A Day at Sea with HMCS Calgary

One of the unique experiences we had at the reunion was a day spent aboard the Canadian Frigate HMCS Calgary.  This is not a trivial sized ship.

Approximately 150 of us boarded, and then went to sea.  I was a little impressed at what is considered normal security at the stern of the ship.

The first thing the captain demonstrated were the tight turns the ship was capable of making.  If you didn't get your sea legs here, you never were.

It really was an amazing demonstration.

After all our gyros were toppled, we went to a number of different stations to learn parts of the ship's function.

Our first lesson was the standard weaponry used by boarding teams tasked with searching other ships.  (HMCS Calgary was successful in boarding a Somalian pirate ship and seizing all their weapons.)

Then we learned about the equipment used by the ship's divers.  Very heavy.

We also got a chance to look at their firefighting equipment, and even got to test holding the water hose.  You had to be strong.

We went down into the depths of the ship into the operations room.

And up onto the bridge.

Then we got a magnificent demonstration of firefighting in the hold of the ship.  Apparently they used a little kitchen grease to get a bunch of smoke in a contained room.  In come the firefighters, who use thermal imaging to determine the source of the fire and chances of a an injured individual before opening the door.  Out came a lot of smoke.  They ostensibly hosed it down and cleared the problem.  Once the demonstration was over, I was impressed to see who the Crew Chief was.

Another dramatic demonstration was that of "Man Overboard".  They set out flares marking the location of the dummy, the ship turned in an extremely tight circle and then came to a full stop, a crew drove out and rescued the poor wet dummy.  Their goal is recovery within 5 minutes and they certainly met the standard on this one.

All of this energy required a filling lunch.

After lunch the best was yet to come.  The frigate actually holds a Sea King Helicopter, and 
we had lunch on the flight deck.  

Just after lunch, we were happily relaxing when a Sea King Helicopter buzzed the ship.  (The Air Force apparently really likes to do this to the Navy.)

After we all got first aid for shock, the Sea King crew proceeded to set markers, throw three people out into the water, and then recover them.  The most impressive part of the demonstration was how the pilot kept the aircraft almost motionless again the sea, apparently an extremely difficult feat.

This was an amazing demonstration.

After all that excitement (and on a beautiful day) we sailed back into dock to have rest before a reception at Royal Roads College tonight.

A Day in the Victoria Butterfly Museum

Yesterday we went to see the Victoria Butterfly Garden, about 15 minutes outside of Victoria.  Most butterfly gardens are magical to begin with, but this one featured more than butterflies.

When we entered, there was a case full of chrysalis, and a Blue Morpho butterfly had just emerged.  These guys are fairly large, about 6-8 inches, and have a gorgeous set of black edged sapphire wings.  Unfortunately, as soon as they came to rest, they hold their wings together as you can see, so I you could only see the blue tops in flight.  However you can see a picture of one in the middle of the middle level in the display case.)

Just beyond the entrance was a table top covered in fruit, and there were more butterflies enjoying a snack.

The butterflies came mostly from Costa Rica and the Philippines, and even the smallest ones were at least 3 ½ inches across.  Most were very dramatic in colour. 

This is a Blue Tailed Jay. (?!--I don't know where lepidopterists get these names...)

This is a White Tree Nymph.

I don't know the names of these.

The most impressive in size was the Giant Atlas Moth—this one was more than 10 inches across.  If you look at the top tips of the wings, they look like snake heads, which a protective colouring.

Butterflies were not the only flying creatures.  Several kinds of parrots busy in various places, and the green Eclectus parrot male came to perch on nearby benches several times. 

The museum is like visiting a tropical garden, because many of the plants are chosen for their use as food, places to lay eggs, foliage for caterpillars, and flowers for the butterflies.  The paths were well kept and visually appealing.

Some of the plants were quite a surprise.  One had an extremely unusual flower.  I have no idea why this one is called a Dutchman’s Pipe.  These guys were 8-10 inches in diameter and hung from the rafters on vines.

Carnivorous pitcher plants were were also growing well.

All plants were chosen because of their appeal to butterflies, especially flowers for nectar, but also for leaves that were tasty to caterpillars.

Reptiles showed up here and there, including the green iguana Ms. Jibs, and various tortoises.  Turtles were basking on a log in a pond, accompanied by a couple of ducks, and “Houdini” and “Mango”.  (Only one in this picture, but there were two.)

A sleeping flamingo is apparently more comfortable than it looks.

Just as we were leaving, one of the staff came out for feeding time, and there was much happiness in the pond.  The flamingos, ducks, turtles and fish all eat the same food apparently, so everyone was enthusiastic.  I was told that the ducks don’t like the fish bumping them, so they came back to the log where they were obligingly tossed more food.

One little display was fascinating.  All of the frogs shown are poison dart frogs, in the most dramatic colours.  (Pictures aren't great, but you get the idea.....)  Any of these guys would fit comfortably on a toonie.

All in all, this was a marvellous experience.