A MUSICAL VOYAGE - Royal Australian Navy

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The Bonhomme Richard has the capacity to carry 3000 personnel though there were only
1200 onboard when we embarked. Talk about overwhelming, especially when we had just
come from a ship with a crew of 180! We were given a brief tour then headed off to scran,
which in itself was bizarre. Huge long queues, trays instead of plates, and very sweet food,
especially the bread! And, boy, do they love their “peanut butter and jelly”. Then it was
off to the hanger to rig up and do a sound check for the performance the following evening.
As expected, the gear wasn’t quite what we were used to but our wonderful sound
technician, Able Seaman Rampant, gave it his best shot with fantastic results. During the
sound check, the Commanding Officer came down and was very excited to have us onboard.
We definitely had made a fan! Then question was the asked…….. “Are you coming to the ice
cream social?”
Now, for those of us with a sweet tooth, this was to be a highlight. They have every
possible flavour of ice cream imaginable, along with every topping, sprinkle and hot fudge
possible and you get this huge cup which they fill with all your favourites. We then made
our way to the seating area of the café and gorged ourselves whilst the crew took it in turns
to sing karaoke, complete with a big screen! This was one of the many activities they do on
a regular basis onboard, along with jousting, dodge ball and trivia nights.
The following day was a steel deck BBQ complete with sumo wrestling, bike riding, footy
practise and golfers teeing off. Of course, the only thing we could do was to enjoy their
hospitality and rest up before the much anticipated concert that night. Now, what can I say
about the Rock Group concert that night………………….? Unbelievable! It was definitely the
best gig of the trip and the band sounded fantastic! The crew absolutely loved the band,
waving their Aussie flags and having a great time. Special mention goes to Able Seaman
Dowd, Able Seaman McCorkelle and Able Seaman Rampant. Able Seaman Dowd was brilliant
on kit and vocals, Able Seaman Rampant did amazing things with what equipment we had
available to us and Able Seaman McCorkelle had the crowd eating out of his hand in his role
as Master of Ceremonies.
All up, our two day cross deck became an eight day adventure, with many false starts on a
daily basis when it came to departing. Our time onboard though saw us do a couple more
performances, appear in articles in their onboard daily newsletter and we also attended a
morning tea with the Commanding Officer who presented us all with a ships coin. The
hospitality shown to us by the United States Navy during our stay was very much
appreciated by all members. Needless to say, we were welcomed back to Tobruk with open
arms, though I think it was only due to them struggling to find people to do café party as
well as our guys did!
Sea phase finally came to an end and we had four days alongside in Hawaii before making
the trek home. During this time we actually had no commitments so there was the
opportunity to do some last minute shopping, sightseeing and generally have a good time.
The trip home was quite uneventful but long, as those of you who have done 14 days
straight or more at sea would know……..just the usual Tobruk breakdowns (not for
exercise!), damage control exercises and some more café party. Before we knew it, 19
August was upon us and it was all over as we had Fleet Base East in our sights.
To everyone involved with the RIMPAC 2008 Sea Deployment Group, a big heartfelt thank
you to you all for your contributions and enthusiasm during a somewhat challenging time.
KING’S CORONATION, TONGA
Article by Leading Seaman Esa Douglas
From 21 July until 4 August, a group of 34 musicians travelled over to the Kingdom of Tonga
for the momentous occasion of the Coronation of his Majesty, King George Tupou V.
Coinciding with the Coronation festivities, was the Heilala Festival, the country’s national
flower. Over the two weeks, the ceremonial ensemble performed at a number of functions,
as well as rehearsing for the Kings Coronation ceremony, and military parade.
Royal Australian Navy Band: A Musical Voyage