We just had our final briefing in the mess, presented by Cap'n Frank and Cap'n Karli. It's been an expedition full of surprises - who would have thought that we'd find outselves in the role of would-be rescuer to the very whaling fleet we had sailed south to stop from killing whales? A few weeks ago, I went a bit Zen, and refused to speculate on what happened next, or what the implications might be. I just tried to accept the bizarre changes of circumstance as they arrived, and swore to avoid any guesswork until my feet hit the quayside in Sydney.

But, as Karli said - instead of what we expected - that we would go to the Southern Ocean for what some media pejoratively referred to as our "traditional" protests against whaling, we found ourselves in a very different situation. And things are also changing in Japan. Dialogue is now starting to happen in Japan. The government's motives for whaling are being questioned in the media. The worm is turning, the shoe has dropped, the tide has turned and... well, many other appropriate idioms from the English language.

According to Frank, we've sailed 7,000 nautical miles. Yes folks, that's how far we've sailed since January 26th. That's (quick maths) nearly 13,000km or over 8,000 statute or land miles. It's about half the distance last year's expedition covered - but then, they were in the Southern Ocean for longer, and they didn't spend a week drifting beside the disable Nisshin Maru, like we did.

So keep watching the webcam tomorrow morning, Sydney time, for signs of us arriving into Port Jackson.

Now I'm off to the bridge, to watch the blackness of the Tasman Sea before bedtime.

Finally - some sad news: a pod of sperm whales is stranded in Tasmania...

- Dave