HMAS Adelaide Deployment

“I really enjoyed San Francisco in particular the Jazz Clubs and celebrating two birthdays during the port visit. Sitting in with an ‘old time’ dance band playing at the Legions club in Esquimalt (Canada) was a blast! I am looking forward to being warmer in San Diego and getting home to see my girl.” “The highlight of the HMAS Sydney trip for me was the opportunity to play with the Canadian band on Remembrance Day. It was a great opportunity to see how other bands work around the world and actually how many similarities there were between the two Bands. It was also good to experience the Remembrance Day ceremony as this is very similar to our ANZAC day. The Canadians were very welcoming of the Australian Sailors and the contribution from the ship and the Band helped add to the occasion.”

Petty Officer Kara Williams

My own unique experiences have been too numerous to mention in detail without attaching a novel of epic proportion (the unabridged diary of this deployment is available on request!) The incredible seafood, sailing in bays surrounded by snow covered mountains grasping at the shore, walking in the parks in Vancouver among amber and ruby festooned foliage, finding a shop in San Francisco called “Kara’s Cupcakes” and riding trolley cars up and down impossibly steep hills, picking up a bargain or seven, standing only metres away from a wild deer on a Naval base, meeting a real Canadian Lumberjack and seeing real Canadian Mounties, walking along one of the highest suspension bridges of its kind in the world in the rain, watching the last globe of the sun dip beneath the edge of the sea filled horizon, being up close and personal with beluga whales and giant sea otters, seeing actual American police in a coffee and doughnut shop and experiencing cultures both very close and at the same time completely alien to our own. I would have to pick, at this point, being invited to participate in Canada’s Remembrance Day on the 11th of November in Victoria by the Canadian Forces (Naden) Band being the most enjoyable so far. The hospitality and genuine warmth afforded us by both the Officer in Command Lieutenant Byrne and his Band was overwhelming. I was almost embarrassed by the generosity of spirit afforded by the CF(N) Band and the Canadians in general toward their Australian compatriots- and it was made just impossible for us to buy our own drinks! I would hope that one day we can repay their generosity; and some! It was somewhat bizarre though; that at the opposite end of the globe there is a group of musicians an almost carbon copy of ourselves. Like catching up with a close family member or old friend you haven’t seen for ages, our embarked musicians and the CF(N) Band seemed to share an undefined kindred spirit which invited a feeling of being ‘home’ thousands of miles from home. For us right now, it is back to doing laps of Nanoose Bay for more trials and thinking up adventures for our next port visits. As this article is due before this deployment has ceased, this is where the tales of 10 musicians must end. I am sure that those of San Diego, Hawaii (visit number two) crossing the line, the entry back into Sydney and many other more colourful details will be told in a detachment near you soon enough…….

HMAS ADELAIDE DEPLOYMENT

Article by Petty Officer Daniel Hobson

Early 2008 will see the decommissioning of the first ADELAIDE Class FFG, HMAS Adelaide. To assist with her final overseas deployment, six musicians from the Sydney detachment of the Royal Australian Navy Band were embarked. The Ships mission was to participate in Exercise Malabar and visit ports in India, Thailand and Singapore. The group consisted of a small jazz ensemble, and drum and bugle corps to enhance the high profile Ceremonial Sunset and Cocktail Parties to be hosted onboard during our port visits in India. The first five members of the group joined the ship on the 18th August and had a week to adjust to the routines of ship life. This week was spent in the Western Australian Exercise Area (WAXA) assisting in training for the submarine squadron. This was a harsh introduction as the WAXA put on its typical rough weather to welcome us.