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[Page 8]
Beautiful sky of grey, pink and yellow washes wonderfully blended until they are lost in the greyish sky overhead, whilst the sun makes a glorious golden path across the sea, like so many steps of shining gold, each one changing its shape continuously into even more weird figures as the rays catch one dancing wave after another. With awful certainty, this last stretch of Australia also fades out of sight, and far too quickly for us who are leaving our country for an indefinite period, whilst every now and then, as if saying good-bye and wishing us god-speed a lighthouse sends out a comforting gleam of its homely light. Even more gradually the curtain of night is drawn over it all, the lighthouse far away on the horizon gives its last flicker of farewell and then disappears as if the candle is extinguished and we turn in to bed to awake in the morning far from home and on a journey the nature and outcome of which none of us dare to guess.
Sunday 2.1.16. Lovely day, got sunburnt legs through wearing shorts
Monday 3.1.16. Big swell to day got enoculated for third time.
Tuesday 4.1.16 Canteen hours changed owing to men visiting it during parade.
Wednesday 5.1.16 Awnings erected on all the decks making it nice and cool.
Thursday 6.1.16 Artillery held concert – I recited "Trotty" and "The Girl on the Stairs".
Friday 7.1.16 A very heavy wind with rain sprang up about 10 p.m. had my hammock with others slung to a spar on boat deck, the spar split with the weight but just held us till morning.
Saturday 8.1.16 – Thursday 13/1/16 usual routine.
Friday 14.1.16 – Kit inspection, had game of 500 in evening Ted and I against Ron and Mears – won four games running – I had 3 good no-trump hands.
Saturday 15.1.16 Usual routine – noticed birds flying about therefore suppose we are nearing land.
Sunday 16.1.16 – Sighted small island on starboard side about 11.30 a.m. later when there was much speculation as to whether it was a cloud or island – About 2 p.m. Cape Gardafue gradually took shape on the port side and in the course of an hour we could see it clearly and I must say that the first impression was not too