Capt Kong's cruise down under and the meet up

[Doc Vernon]

Thursday the 1st March!Well this turned out to be one of the Days of my Life that i will always remember!
Started off pretty early here from Blackheath heading towards the City and the Meet with the Lads! Joe was supposed to meet me on the Train but never showed,so i thought he hadnt been able to make it! Wrong!!

I arrived at Monties about 3 Hours after i had left Home ,and there the Three of them were,sitting outside allready having a Bevy! Great! I then began the task of introducing myself to them (well i had allready done that on Tuesday with the Capt at Katoomba) and i was more than excited to say the least! Roger and Joe both turned out to be great blokes,and as for the Capt,well he is just one great Guy and really stands out amongst us all!

Although both Roger and Joe had their own Tales to tell,as always Capt was by far the greater yarn spinner! He is so diversivied ,and i am sure both Roger and Joe would agree,his Tales (all true ) were just facinating,some more serious than others ,and he had me just sitting there listening in awe! Some were of some jest,and we all had a good old laugh at some!

We all got on very well,and may i say this that i was more than privalaged to sit amongst all three of them,as i have said many times in the past,i am but a shadow of some of you all here on site,and i really take my Hat off to people like those who served so long at Sea!

I unfortunately had to take my leave at about 4.15pm,as it is rather a long way back home! It was a hard thing to break away,and i like always had to control my feelings,as i can assure you (and i know that no one knew) that the Tears were not very far away! It was an emotional farewell for me internally,and hard to hold back my feelings!

But anyway as i dont drink anymore,i was on the Coke,(tried their Ginger Beer it was awfull haha) the other three Lads were on the Amber Liquid,and not holding back too much either! LOL ! could see that they were all really enjoying themselves.
When i was leaving,Roger and Brian were not too bad seeing that they had consumed i think by then about 6 or seven Schooners each,poor old Joe,who had apparently got to Monties a bit earlier was not feeling too good i feel but was still in the conversations! haha!

Rogers Wife Pauline whom i met very briefly unfortunately wasnt to stay as she had to go shopping,but Anne (Capt's Partner and Babara her Friend showed up a wee bit later)Both lovely Ladies and are good Sports !
So that was that then,all over for me ,but as said a meetup i will cherish the rest of my days!Roger of course is not a Million Miles away from me ,so we will at some time definately have a get together again in the future.

So to end!Thank you ALL Three for the oppurtunity of meeting you and the Tales that you all told!Also thank you for all the Kind remarks you said to me,and your Gentlemanly Curtesy shown.

As for the Capt,i want to say a SPECIAL thank you for letting us know he was coming here,and for everything else! I hope that your very good and such interesting stories will continue on site! I know that there are many who read and love them! I also sincerly hope that the rest of your Holiday will all go as well as the past Legs,and that you may have a safe and pleasant Journey back to the UK once all is done! All above is said with all my Sincerity!Take care all of you Cheers

1st Single Pic Capt Kong
2nd Single Pic Roger
3rd Single Pic Joe

Hi Lou
Brian showed me a Pic of you and your dear Lady,you are looking very good mate!
Keep it going that way,hope all is AOK there with you!
Cheers
Doc!

[Neil Morton]

Many thanks for your comments re Monties and the lads. I hope we have given the Captain and his good lady something to remember us by. It will be great to put a face to the posts. Tell us Vernon which is Joe and which is Roger? At a guess I'd say Roger is in the green rugby shirt. Wish I had been there.Cheers for now Mort.

[Doc Vernon]

The other way around Neil !
Sorry i should have put that in!
Yes i do hope that the Lads will remember their nice Meetup!
Cheers Neil
Doc

[Lou Barron]

Hi you guys in Aussie please to see that you gave our Capt Kong a very warm and liquid welcomed it must have been hard on you Vernon to leave such good company it was a pleasure to meet Brian even though it was a very short and very wet meeting it looks by those photos you supplied they was having a really good day take care Lou

[Doc Vernon]

Publican_Montys_Bar.jpgThey sure were LouThe Amber Liquid was flowing freely haha!Yes indeed as said it was very hard to part company there!I was very sad on the Train going back home!Cheers mate keep well!DocSo much reminded me of the good days when mates were real mates!Not only in the Merc but in the RAF,the Legion and a few other Jobs along the way!

The Four.jpg

[Lou Barron]

Has you say Vernon it is good to go back when friends were good mates as on this site they are some really good people and i have made a couple of very good friends my good friend jim brady keeps me well informed what is going on in the mersey side

[happy daze john in oz]

As Vernon says it was good to meet with Brian, and it is good to see photos of Joe and Roger, must say they still look good. It also goes to show that the spirit of the sea is still alive in us and we can meet anywhere with someone for the firts time and talk as if we have known them forever.

[Roger Dyer]

Hi Shipmates,

My apologies if this post seems late in coming, but these days, after indulging excessively in debauchery or jollification, my rate of recovery is decidedly slow.

On March 1st, the day of our eagerly awaited meet-up, my wife, Pauline, decided that we should drive into Sydney, find ourselves a hotel reasonably close to Monty's and that way I shouldn't have to worry about driving home in the evening if I had a drink (IF I HAD A DRINK !!!!! ), a wise course of action as it turned out. It was her intention to spend the afternoon window-shopping (how the ladies can do that for several hours is beyond me), but she wanted to come and say hello to the lads before she left.

Conveniently, we found a hotel and secure-parking about 5-10 minutes walk from Monty's and so by 11.30am we arrived at the pub in good time for the noon meet-up. Leaving, Pauline, seated at a table outside I went into the bar to order us a drink and as I was doing so Joe (Doyle) made himself known. He had been sitting on a stool at the bar and had not waited to come under 'starter's orders'. With, Pauline, we sat outside and a schooner or two later Capt.Kong and Vernon hove into view. After introductions, sorting out who was who, photographs were taken and with a kiss for everybody, Pauline (an incorrigible flirt), disappeared into the swirling mass of humanity that is today's Darling Harbour (it bears little resemblance to the DH of old and nowadays is a magnet for tourists rather than part of what was once a large and busy seaport).

From that point on, it was 'Let go Fore and Aft' and we happy few were off on a voyage of nostalgia. As expected, I found that Brian (Kong) was wonderful company. He has a larger than life presence about him and an endless stream of stories and personal experiences, some of which he has shared with us here on this site. He does indeed tell a great yarn. We lesser mortals did contribute to the story-telling from time to time, but only as a supporting act to the main attraction. Vernon, too, was as I'd imagined from his postings on site, friendly, well-mannered and considerate of others - a true gentleman. I get the impression that he sometimes feels his comparatively short sea-going career disqualifies him from passing comment on certain things when, in truth, he has experienced such great variety in his life as to be a man of the world. Like myself, Joe, was a former AB, but had practiced the art far longer than my own nine years - his 24 years at sea ending in 1988. He seems to me the composite of almost every A.B. I ever sailed with and possesses an ability to make beer disappear down his throat at an alarming rate. Early on in the piece, Joe, set off at the gallop. Kong and I managed to keep up, but how I don't know. Vernon, a teetotaller, sat there nursing a 'coke' with an amused twinkle in his eye, confidant in the knowledge that the following day he would be feeling much better than the rest of us.. For me it was a joy to be back sharing the company of seamen, something that I'd rarely had the opportunity to do during the past 46 years.

Later, we were joined by Anne (Brian's good lady) and their friend Barbara, both delightful ladies and pleasant company. The afternoon turned out to be all that I had hoped it would be. Of course, having had very little to eat that day, I did drink more than was wise on an empty stomach, but at the time we were having far too much fun and I gave little thought to the hangover that would surely be mine the next day. The afternoon rolled on until it was time for Vernon to head off home to the beautiful Blue Mountains, a journey of about 3 hours. It was an emotive occasion ( don't you hate goodbyes?), although for me it wasn't so bad, for I feel sure that Vernon and I will be meeting again sooner rather than later. For a while we continued on. I had hoped that my wife would return in time to meet Anne and Barbara, but eventually the time came for Brian and the ladies to take their leave. For me it had been a great pleasure and, indeed, an honour
to meet Brian and I told him so. Handshakes and kisses (for ladies only) and they were gone.

At the end there was just Joe and I. We had a couple more schooners each and sat there conversing in a Swahili dialect that only makes sense to merchant seamen and other discerning drinkers the world over. My independent memory of this part of the proceedings is strangely vague, but I recall my lovely coming to collect me from the pub as a parent would a small child from school. I cannot answer for, Joe, but I knew that for me the party was over and so we called it a day. If you read this, Joe, old mate, I do hope you made it safely back to Tenterfield.

I've since been told by Pauline (several times) that she had some difficulty getting me back to the hotel. According to her description of events, as I was walking down the gentle slope of Murray Street it appears I lost all steerage and was 'blowing for tugs' as we used to say. It does seem that in getting me back to the hotel she performed a navigational miracle. Apparently, on reaching our room I immediately fell onto the bed and then rolled over, much like the Costa Concordia. I was wrecked. It brought an ignominious end to an otherwise perfect day. Given the opportunity, I would happily do it all again.

Vernon Brian Pauline and Joe.jpg

[Chris Allman]

I have to say that I met Brian (Capt Kong) on a meet in Liverpool some years ago and can only heartily endorse Rogers description of him. He is a lovely man, a character and he embodies all that I enjoyed during my time in the British Merchant Navy. I am very glad that other members have had the chance to meet him too.

Chris.

[Captain Kong]

Gentlemen, what can I say, Roger and Vernon have said it all . A fantastic meeting, a day to remember.and a big thank you to you all for travelling so far to see me, . it brings a tear to this old mans eyes.
I got out of Sydney a couple of hours before the Gay Mardi Gra started in case I got caught up in it.
I went down to Wollongong for three days to sty with my neice and am now with a mate in Surfers Paradise, a beautiful spot. Will be in Perth on Friday then a van and shoot around the desert for a week or so then on to Singapore for a few days. be home in three weeks so I can write about the events properly. , not the same on someone elses computer. All the best mates and thanks for a wonderful reception in NZ and Australia. it was the greatest
Catch you all later. Cheers
Brian.