The open ocean has a unique effect. In a way it is a no man’s land, just space between where you have been and where you are going, but it is so much more than that. For the countless species, big and small, deep and shallow, that call it home, our destinations we travel between represent the boundaries of their world that we are merely passing through. As we leave the sunburned rocks and marsupials of Western Australia for the welcoming (and swimmable!) waters and coral reefs of the Spice Islands, flying fish streak out like silver darts in front of our bow. Very briefly a solitary cloud contemplates peaking over the horizon but is dissuaded by the severe lack of company that it would find. In a way we are travelling back in time, retracing the reverse voyage of the people that first crossed this significant gap of water to populate the isolated island continent. Albeit in considerably more lavish style than was available those tens of thousands of years ago.
After the sun has set on a full day of presentations, rejuvenating naps, and delicious meals, the evening program billions of years in the making is out on the darkened top deck. The Milky Way in all its splendor glitters overhead while the expedition team points out the constellations of the Southern Hemisphere. Scorpio and the Southern Cross hang high above, gleaming from so many light years away to shine onto the rolling waves as we push north. The clear night sky and unbroken horizon that surrounds us as we press forward invokes the imagination and memories. It is impossible to accept that a day at sea is just travel when we still freshly recalling where we’ve been and excitedly planning for the future make it very much part of the journey.
