10th Unlock the Past Cruise: Days 15-19 Koalas, Dolphins and a Helicopter

The last few days of the cruise involved a stop at Adelaide, followed by three full days of talks as we sailed to Fremantle. So lets get into it …

Day 15 – Adelaide (Sunday 28 February 2016)
Our stop in Adelaide, which is my hometown, was one of touristing. Mr Lonetester picked myself, Judy Russell and Helen Smith up from the port and we went off for the day. After driving through the city of Adelaide to show Judy why Adelaide is called “the city of Churches” we headed for the hills, and went to the Gorge Wildlife Park at Cudlee Creek. It’s a small wildlife park, but there is still so much to see (and photograph). Before leaving there I did have to make sure that Judy hadn’t put either the adorable baby wallaby or koala in her backpack. I know she desperately wanted to!! Our second stop was lunch at Billy Baxter’s which had great food and was conveniently located in the same shopping centre as Haigh’s Chocolates – which was a MUST VISIT place for Helen. And since she’s deprived of Haigh’s stores in Queensland, she stocked up. As Judy is missing her kitty’s, we did a quick stop at my house as I have four furbabies. Two of them reluctantly decided to show their face, and Judy got to pat them, so she was happy. The last stop of our whistlestop outing was a quick visit to my shop (Gould Genealogy & History). Afterall how could you be a genealogist, come to South Oz, and not visit our store? Lovely weather. Lovely company. It was a great day out. And the day finished with Louis Kessler giving us a beginners guide to Jewish genealogy. As this wasn’t a topic I’ve ever looked into at all, I found it very interesting. I haven’t come across any Jewish ancestors yet, but you just never know.

Day 16 – at Sea (Monday 29 February 2016)
Adelaide was our last stop before the cruise finishes, so the voyage between Adelaide and Perth gave us three sea days, which translated into LOTS of talks. With nine talks scheduled, I went to five, but before I get on to them we did have excitement (of sorts). At about 7am we had announcement from the Captain saying that there was another medical emergency (3rd for the trip), and that a helicopter would be coming shortly, so we were to stay inside (meaning in our cabin or other indoor areas). As I was in my cabin I switched on the TV, turned it to the navigation channel which showed the view from the bridge (including the helipad) – and watched it. Two people were lowered down, and two people and a stretcher were winched up. The chopper didn’t even land. Anyway immediately following this the was a large pod of dolphins right near our ship and for a change it was my side, and I even managed to get some photos with grey smears in them, so I was happy about that. After all of that, the day of talks started …
– The English manor: It’s history, administration and records (Paul Blake)
– Why genealogy is everyone’s solemn duty (Louis Kessler)
– London Genealogy: or the metropolitan nightmare (Paul Blake)
– No vitals? No problem! Building a family history through circumstantial evidence (Judy Russell)
– How our ancestors died (Helen Smith)
Paul’s talk on London was one that everyone with links to London should hear, as he spoke on London city, London County and Greater London. All of which came into existence as different times, and have different boundaries. So when seeing the word London on a document, don’t assume it’s one over the others.
Helen’s talk on how our ancestors died covered a number of different ways our ancestors (young or old) may have died, and made you realise why the lifespan back then wasn’t so long. And some of the treatments available were were than the ailment in the first place. Thank goodness for hospitals, doctors and medicine in our current society.

Day 17 – at Sea (Tuesday 1 March 2016)
Tuesday had eight talks scheduled and I made it to five. I must say that the geneacruisers like the ability to pick and choose what talks they go to. There is no obligation on anyone to go to any (other than the speakers to do their talks of course). But it adds to the casual atmosphere. Anyway the talks I sat in on today were:
– Ask grandma: getting family stories before it is too late (Helen Smith)
– Checking the big 5: creating your checklist for UK research (Jan Gow)
– Crime, criminals and punishment in England (Paul Blake)
– Family Historians: an introduction (Rosemary Kopittke)
– Shootout at the Rhododendron Lodge: reconstructing life-changing events (Judy Russell)
Helen highlighted the need to talk to family, and ask the questions … and not just “ok, tell me your life story”. Ask them about a particular event, holiday, wedding, birthday, house, job, pets, other family or friends. The more specific you are, the more specific the answer will be. And if you don’t have any older family left to ask – ask yourself. Afterall why not. And don’t forget to ask the younger generations too. One point that she made was  that if you have a group of people at an event every single person will have different memories of it – so ask as many people as you can.
Rosemary’s demo of Family Historian reminded me why I do love the program, but I still haven’t taken the leap to leave my current program and swap. But I am impressed every time I see it. If you haven’t looked at it yet, watch the video which gives a quick overview here, and you can also download a free demo www.family-historian.co.uk.
As for Judy’s “Shootout and the Rhododenrdron Lodge” talk, what can I say. It was enthralling, not only for the story, but also in the way they used the records to reconstruct everything. Very inspiring.

Day 18 – at Sea (Wednesday 2 March 2016)
We saw some dolphins but no helicopters today. And somehow we made it to Day 18 and everyone is wondering where the time went! Personally I figure that it just proves that genealogy, touristing and socialising sure makes the time go quick. Today was our last full day, and our last sea day. Out of the eight talks scheduled, I make it to the first five. I skipped the two late afternoon ones as I needed to pack my bags, which needed to be packed out put outside my room before bedtime. And that takes time thinking what needs to be left out, and what doesn’t.
So the talks I made it to today are …
– Photo preservation (Diane Foster)
– Genealogical learning from home (Helen Smith)
– School days: Education records for family history (Shauna Hicks)
– Sight, Site and Cite: a new way to look at familiar procedures (Jan Gow)
– What’s in a date? Using dates effectively (Louis Kessler)
– Just Three Generations (Judy Russell) closing talk
Diane had almost finished her talk when dolphins were spotted, so everyone in the conference room did a quick dash to the window to watch for a few minutes, before she then resumed. Again look hard in my pic below, and you can see some grey smears.
Helen highlighted the many way you can educate yourself genealogically without even having to leave your house. There really are enormous opportunities available to people now – correspondence courses, online courses, webinars, YouTube, blogs, magazines, tutorials and a bunch more!
The evening session started with Judy Russell’s “Just Three Generations” talk which to say is an eyeopener is an understatement. This is one that she gave as a keynote talk at RootsTech a couple of years ago, and that left the 8000 attendees as gobsmacked as it did our little group. In essence says how in just three generations so much is lost. So we should make it our duty to not only record the history, but record it accurately. Without repeating Judy’s questions, others along the same lines would be Do you know what school/s your grandparents went to? What illnesses they had? Where your great grandma holidayed? What was your parents favourite movie? Did they play sport?… and more. If we don’t ask the questions, the answers will be lost. These are anecdotes. These are what helps make the story, rather than just the facts.

ASK AND RECORD, otherwise their stories will be lost in JUST THREE GENERATIONS

The final talk was followed by group photos – the whole group, the geneabloggers the UTP team. And then farewells we said …

Day 19 – Fremantle (Thursday 3 March 2016)
Definitely no sleep in today, as we had to be up and ready to disembark by 7am. I think the ship docked at 6am or 6.30am – I don’t remember. I just know that when I opened the cabin curtains to peer out, Fremantle greeted me with a beautiful pink sunrise.
Everything except hand luggage was packed up, and luggage handlers took that last night, so a quick get ready, and breakfast, grab my bags (backpack and laptop), and head to the designated area for those getting bus to the airport.

 

So the journey adventure is over. It’s now back to reality. Back to getting up early for work. Back to making my own meals, and doing my own washing.

It was a great trip, and I did make it to 53 of the 74 talks on offer – and I did learn a lot, made some wonderful new friends, and saw some amazing sites along the way. But I must say as fun as it was, I was ready to come home and be home with my family, my cats, my home!

If you get a chance to geneacruise – do it – you will have a total ball!

Related Posts:
10th Unlock the Past Cruise: Days 1-3 Embarking, Roses and Glow-worms
10th Unlock the Past Cruise: Days 4-6 Genealogy, Crazy Wind and Step Record
10th Unlock the Past Cruise: Days 7-10 Chocolate, Bagpipes, Mountains and Talks Galore
10th Unlock the Past Cruise: Day 11 Hummer, Didgeridoos, Sunshine
10th Unlock the Past Cruise: Day 12 Behind the Scenes
10th Unlock the Past Cruise: Day 12-14 Genealogy, Friends and More Genealogy