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

In case you haven’t gathered from my previous posts, geneacruising (aka genealogy conferencing onboard a cruise ship) is a whole lot of fun. You get to see great places, you get to make wonderful new friends, and you get to do a whole lot of learning – to the point where no some are already wanting to go home and restart researching, they’re so enthused. And that’s without mentioning that the food is there for you, your room is tidied twice a day, and the laundry service (although expensive) is invaluable. So let me continue with my reporting on the 10th cruise for you …

Day 12 – at Sea (Thursday 25 February 2016)
The second half of Day 12 for me was spent in the Conference room. After walking out on lunch at the Silk Harvest Restaurant, I grabbed a snack and headed straight for the Conference room, and sat in on the next six talks that were scheduled for the rest of the day:
– Document analysis workshop part 1 (Helen Smith)
– Document analysis workshop part 2 (Helen Smith)
– DNA and the golden rule: the law and ethics of genetic genealogy (Judy G. Russell)
– Online trends in family history (Shauna Hicks)
– Future Unlock the Past cruises (Alan Phillips)
– Asylum records: a place to look for missing ancestors (Shauna Hicks)
Louis Kessler was scheduled to do two talks today, but due to feeling unwell, so they were rescheduled and will be heard later on the cruise.
Helen’s talks on document analysis went indepth showing all the information that you can (and should be) gleaning from various records. Too often people simply looks for the names in the middle, and miss the many other valuable clues.
Judy reminded us that there are laws and ethics that we should keep in mind when we are dealing with family and DNA testing. An absolute no no is bullying!! You cannot bully anyone into taking a test. And no sharing of results publicly, unless your family member approves. They are NOT your results.
Shauna talks on online trends with genealogy and social media and the ways you can utilise these tools to advantage.
Shauna’s second talk was on Asylums and covered what are the records, where are the records, and finding aids. A couple of tips from this talks: old newspapers sometimes lists people who were in asylums, so be sure to check Trove. And also there was a large number of women whose husbands went to the goldfields, and they ended up destitute in asylums. I thought they were useful tips.

Day 13 – Melbourne (Friday 26 February 2016)
Melbourne was an early start for me, as I decided to join the rest of the UTP team on the shore seminar. So we were up and off the ship by about 8am, and headed to The Celtic Club. There was an enthusiastic group of people who turned up to hear talks by Louis Kessler and Paul Blake. Covering topics such as sourced-based genealogy, English and Welsh protestant nonconformist records, British probate records, and the origins of your Irish ancestors. Together with the great topics, attendees were treated to displays from the Genealogical Society of Victoria (GSV), VicGUM, and us (aka Gould Genealogy & History with lots of goodies available. It was fabulous to catch up with my dear friends Lee-Anne and Rob Hamilton who made the triip to Melbourne for the day. While the talks were on I utilised the fast (aka non-ship-speed) internet, and was able to finish off one of my earlier posts, so I was pleased about that. To top off our day in Melbourne, we were treated to Irish music as we left the Celtic Club, which was lovely.

Day 14 – at Sea (Saturday 27 February 2016)
Another sea day, and it was another great day of learning, and I made it to five or the eight talks schedule for the day. Apart from the talks below, the big news of the day was that some people saw dolphins. Sadly I didn’t. Oh well, maybe later. So the talks …
– What test for me? Targeted DNA testing (Judy Russell)
– Making the most of your genealogy software (Louis Kessler)
– TheGenealogist.co.uk: What’s the difference? (Rosemary Kopittke)
– Sporting ancestors (Shauna Hicks)
– A brief history of the photograph (Paul Blake)
Judy’s talk on “What test”, highlighted how to use DNA testing when records simply don’t exist. And how she reconstructed a family through it.
I have heard Louis’ talk on making the most of your genealogy software before, but it’s always good to hear. Just a few of tips from it: you need a program that you find enjoyable, and that you are happy with. And one of the best things you can do for yourself is to take a typing course. The quicker you type, the quicker you can type in your family tree, saving you an immense amount of time – that;s makes sense, and one more … NEVER merge your tree, keep any files that you are sent separate. This one I agree with thanks to hindsight. Sadly I have done this in the past and it made a mess of my tree, as their style of entering is different to mine. So I have made a rule that I will never do it again, and if I want the info in my tree, I will simply retype it!
Shauna’s “sporting ancestors” is a good one, and highlights all the possible records you could find relating to your sporting ancestors. And she’s not meaning just professional sportsmen and women, but even the local town clubs, tennis, bowls, cricket, football, duck shooting, cycling, school sports days and everything else in between. You might be surprised at what you ancestors took part in.

Fourteen days down, and still another four to go, so there’s more adventures to come ….

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

Day 12 – at Sea (Thursday 25 February 2016)
Our cruise continues, and this post is part 1 of my report of Day 12 of the 10th Unlock the Past cruise. I spent the whole morning of this day exploring the ship. And I don’t mean the regular public areas (any of the 16 decks), even though there are areas of this ship I haven’t seen yet. But in this case I’m meaning the areas that passengers normally don’t get to see. I was fortunate enough to be able to take part in a “Behind the Scenes” tour of the ship. The rest of Day 12s happenings will follow in a separate post.

The day was sea day, so it was a full day of talks, but I skipped the morning ones to take part in the tour and to say it was fascinating is an understatement.

We were taken to the bridge and met the captain, the stage and costume area, the mooring station (where the ropes and anchors are) – they are beyond HUGE, the recycling area (they recycle nearly everything), the food storage and freezer areas, the wine and beer storage room, the engineering room, one of the nine or so galley (food preparation areas), the crew “mess hall” meal area, the crew bar and their shop, the main hall way (highway I95). Two places that I was hoping to see, that wasn’t on this tour was the laundry and printing areas – they are fascinating. Oh well. The tour was followed by a special lunch at the Silk Harvest Restaurant (the asian specialty restaurant onboard), however I didn’t stay for that, as I needed to get back to the conference.

Anyway I wanted to share some of the amazing stats and pictures from this four hour tour. As with the pics in my earlier posts, click on each for a larger image.

A few statistics:
– 16 decks
– 317m (1041ft) length, 43m (121ft) width
– maximum cruising speed 24 knots
– uses 240 tonnes of fuel per hour (126 gallows per mile)
– 1426 staterooms
– 2690 passengers (max 2850)
– 1246 crew members
– crew comes from 70 different countries
– English is the common language
– 17 bars and/or restaurants

And a few average stats for food and drink based on an average 7 night cruise. For more see the last photo below.
– 22,654 pounds of beef
– 10,211 pounds of chicken
– 26,812 pounds of fresh vegetables
– 9,235 dozen eggs
– 2,450 tea bags
– 120 pounds of herbs and spics
– 11,904 bottles of wine
– 19,200 litres of beer

The rest of Day 12 and following days to come shortly …

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

Day 11 – Sydney (Wednesday 24 February 2016)
Day 11 of the 10th Unlock the Past cruise, and we made it back to Australian land with Sydney being our first of four stops. And the beautiful weather that we ordered most certainly delivered. It was a magnificent “blue-sky-not-a-cloud-in-the-sky-warm-day”. In other words a perfect day to walk around Sydney. And also after New Zealand’s cooler weather it was so nice to feel the sun again.

While the rest of the UTP team went ashore for a shore seminar held at the Society of Australian Genealogists, I went ashore and wandered around for a few hours. As there was a big ship docked in Circular Quay, our ship had to moor out in the harbour, and were ferried ashore.

I walked around Circular Quay, so of course I saw the Sydney Opera House and the Harbour Bridge. But I also went to the Botanic Gardens which is lovely, though did seem to have a high number of joggers I had to get out of the way of. But other things I saw on my walking travels was a stretch Hummer (as you’d expect, eh?), a number of buskers including an Aboriginal didgeridoo player. That awesome sound was certainly got the attention of the tourists. I also saw a gent dressed up as Captain Cook, not to mention the primary school kids dressed as convicts.

After several hours of walking (and apparently getting a touch sunburnt), I decided to head back to the ship to spend the afternoon blogging.

As our ship didn’t leave Sydney until 10pm, I headed ashore again to catch up with a bunch of genie friends from Sydney for dinner. A big thankyou to Jill Ball, Kerry Farmer, Melissa Hulbert, Lilian Magill, Jenny Joyce, Rosemary Kopittke, Helen Smith and Judy G. Russell for a wonderful time. I was a lovely dinner and great conversation all night.

While the dinner was great, and the trip back the the ship as dusk was stunning, unfortunately it did mean that I missed out on Shauna Hicks’ talk on “Missing an Ancestor: Try Looking Behind Bars! Police records” which would have great to hear. Hopefully I’ll hear it sometime somewhere in the future.

We still have 7 more days of geneacruising to go. Which means more genealogy and more trouisting to come …

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