The Perfect Storm

The Perfect Storm

23^rd October 2012

After the calm comes the storm. The perfect storm.

During the night I was woken by the strong wind and rain playing havoc outside. Waking up early and standing at the kitchen window, armed with coffees, Mum and I stared out into the garden.

The tops of the pine trees were being tossed around by the wind. Pine cones were launched towards the ground, foliage was swept into the sky and every so often, loud thuds would confirm another tree branch had lost the fight against the raging wind. In the corner of the garden, an entire tree, one of the smaller pines, had given way. The roots spiking out of the ground, the tree was now feebly propped up against the fence. The swimming pool, once clean and crystal clear was now sporting a coat of dust, cones and pine needles.

Turning on the local news, the presenter confirmed Uruguay has issued a red alert. We are in the midst of a perfect storm. School, offices and local businesses had been closed down until further notice. Footage even showed a massive tornado ripping its way through La Rocha. The waves at Montevideo were surpassing the beach walls, engulfing passing vehicles. The winds, however, were at their strongest in Punta del Este (where I live), reaching top speeds of 181km/h.

Although it’s very nice taking photos of pretty, picturesque scenery, fit for a holiday magazine, it’s the bad weather that’ll provide a photographer with some of the most stunning and effective shots imaginable.

Grabbing my camera and ignoring the weather warnings to stay indoors, Mum and I jumped in the car. We decided to have a look at Punta Ballena (Whale Point) and work our way back to Punta del Este. The drive was slow. Parts of the road were completely covered in sand. The wind continuously threatening to take my car off the road.

Punta Ballena

Punta Ballena was a sight to see. The waves were ferociously crashing against the rockery. Parking the car near a quaint little cottage on the rockery. The eased up enough to allow me to get out with my camera. The enormous waves were higher than the single story building. The crashing waves sent up almighty sprays of water, enveloping the property. One side of the stone cottage was smothered in beige, brown sea foam. When the wind blew, the foam was swept away, scattering across the land as if it were snow.

Scrambling into the car when the heavens opened again. I drove a couple of hundred meters to the very point of Punta Ballena. Turning off the engine, a loud whistle filled the car and the wind rumbling against the vehicle. The car shook frantically from side to side, until you could almost feel it tilting us to the right. Both my Mum and I were genuinely expecting the car to topple over. After only a couple of seconds, it was enough for Mother Nature to let us know we weren’t welcome.

Cottage by the Sea

One of my favourite places in Uruguay to take photos is just off Punta Ballena. It’s a narrow strip of bay with a ragged wall of rocks running along either side. At one end is the sea, while at the other is a deep cave. Looking down, as we were leaving Punta Ballena, the monstrous waves were swallowing the area, sending a dense spray high into the air. A spectacular sight!

Driving down to my favourite beauty spot, it soon became evident that the high tide and colossal waves weren’t going to let us even step foot onto the beach. Sitting in the car, shooting out of the window, I tried to catch the waves smashing into the rocks only to be met by heavy sheets of rain. Watching the scene in front of us, I noticed the tide was coming in further. Soon the car park, situated about a metre above the beach, would be flooded. It was time to leave before getting caught out and stuck in the mix of mud and sand.

Ahead of us, the town of Punta del Este looked to be clearing. The tower blocks were peeking through the mist and the rain was settling down. Isla de los Lobos with no longer completely hidden in the overpowering fog.

 

The palm trees at the Conrad Hotel were violently dancing against the wind and the streets of Punta del Este were deserted. Signs had been flattened and left in tatters, spread out along the side of the road. Not far along, my Mum spotted something lying on the beach. Pulling over, it was an enormous sea lion, its face now bare bone. A few seagulls were certainly making a meal out of what was left of the sea lion!

Parking up just outside Punta del Este port, we had a walk along to the view point. The sea was lapping at the sides of the wooden walk way. The yachts in the harbour were swaying to and fro, making me wonder what it must be like to sail in such a small vessel during such weather. Taking a couple of photos of my Mum, holding on to her hat as the wind threatened to snatch it from on top of her head, we couldn’t help but stare in amazement at our surroundings. 

View Point

Just as we turned to make our way back to the car, a wave hit the side of the view point, splashing water up to our knees and squirting upwards through the gaps in the wooden floor panels. You couldn’t help but laugh as we waddled along back to the car, taking a couple of side steps as the wind took hold of us.

Hold on to Your Hats!

 

At Playa de los Ingleses, the road is roughly three meters above sea level. The waves were slapping against and over the concrete wall lining the beach and road, sending bucket loads of water onto the road. You’re completely blind for a couple of seconds as the sea water covers the windscreen. An Argentinian 4x4 had parked up on the side of the road closest to the sea. Inside children were screaming at the top of their lungs and laughing their heads off as a wave splashed up against the wall and over the car.

Parking on the opposite side of the road, I got out to take photographs. I wasn’t the only one. Mum staying in the car, winding the window down to get a better look. The car was now completely covered in sea scum, staining the windows, making them difficult to see out of. A massive wave hit the wall, followed by a succession of splashed as the wave made its way along the curved wall. It was absolutely amazing to see. It wasn’t long until the road was flooded!

Moving along, we parked up at the corner of Playa de los Ingleses to watch the waves make their way along the way. A different angle of view. My Mum’s window was still down and I could see a wave coming.

“Mum, don’t you think you should do your window up?”

“Oh yeah” she’s forgot the window was left open.

Not really seeing what was going to happen, she slowly started to wind up the window (Chinese cars without electric windows – great stuff!) and guess what happened next? Two waves crashed into each other, before hitting the wall, sending gallons of water up into the air and straight through the open window. Freezing for a couple of seconds, we were soaked.

Looking at my Mum, she started to laugh before saying something typical “I didn’t think that was going to happen!” Howling with laughter, soaking wet and somehow my camera, perched on Mum’s lap, was dry. What was Dad going to say?

All we can say is, he missed a bloody good day out. Best part of all, I’ve got the photos of Uruguay’s perfect storm prove it!

For more photos go to www.facebook.com/TicklePhotography

My Mum Punta del Este Port 

Dream Meets Magic

Dream Meets Magic

23^rd April 2012

I’d known for a couple of days that Disney Magic would be meeting Disney Dream in Nassau, Bahamas. There was one person in particular that I was desperate to see, my Image step brother, or Hermanastro as I call him, Hernan. Although we’ve been in constant contact with each other, I hadn’t seen him for nearly six months!

We had another early morning start. Most of the photographers were shooting the Princess Gathering. Unfortunately, I had to sit that one out due to my wrist and was stuck on display with Cintia and Steph instead. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t mind display but I’d much rather be taking photos at the Princess Gathering.

My wrist hadn’t improved, in fact it was getting worse. The doctor I’d been visiting in the medical didn’t know what was wrong with it. It’s frustrating but, what can you do? As far as the doctor and nurses were concerned, I’d sprained my wrist and maybe pulled my tendons a bit. With a puffy hand and sausage fingers, strapped up in a splint, I was only able to use one hand. Of course, my one handedness caused a few laughs as my index finger was sticking up and curling at the knuckle. I was, I have to admit doing the “Captain Hook” look. Very popular on Pirates Night, I can assure you.

With Princess Gathering and Display done, Ani and I crawled up the stairs to our cabin. Slumping into bed, we wanted to get an hours sleep before meeting the photographers on Disney Dream and heading out into Nassau, Bahamas.

At around 11.00, our phone started ringing. Jumping out of bed, cursing under my breath, I picked up the phone. “Holaaa”. I'd recognised that voice anywhere! It was Hernan! Immediately I was wide awake, hanging up the phone and scrambling to get my clothes on. Hernan was on the Magic and waiting for me just off the I-95.

Running down the stairs, I was over the moon and couldn’t wait to see Hernan. Charging over to him, he got the biggest bear hug imaginable… and he recorded it on his new compact camera!

Nipping upstairs, I woke Ani up and grabbed my things, we were heading out. Hernan was impressed by the size of our cabin, the "penthouse cabin" as we call it, but that was about it. Compared to the Disney Dream, our cruise ship was an old rust tin that seriously needed to go into dry dock for improvements. He was right, especially when you consider we have a large wet patch in the middle of our cabin thanks to a new, constant leak that no one has come to fix. That's right! The leak is back... just in another part of the cabin!

Quickly running onto Disney Dream as Hernan forgot his wallet, straight away you could see the contrast in our ships. The Dream was not only newer and large, but better looked after, more luxurious. Even their cabins were slightly bigger but much nicer than ours. For starters, they had space to move around and the drawers inside their wardrobe weren’t broken or hanging off! The lucky sods even had an endless list of movies to watch. All we had to settle with was BBC News and the ship’s shopping channel.

It was the Magic’s first time in Nassau so we weren’t sure where to go. We didn’t have that long so Hernan showed us a place popular with crew, mainly because of its good food, reasonable prices and internet connection. Olives was jam packed with crew members. Crew from Disney Magic were meeting up with Disney Dream.

We talked about everything. Life and work on our ships, where we’ve docked, the places we’d visited, money, where we’re going, vacation and a huge chunk of our conversation was reminiscing about the days on Mariner of the Seas. The laughs we had on that Royal Caribbean ship were endless. By the looks of it, we both love and miss working with the team from the Mariner of the Seas. Sandra, Zoran, David, Camilo etc… all friends who soon turned into family members.

Hernan then had a great idea. Asking a passing waitress for a piece of paper, he scribbled a message down for Sandra containing one of the many private jokes we all shared during our contracts on Mariner of the Seas. Getting my camera out, Ani took a photo of Hernan and I holding up the message.

We then did another one for Zoran and Fede. Photos were taken, uploaded to Facebook and the respective people were tagged in our pictures. It was our way of making fun of them not being there with us in Nassau but, also our somewhat disturbed way of saying “we’re thinking of you and wish you were here!”

As always time flies way too fast when you’re having fun and soon it was time to return to our ships. It was sad going separate ways and saying bye to Hernan. I’m still very used to having him around and/or being in constant contact.

Soon Disney Dream and Magic will be docking in Nassau together, again. With meeting Hernan in Nassau today and on a later date, seeing Lee every other week in Port Canaveral, with the possibility of seeing Chet and Zoran when they aren’t working, things are certainly starting to look up!!!

This is the part about ship life that I love. You never know when or where you’ll be seeing your friends again but in the small world of ship life, but you’ll bump into them again soon. Most of the time you don’t even realize you’ll be in the same country or port until you get on to the gangway and see your friend’s ship docked next to yours. Like I said, it’s the small world of ship life!

From Nassau: Sandra, Fuck You!

In Nassau with a Message for Sandra

This is for you Zoran...

Yep, THAT'S your Message :-)

Biking Around Key West

Biking Around Key West

31^st March 2012

Everyone was scheduled for lab maintenance and once again, Carolee and I were propping ourselves up against the printer, scrubbing it within an inch of its life. Csaba told me to come down for lab maintenance for training such as how to do copper test strips and column changing. Both had been tested recently so there was no need to do it again. Plus, I don’t think Diva had any idea about such trainings.

With lab maintenance complete, we had breakfast and gathered our stuff up. Getting off the ship was just what a few of us needed. Freedom for a couple of hours. Luckily enough, I had the entire day off and was planning on making the most out of it. At 12.15 we were in the fresh air and piling into a mini bus.

Not far from the port is a bike rental place called Pirate Rentals, where they have a choice of bikes, mopeds and battery powered buggies. The bike rental, including tax, was $11 each for the entire day. We even had a little basket at the front of the bike! We couldn’t stop laughing. The things we get up to – the things we pay money for!

Getting on the bikes, we got a real shock; there were no hand brakes. To use the brakes you had to pedal backwards. It was so odd and felt completely unnatural after spending years and years stopping a bike using the brakes on the handle bars.

Adjusting the seats and wobbling all over the place, Ani, Kate, Diva, Carolee and I headed off down the road. Kate and Ani were flying down the road while Carolee and Diva were getting to grips with the bike. Diva was shouting “guys! Slow down!” while peddling as fast as her little legs could.

Ani, Me, Carolee and Diva

Five minutes down the road, we stopped. Ani wanted to have a look at the Key West Lighthouse. It’s only a small museum which costs $10 to enter. No one wanted to pay $10, so we had our photo taken with the lighthouse in the background, before having a look in the souvenir shop. While paying for a few things, I asked how much it was for crewmembers to enter the Key West Lighthouse Museum. “Do you have ID on you all?” we nodded. “Why didn’t you say so? It’s free!” Result! Smiling and thanking the lady we all made our way into the Lighthouse Museum.

Key West Lighthouse

Here’s a little history lesson for you all from the Key West Lighthouse Museum leaflet we picked up:

“The Key West Lighthouse was built in 1847 to replace the original wooden tower on Whitehead Point destroyed the previous year by a hurricane. The present location, 14 feet above sea level, was chosen to protect the new tower from a similar fate, This tower was constructed of brick and was 66 feet high with a fixed white light. In 1894 twenty feet were added to bring it to its present height. The three red sector panels were the code signifying dangerous approaches to the harbour. The Lighthouse was decommissioned by the U.S. Coastguard in 1969. The tower was restored for $265,000 in 1989, reopening in February. Its 175-watt metal halide light which works on a photo-electric cell lights up as the daylight diminishes can be seen several miles out to sea.

The Light Keeper’s Quarters was built in 1887 and houses the museum’s collection of lighthouse artifacts and the martime history of the Keys. The word Key comes from the Spanish Cayo; the original name for Key West was Cayo Hueso, or Bone Islet. Visitors may climb the 88 steps to the balcony and a spectacular view of the island surrounding waters. There are ten addition steps to the actual light.”

Carolee, Kate, Me, Ani and Diva at Key West Lighthouse 

Walking into a small room, was a light house lens. The lens took up all the space, it was massive! It was called the “First Order Lens” and installed into the lighthouse situated on Sombrero Key. The lens was manufactured in Paris costing a grand total of $20,000. It’s 12 feet high and 6 feet wide at the focal point. “In 1984 the U.S. Coastguard removed the lens from the automated lighthouse which is still an active guide for navigation.”

Looking up at the Lighthouse, we all decided to climb the 88 steps to the top. Every so often we stopped to have our photo taken. On one occasion someone called me and Kate to look down - probably the worst idea. We were nearly at the top of the column and looking down gave you a good idea as to how high we actually were. As soon as I looked down I got jelly knees and everything around me started slowly spinning.

Carolee

Making it up to the top was a relief. Even though there were bars up to stop anyone from falling over, I subconsciously stayed by the column’s walls. The view from the top of the light house really was spectacular. We could see the Disney Magic ship which looked like a model, toy boat. Key West resembled a small model town.

Now came the worse part, getting down. Kate realized I wasn’t doing too good and asked if I was scared of heights. Obviously, yes. Going up, isn’t too bad, as long as I don’t look down. Going down is the real problem. This obviously caused a few jokes and laughs - even I had to giggle. I must have looked a slight, gripping onto the stair rail and walking down the steps like a child!! My knees felt like they were going to buckle at any minute. Sitting on my bum and shuffling down the stairs was an option that came into my head but I couldn’t… that’d mean that I’ve turned into my Mom!!

Thanking the gift shop attendant, we hopped back on our bikes. The Key West Butterfly and Nature Conservatory was only a short distance down the road. Ani nearly got mowed down by another cyclist, a loud mouthed American who’d obviously had one too many Burger King’s in her life time!

Me and Carolee, Key West Butterfly and Nature Conservatory

Chaining the bikes up outside Key West Butterfly and Nature Conservatory, we all took it in turns to have our photo taken at the Butterfly cut out boards. This brings a new meaning to Patricia’s “Mariposa” (butterfly) nickname!

Kate and Diva

Walking into the conservatory is like walking into a different world. It was hotter and stuffier than it was outside too! Everywhere you looked were different coloured butterflies. Small, large, single coloured, multi-coloured, two-toned. It was amazing! Within seconds we were all armed with our cameras and snapping away. Not only were there butterflies flitting around but brightly coloured birds too. One, my favourite, was roughly the same size as a gold finch was a lovely baby blue colour. Its wings were a darker, more royal blue with black tops at the end of the wing’s feathers. Even his beak was baby blue!

Slowly walking around we were constantly trying to capture shots of the colourful butterflies… and we got some cracking shots too! One of the workers pointed out a massive butterfly called an Atlas. It was huge! We’d bypassed it thinking it was a leaf. According to the worker, the Atlas butterfly only lives for 6 days. Another massive butterfly we saw was a butter yellow and green and again, it was camouflaged by the colourings of the tree leaves.

Atlas Butterfly

Opposite Side of the Atlas Butterfly

Ani was the only person who was lucky enough to have a butterfly land on her… and have someone nearby to take a photo. After bending down to take a photo of a butterfly, I stood up and felt something on my head. Someone next to me announced that I’d had one of the large, two-toned blue butterflies on  my head. Damn! Where’s a camera when you need it?

Ani Found a Friend :-p

Cycling around the corner, Carolee and Diva wanted to see the Southernmost Point. It was only a quick stop before we were cycling back towards the port, searching for somewhere to have lunch. Pulling over at a little place, we slumped down, hot and sticky.  Ordering food, it made a great change from the usual crap we are served in the Crew Mess. Proper food and boy, was it lovely! I could have eaten it again!!

Diva and Aniko had to go back to the ship for set up. Leaving us some money, they biked back to the bike rental shop. The rest of us waited for the bill. When the bill arrived we got the shock of our lives. We didn’t have huge meals, everyone had a slice of quiche or sandwiches, etc. We didn’t expect to get an $87 bill. On top of that, we didn’t expect to have 18% gratuity which took the bill sky high! Unhappily paying the bill, we left.

Back at the Butterfly and Nature Conservatory, we stopped off at the Gift Shop to have a look around. We didn’t have a chance to do so beforehand. Obviously, I had to purchase a magnet, but I also found a cute pair of butterfly stud earrings. They’d be useful for work, especially if I have to take my hoop earrings out.

As we didn’t have a lot to do, we just started aimlessly biking around Key West. A guy, looking down from the balcony shouted something at Kate. Kate, taking her eyes off the road, started gawking at the guy. Carolee, cycling behind Kate shouted “Kate, keep your eyes on the road!” The guy on the balcony shouted something along the lines of “Why not? Who are you?” Carolee’s reply was bloody classic “No she can’t. I’m her MOTHER!!!!” All of us cracked up laughing while cycling down the road.

Dropping the bikes off at the rental store, we all got a lift back to the ship. Carolee and Kate had to rush off to work. Giving Ani a call, she’d just finished set up so we arranged to meet and go out for internet. 

Off the ship again, we headed to Sippin’ a large café with fast internet. Sitting down with fruit smoothies we were as anti-social as could be, eyes stuck on the screen.

Back on ship after a few more hours off, I showered, changed and went downstairs to see the Dale K show (hypnotism show). Before going in, I saw Cinderella and Ani at Preludes. Waiting in line, I got my photo taken with Princess Cinderella with a bad cough!

Csaba spotted me in the queue. After getting my photo taken, Csaba asked me where my date to the show was, insisting I needed one. He certainly wasn’t getting an invitation! Asking me why I was getting my photo taken, I replied, “because I send them to my Mama, cheers her up a bit. It’s a nice thing to do”. Sarcastically he asked “Why? Does your Mom have depression?” “No, she has cancer, thank you very much”. Shrugging his shoulders, he commented “My mom died of cancer”, there was almost a hint of sarcasm in his voice. What a bastard!

Going down to LSP, Kate had fun taking my pictures, having a go with different poses etc. She even tried some 50’s style poses to match my Lily Allen style dress. 

The show itself was absolutely fantastic, I haven’t laughed so much in a very long time. I wish the others weren’t working. Once it finished, I went back down to see Kate. Joining another queue, I went to have my photo taken with Alice (Alice in Wonderland) and the White Rabbit.

Finally, I popped back over to Aniko to have my photo taken with Princess Tiana before heading back to my cabin to chill out and relax. After such a busy, I was shattered but bloody hell, it was well worth it!

Key West Light House

Me and Aniko - Key West Lighthouse Museum

Disney Magic - Toy Ship from the Top of Key West Light House

At the top of Key West Light House

Carolee

Over Here!

Ani, Me and Diva

Carolee at the Light House Museum

Key West Butterfly and Nature Conservatory

Feeding Area