Given the extraordinary delays in unloading the Talisman I decided to research what was happening in the nation’s ports – I came across an online article that pretty well spelled it all out ( see the link to it in the Postscript: Shipping Update section at the end of this blog). It’s a short but instructive read on exactly why we are caught up in this incredibly frustrating situation.

Melbourne’s notoriously fickle weather had been typically changeable this past week as we looked around the area for things to do to. Fortunately it had been mostly fine (changing really only from good to excellent), so on that front we’ve had little to complain about. Lots of days in the 30’s ( with one nudging 40 ) so it was nice to have a pool given the higher temperatures. Not as nice as our beach-side AirBnB, but “any port in a storm” as the saying goes ( can’t believe I’m now making “port” jokes about this train wreck of an unloading experience ). With our AirBnB available again by the end of last week we happily made the move back to Aspendale. Not only is it a very nice spot but we could actually look into the bay and see the comings and goings of all the marine traffic in Port Phillip Bay – one of these days the name on the ship passing by must surely be “Talisman” !

After a few days back in Aspendale ( which included a beach closure due to a shark sighting and some wonderful travels into the nearby Dandenong Ranges ) news reached us that the unloading of our van had been even further delayed. At this point the decision was made to employ a little “reverse psychology”. Staying in Melbourne and patiently waiting ( for over 2 weeks ) had not served us well so we packed up, grabbed a rental car, and drove back to Temora – surely, we thought, as soon as we leave Melbourne there’d be some movement at the port !

Little did we know that in addition to spending some more quality time with my brother, Ian and his wife, Anne that there’d be even more aviation joy ahead while in Temora ( hard to top the Spitfire’s we saw flying around during our last pit stop here ). Their immediate neighbour at the Airpark ( Nick ) owned an F1 Rocket experimental plane and invited both Lois and I up for a couple of aerobatic flights. To say it was the thrill of a lifetime would be an understatement. Absolutely stunning to experience rolls and loops with an unforgettable view of Temora from 1,400 metres, inverted, flying at 400km/h and experiencing 4G forces while entering and exiting the loops ! A few images below and a great video of what a loop looks like in an acrobatic plane:

Now I can’t imagine anything that could top the experience of flying upside down and doing rolls and loops at 400km/h on a perfect Temora day. Well, there is one thing…..getting the keys to our rig next week (fingers crossed ). Stay tuned, and wish us luck !

Postscript: Shipping Update

The article referred to it as “A Total Ship Show”. Two weeks back, Josh Dowling of drive.com.au ( one of Australia’s most widely read motoring sites ) completed an investigation into the ever-increasing delays of new car deliveries into Australia ( our van is caught up in all this). If we needed to better understand why we are where we are then we got our answer in that article. Actually, there was more than one article – another here ( and at least one TV spot ) addressing the issue of long delays in Australian ports. If you’re interested in reading about any of it, take a look at either article. They certainly explained a lot of things for us.

In the first few days of the week ( we follow port traffic updates regularly ) the news went from bad to worse until late in the week we saw, for the first time in almost a month, that the Talisman had finally moved from Bass Strait and into Port Phillip Bay and simultaneously the Port Scheduling app showed that it’s “berthing” was being prepared. Hallelujah ! After the delays we had endured this was indeed great news. By week’s end the unloading was near complete. Next step will be an inspection by the quarantine folks on Monday at which point they decide whether our vehicle is clean enough ( so we get the keys and can take it ) or if it requires further cleaning and thus needs to be trucked to a certified offsite washbay before re-inspection by the quarantine folks. Let’s hope we have it all done by the next blog !