Manoora in the Pacific
7 November 2008
HMAS Manoora (CMDR Paul Mandziy) departed Australian waters in mid-August for a South West Pacific deployment that included port visits to Apia, Auckland and Dunedin, and finished with visits to Hobart and Melbourne.
Manoora arrived in Apia on August 19 welcomed with glorious sunny weather and cool breezes as she berthed alongside the International Wharf. The Commanding Officer of Manoora, CMDR Paul Mandziy, had the honour of hosting the Samoan Deputy Prime Minister, the Honourable Misa Telefoni, MP, and the Australian High Commissioner, His Excellency, Mr Matthew Anderson, at his luncheon.
A busy port visit saw Manoora's ship's company training the Samoan Maritime Police, helping them to overhaul seamanship procedures and safety equipment. The ship's company also held a blood donation drive on behalf of the Samoan Red Cross, which allowed visiting Australian doctors to provide urgent medical care.
The Samoan Victims Support Group House also benefited from the attention of Manoora's ship's company with the house totally renovated over a two day period that included electrical re-wiring, house re-stumping, painting, garden beds built, and a variety of odd jobs throughout the house.
POMT Howlett, Manoora's "Chippie", did what he does best supervising most of the internal work. "Knowing what these disadvantaged kids have gone through, we just want to do something to make them happy" said Howlett.
Not all of the time spent in Apia was hard work with many of the ship's company enjoying the tropical resorts, water sports and island lifestyle with the "Fia Fia" night of traditional fire dancing proving to be a clear winner for all.
Manoora's New Zealand experience included port visits to Auckland and Dunedin where the ship's company interacted with Royal New Zealand Navy (RNZN) personnel both in the professional setting and on the sporting fields.
A Passing Exercise with HMNZS Te Kaha and embarking the RNZN Sea Training Group dominated the passage between Auckland and Dunedin. Manoora took the opportunity to embark the New Zealand based family members of the ship's company for a sea ride.
A quick transit across the Tasman Sea to Hobart saw Manoora sail up the Derwent River on a bright sunny September day with the winners of the Hobart Secondary School 'Battle of Britain' Essay contest. The weekend's highlights in Hobart included Manoora's support for the national Battle of Britain Commemoration Activities as well as Australian Customs and Australian Federal Police Drug and Explosives Dog exercises. Tasmanian based Australian Naval Cadets (ANC), Royal United Services Institute national delegates and Defence Force Recruiting (DFR) candidates were also lucky enough to tour the ship.
Manoora sailed from Hobart for Burnie on September 15 with over 45 ANCs for 'Life-at-Sea' experience. Tasmanian based family members of ship's company also joined the ship for the family cruise between Hobart and Melbourne.
Manoora entered Port Phillip Bay in the early hours of September 17, having embarked over 70 High School and University students as well as media groups. The port visit to Melbourne saw many ship tours by family members, ANCs, Recruits from HMAS Cerberus, and DFR candidates.
The final leg between Melbourne and Sydney saw Manoora embark over 100 Defence Materiel Organisation and Australian Federation Guard personnel for a sea riding experience.
All stated, the experience was very memorable for the ship's company and capped off a busy year for the ship.
