Today we were visited by the ruler of the ocean, King Neptune (and
his minions), to welcome us to his realm south of 60S, although
rather belatedly. After dressing in old clothes we were warned to
wear, us "ocean virgins" were gathered in the ships mess, and told to
bow before the king on a plastic tarp, the presence of which filled
me with nervousness. After some speech was given, the initiation
began, starting with the ripping of a few peoples tops...luckily only
the top two buttons popped off my shirt! In groups of three or four,
we were called up and forced to bow at Neptune's feet, waiting in
anticipation for what was to come. Firstly Neptune's wife pulled out
a massive fish, which we were made to kiss, and subsequently had
smeared all over us (and I mean everywhere); this would have been ok
if it weren't for the fact that the fish was had been cut open, and
was all juice - BLEUGH!
Next we were treated to delights "from the depths". This involved
having sea-crap (not literally - a mix of vegemite, peanut butter,
sweet corn and some other stuff), again smeared over our faces, in
our ears, and rubbed into our hair. I fortunately got away with this
section quite lightly, although it was still rather difficult to wash
out.
Lastly, we had to drink "the fluids of the ocean", which I think was
quite literally sea water, with added blue food colouring for good
measure. I'm not sure if there was anything else in this drink, but
it tasted pretty damn rank, so down it went in one gulp! And that was
that. Initiation over. It wasn't as bad as I was expecting, but was a
good laugh nonetheless. I'm told we get a nice certificate for
completing this but I am yet to see it; I'm hoping I do get one as
proof - I don't particularly want to do it again.
Only 846 nautical miles left until Hobart! I'm told the weather is
supposed to get worse over the coming days. Let's hope King Neptune
was pleased with us all....
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