A New Adventure on the Other Side of the World

 Chapter Three - Greece

Venice is a long way from New Zealand. Our route took us through Hong Kong and Switzerland. We had to stay the night in Hong Kong so my dad wanted to catch an authentic Chinese dinner in an authentic Chinese restaurant. As we walked into the restaurant, we noticed that some of the other tables were filthy. We thought this might get interesting. My dad knew someone who came along to order for us but he had a previous engagement. He ordered, then left. We had no idea what we were getting into. 

They brought out the soup and we began to eat. They also began to pour the tea. But when they went from cup to cup they didn’t stop pouring. They just moved to the next cup, soaking the tablecloth in between. Then they brought a second course, which included long noodles. The waiter pulled out a scissor-like utensil (on which we thought we saw some rust) and proceeded to cut the noodles in the bowl. He also wiped his hands on the part of the tablecloth that hung down off the table.

We had no idea about the multiple courses. We thought the second course was going to be it and ate to our satisfaction. Then they brought out another course…and another, and another. We ended up very full and by the time we left, our tablecloth was as filthy as the rest.

March 1979, we flew into Switzerland and took a train down to Venice. When you’re younger, you don’t fully comprehend and appreciate the special things you might get to do. Venice was one of those. Only later did I realize what a privilege it was to spend time there. 

Venice is a city in northeast Italy built on a group of 118 islands in a marshy lagoon. The islands are separated by canals and connected by bridges. It reached its zenith during the Middle Ages and the Renaissance when it was a major maritime power, commerce center and artistic hub. 

Today, Venice is one of the most popular tourist destinations in the world, renowned for its beautiful setting, architecture and art. It is a place where there is a potential gasp around just about every corner until amazing just becomes normal in a sensory overload. Although we spent most of our time on the ship in a dreary shipyard, when we got to wander about along the canals, it was fascinating. Anywhere you go is interesting and our moms made sure we went on field trips to museums and places like the famous San Marco Square and the glass-blowing island of Murano.

The new ship was called the Victoria. She was quite large - 522 feet long and 11,500 tons. The ship had been used as a passenger/cargo vessel but she had been sitting idle for a while by the time YWAM purchased her. She was in quite bad shape with very little functioning. A team of young people had been living onboard but none of them knew anything about ships so they didn’t make much progress.

The authorities eventually told everyone to leave the ship because of immigration issues and the fact that no one had any seaman qualifications. Many of the crew had gone to Austria to renew their visas when we arrived but those who remained were living in a local campground called Camping Jolly (which we ended up nick-naming Camping Hilarious because there was nothing jolly about it). There were about 300 YWAMers staying at the camp as other teams had come from different YWAM bases for another special outreach. 

My parents, Samuel and I moved into a large tent with several “rooms” while Joy moved into a single girls’ tent. This would not be the last tent I lived in in YWAM and to this day I do not like camping. Why would I want to leave a comfortable house to go stay in a tent where it’s either too hot or too cold, you never get enough sleep, it usually rains and it’s generally miserable?

It rained A LOT at Camping Jolly. My Mom continued to tutor us with our schooling and we learned a very little Italian. Since he had been a seaman, my dad was allowed on the ship. He and another man who was to be captain spent time living and working onboard during this time  

There were a few other kids our age. When the other crew came back from Austria there was a family from South Africa with four. When I was younger, anyone older than me seemed a lot older. This family had a girl whom I thought was just so. I recently rediscovered that she was only older than me by one month. In any case, I developed a crush on this “older” girl.

Later, when we moved onto the ship, I would daydream that if somehow the ship went down, I would rescue her and she would love me for it. Unfortunately, in the real world, Samuel and her had a little something for each other. It wasn’t the last time Samuel’s more outgoing personality would trump my aspirations in the girl department.

A cemetery ran along the back of Camping Jolly with a high wall but there was a grassy area in front. This was a change from the usual dirt (or mud) throughout the rest of the camp.  Daisies grew in the grassy area and we made a lot of daisy chains during our internment. 

It started to warm up a bit and rain less and we finally got to move onto the ship. My parents moved into a small cabin on the Promenade deck, Samuel and I were next door and Joy moved into a single girls’ cabin on the deck below us. I think I was the first YWAM kid to have my birthday on board the ship - my 12th.


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