Around the Centres — Melbourne

For most of us, Mother's Day meant some quiet time at home with our families, but for some members of the Melbourne Stella Maris community it was a time to party. A few days before Mother's Day we received an invitation from the Master of the m/v Clipper Trust. The crew were very keen to celebrate Mother's Day, but of course, there were no „mothers' on board that they could celebrate with. So we gathered up a few of our female volunteers and drove down to the vessel, not really knowing what to expect. When we arrived, we were greeted very formally by the crew and captain. We were led into the mess room, which had been brightly decorated by some of the crew. There were about 50 peo-ple in total, many were friends of the Captain & his wife, who had moved from India to Melbourne to live.

Three of our female volunteers enjoying the Mother’s Day Party aboard the m/v Clipper Trust

Music was playing, drinks were being served, snacks being nibbled on, and then out came the food. Plate after plate of delicious Indian cuisine was on offer, as well as a good variety of meat kebabs. After the food was blessed, everybody started to „dig in”. The food seemed to never end as the crew kept replenishing the table with more and more plates of food.

Paul, the chef aboard the m/v Clipper Trust did an outstanding job with the food, espe-cially as he cooked everything on his own. Once the food was finished out came the largest Mother's Day cake I had ever seen. Once cut, the dancing and partying began again.

At the end of the party, the Captain wished all the „mothers” the very best for Mother's Day. He also expressed his many thanks to the members of Stella Maris for their continued support that we give to the crew of the Clipper Trust whilst it was in Melbourne. The Clipper Trust is in Melbourne every few weeks, rotating between Bundaberg & Mackay for sugar and then Thevenard in South Australia for gypsum. The crew have come to treat our centre as their home away from home. All in all it was a great day for all concerned.

Scott Cook