10th Unlock the Past Cruise: Days 7-10 Chocolate, Bagpipes, Mountains and Talks Galore

It’s hard to believe that a week on the 10th Unlock the Past cruise has passed by already. But what’s harder to believe is how many more days are still left.

So the adventures continue with the ship stopping at Dunedin and Fiordland where we saw Dusky Sound, Doubtful Sound and Milford Sound (ok, technically it didn’t stop, but we gently sailed through them) and then it was time to leave New Zealand and head for Australia.

Day 7 – Dunedin (Saturday 20 February 2016)
While I have visited New Zealand previously, I hadn’t been to the South Island at all, so everything there was new to me, including Dunedin. This was also the next stop for shore seminars for the Unlock the Past team, but for me it was a day to explore again. We docked at the freight yard and were bused into Dunedin city. The city map I was given showed that there was a Cadbury Chocolate Factory in the city centre, so being the chocoholic that I am, that’s where I headed first. Not only do they have a shop with “Cadbury” everything, but I was able to do tour of the factory, getting samples along the way … of course. After exploring a few more streets and shops I headed back to the port, after which I then decided to walk up a big hill that overlooked the harbour the dockyards. Why I still don’t know – but  I did. And the view was spectacular, which was just as well, after all that effort. The ship left Dunedin at 5pm and headed for The Sounds, but at around 7pm we were turning around and the Captain advised that there had been a medical emergency with a passenger onboard and we needed to return to Dunedin. We actually didn’t make all the way back to Dunedin as a medivac helicopter came (yes, the ship even has a helipad) and took the passenger off to hospital. So we lost a little time, but we continued on toward The Sounds. Judy Russell was up again for the evening talk. This one was titled “Feme sole, feme covert: Women under the common law” which was about women, and finding their records. Feme sole is the term used for a 21 year old women who was unmarried (which includes those who were divorced or widowed), while Feme covert is the term use if they were married. Judy said that term “covert” essentially means hidden and once a women was married records for her become harder to find, as they are in her husbands name (ie. Mrs William Smith) – we all know about that don’t we, and the frustration it causes!! But Judy gave many fabulous examples of way to be able to find these women – including looking for records through the men and listed oodles of record types  where you may well find them. Now I just need to find some time to search for all the women ancestors.

Day 8 – Fiordland (Sunday 21 February 2016)
After leaving Dunedin and heading to The Sounds (also known as Fiordland) we were hit with rough seas … which wasn’t fun for anyone. I didn’t hear of anyone actually getting seasick, but I’m sure there were a few. It was very much a case of if you weren’t holding on to something when moving around, you were likely to go flying. After leaving the sea, and heading into Fiordland, the rough seas subsided and in fact it went dead calm. Our day in Fiordland was a tourist sea day so no talks were scheduled. It was a day to sit on the ship and watch all the scenery of  The Sounds.

Jan Gow had the evening talk which was titled “Gadget Janet: 12 Devices or Programs that Will Turn your Computer Into a Friend Instead of a Foe”. Covering: cameras, smartphones, tablets, Flip-Pal scanner, scanner mouse, voice records, pen Livescribe and more … there are lots of tech tools that you can use to help you with your genealogy and research.

Day 9 – At Sea (Monday 22 February 2016)
After our easy day of visiting The Sounds, we had two full days of talks. Of the 8 talks scheduled during the day, I sat in on 7 of them:
– Internet searching from go to woah! Or is it woe? (Jan Gow)
– Government, police and education gazettes (Rosemary Kopittke)
– Discovering your Irish roots part 2 (Paul Blake)
– It’s no tall online: where else can I look (Shauna Hicks)
– Australian women in the First World War (Marg Doherty)
– Of public wrongs: our common scoundrels (Judy Russell)
– Using life events and ages to solve genealogy problems (Louis Kessler)

The last session of the day wasn’t a talk as such, but rather a panel discussion on “Future Proofing Your Genealogy” which covered topics such as genealogy software, paper vs digitising, and what happens to your research when you die. These topics where discussed by Jan Gow, Judy Russell, Shauna Hicks, Paul Blake, Helen Smith, and Louis Kessler each giving their views … and to say that it was a lively discussion would be an understatement. The one hour time slot for the panel discussion came and went, and it would have kept going all night if we couldn’t. It was a topic that everyone was interested in.

And I couldn’t write about today without making mention that it was also one of three formal nights on our cruise. Actually on this ship it is it is now no longer called “formal night” but rather “evening chic” – a night to dress up and eat in the snazzy dining room. It really isn’t my style, but I did say I’d do it once … so I did. And while the food was fine, the company was lovely.

Day 10 – At Sea (Tuesday 23 February 2016)
Our second day in row of talks and I made it to 7 of the 9 talks.
– Mining ancestors: knowing where to look (Shauna Hicks)
– Using timelines in genealogical research (Helen Smith)
– Organizing your genealogy computer files … the better way to do it (Louis Kessler)
– Preservation or perish (Diane Foster)
– Protestant nonconformity in England and Wales part 2 (Paul Blake)
– ABCs of DNA (Judy Russell)
– Beyond just indexes (Rosemary Kopittke)
It was an amazing day day of learning covering so many different aspects of genealogy, which you can tell simply from the titles. But I can guarantee you that there no new step records for me today – it just doesn’t happen when you sit on your butt and listen to talks all day!!

 

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

2 Responses to “10th Unlock the Past Cruise: Days 7-10 Chocolate, Bagpipes, Mountains and Talks Galore”

1. Audrey Dillon says:

   February 26, 2016 at 4:24 pm

   I hope the information provided in the talk “Future proofing your Genealogy” will be being provided in print form in the near future. It is an important aspect of creating all the records and wanting them to be accessible to our own descendants of future generations. Is it a likely topic on the 11th Cruise?

   Audrey

   Reply
2. GenieJen says:

   February 27, 2016 at 11:25 am

   Thanks from all of us #notonUTPcruise for all the pictures and info. Sounds and looks amazing both tourist and genealogy wise but glad to miss all those waves.

   Reply