email from daughter Jeanette, who usually writes long and interesting bits and pieces about home life, when she gets time, usually late at night when everybody else is asleep. Her notes are always a sweet reminder that there is a real world beyond this oversized Floating Hilton!