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loading in Rajang and Belawan had to be carefully planned by the cargo officer,
though the ilmenite had to be left aboard until late in the parade of ports.)

The brief visit to Aden was uneventful and we made our way up to Suez. This
time, I was able to see much more of the Canal, the passage being made in
daylight. In the morning, when we were truly homeward bound, we were also
fortunate enough to witness Canberra heading south. But we finally left the heat
of the Middle East on March 21.

Canberra transiting Suez Canal

The temperature and climate changed markedly almost immediately, but the
notoriously bilious nature of the Bay of Biscay on this occasion was but a passing
bother; we were on our way home (in those days, and perhaps even now, the
Gibraltar to the English Channel transit is termed ‘The Channels’, a time when al-
most any unpleasantness, especially seasickness, seemed a mere inconvenience).
This part of the world encompassed many of the world’s busiest ports, full of
coastal traders, fish-boats, channel ferries, warships and all manner of nautical
oddments, there were major sandbanks, the whole arena narrowed down to some
twenty-one miles at its northern end, there was always rainy fog, and no authority
had at that time implemented any traffic-separation scheme. In short, it was cha-
otic – but time passed quickly!

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