Abri:
As you might expect, speaking to large crowds of people can be a little scary at first, but after the first few tours you realise that they are just regular people, out on an easy going weekend day to hear a little bit about the Rainbow Warrior. Sunday's weather was much better than Saturday, and occasionally you could even see distant mountains showing off their snow-caps through the mist. The one of the nice things about open days is that you also learn a lot about the ship that you didn't know before.

For example, for the whole day I've been telling people that the ship was once named Grampian Fame, but I didn't know what Grampian meant. And then out of the blue an old man told Roscoe that there is a Grampian mountain range in Scotland that overlooks the very place that the ship was originally built! [Here's a neat little fact that our electrician, Haussy pointed out - one of the hills above Nelson is called 'The Grampians'! - Dave]

It was great to meet so many great new people and I had a lot of fun!

Erin:
As a person who does not relish public speaking at the best of times, I was expecting the task of giving campaign speeches to hundreds of people to be and exhausting and overwhelming ordeal, especially after the three weeks of relative social isolation in the Tasman Sea. While I felt both emotions, I didn't expect was the feeling of inspiration given to me by the responses from the Nelson community to Greenpeace's work. The vast majority of people I spoke to were shocked and concerned by the impact bottom trawling was having on life in the deep sea, and many were eager to find out how they could take action in their own lives to help protect deep sea life. As I gave talks to groups of around twenty during tours of the Rainbow Warrior, there were some who challenged Greenpeace's words and actions over the past few weeks . However rather than becoming arguments between myself and individuals, these questions turned into mini-debates, and I gained the impression of that the people of Nelson were eager to discuss these issues amongst themselves, as well as with Greenpeace.

I felt particularly humbled by the words of one woman who stayed back to chat with me after my last talk. She felt that Greenpeace's activists and campaigners were taking the most direct action possible to help to protect the environment, and wished that she could do the same. But while Greenpeace's actions can help the world to see environmental problems and their solutions, it is the concern and personal action of everyday people at home that wins environmental campaigns in the end. The actions of Individuals are just as important as a high profile protest by Greenpeace.

The biggest kick I got was when I felt a shy tug on my shirt and looked down to see two small boys, one of whom looked up and whispered to me "thank you for looking after the ocean for us." I saw them diligently repeating their actions with every crew member they could identify, and saw my own warm gooey feelings mirrored in their faces.

- The RW Open Boat Squad