I am now settled, more or less, into the two volunteer jobs that I began about three months ago. I do still have the training wheels on to some extent because at both organisations, most of the volunteers have been there for a long time. It is a little intimidating to go on air (as I do at 2RPH) with two other workers who have been doing program readings for about 15 years each. They bring a great wealth of experience and a calmness that is both instructive and frightening. Will I measure up, my mind asks, over and over.

Likewise at the Maritime Museum, where I regularly meet folks who have been giving up their time since the inception of the museum, I feel like the greenest of recruits. On the replica of HMB Endeavour, I can identify with the long-departed boys who came on board the long voyages with Cook, ostensibly to learn the ropes and get a career from the bottom up. My co-workers on this ship not only know the patter, but they know the patter about the patter.

Meanwhile, I mix up details about the various ships complements and struggle to recall the kinds of stories that bring the experience of being on a ship (or a boat, the case of the Onslow) to life. I guess that I will get better as time passes.

Then there are the times when I am chatting to a visitor, trying to sound mildly authoritative, only to find out in the course of things that they have actually served on the ship during its active life in the RAN!! Shrinking to a small size, I slink back off to the Endeavour, knowing that there is no chance of such an occurence on that ship.

Looking aft on HMB Endeavour.



Sydney CBD from adjacent X Turret on HMAS Vampire.