The Day I Claimed Land

“At 1300, all crew gathered at midships for the handing over of the Telescope of Challenge.

It was up to us to sail the ship for the next 24 hours and hopefully reach our destination! Along with this “”minor”” task, we were given a list of challenges to try and complete. They ranged from simple things such as staying hydrated – hydrate or die, sunscreen or fry – to more complex activity like drawing a chalk mural on the deck.

However there was one task that stood out. 8 of us donned life jackets and rowed ashore, carrying two flags and two broomsticks while Taffy and Evan joyfully sped in circles around us in the power boat. Once we had pulled the boat up onto the sand, we managed to fasten the flags to the broomsticks and set out for largest rock we could find. We climbed up and performed our best flag twirling while offically claiming the small cove on behalf of Australian youth.

But our job wasn’t finished yet! We were to draw a huge map of our planned kingdom and build a throne for our ruler. On the sand we found a large arrow pointing towards a rock face where we found a parcel of duct tape addressed to our elected captain. Turns out Evan’s kayak that morning wasn’t just “”to get some exercise””. Apparently satisfied with our efforts, Taffy and Evan kindly agreed to tow us back to the ship where we delivered the great news of our accomplishment and handed over the parcel – our navigational instructions required to reach Newcastle. In our absense, the rest of the youthies had created a masterpiece on the deck depicting almost every aspect of our voage so far, from vomit meters to notable quotes that had made us laugh along the way, however it was shortly wiped from the deck with fire hose. It was not a day I will ever forget.”
Paige Penrose