# I'm Going to Ascension Island!



## jbwilcox (Jan 2, 2008)

I started another boring day at work last week. Shortly another employee asked me if I wanted to go to Ascension Island. Immediately I said "Yes" without even knowwing for sure where it was.

Anyway, one thing led to another and I was put in contact with the Medical Technologist on Ascension Island who was trying to go on vacation but could not find a reliable replacement.

She put me in contact with her hiring agency. Soon things were rapidly moving. I had to renew my passport and fill out about an inch worth of paperwork. Then the big test: I had to pass a drug test and a background check.

Both of those came back okay so I am now in possession of a one way ticket to Patrick AFB in Florida. I leave on 26 March. I spend a day there and then leave for Ascension Island on 28 March.

I will be there for 30 days, working Mon-Fri with weekends off.

I expect to explore the entire island, do some scuba diving, some shell collecting, some hiking and lots of picture taking.

What an adventure this is going to be!

Very few people ever get to go to Ascension Island, let alone know where it is located. 

I should be back in Shelton about 1 May.

John


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## tmejia (Jan 2, 2008)

Wow. How exciting. I course as soon as I read your post I had to look up where Ascension Island is








Hopefully you'll be able to post a picture while your there.
Good luck, enjoy

Tommy








Rio Gracie


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## noelw (Jan 2, 2008)

Ok .. Wher is it at??? Any photo and location?? Have fun on your sounds like a Vac. Nice
Bet theres no trains there.. lol


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## Semper Vaporo (Jan 2, 2008)

Posted By noelw on 21 Mar 2011 02:37 PM 
Ok .. Wher is it at??? Any photo and location?? Have fun on your sounds like a Vac. Nice
Bet theres no trains there.. lol


Smack dab in the middle of the South Atlantic Ocean.


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## Rod Fearnley (Jan 2, 2008)

Was there in 82 on the way to the South Atlantic to retake the Falkland Islands from the Argentinians. Basically it is a dead Volcanic island. The U.S. has an Airbase there called Widawake base.
The base continues this staging post role for the Falkland Islands, for both the RAF and the United States Air Force.
Scuba at your peril, I fished from the Carrier I was on, and for every 5 Tuna I caught, sharks had 3 before I could get them onboard! 
Did I mention it's hot?
Have fun.
Rod


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## jbwilcox (Jan 2, 2008)

I've been watching the temperatures -- about 85-88 daytime and low 70's at night. Sounds perfect after Saudi Arabia's 115 highs and 90 lows.

Back in the old days the British would drop problem crewmen off on Ascension Island. I guess there is no natural water so when they came back in a year or so to check on them they were dead.

Then Darwin had the idea of importing trees to improve the climate which apparently has worked to a certain degree. On top of the highest volcano there is now a tropical rain forest growing.

Allso the Brits opened some sort of base on Ascension when Napoleon was exiled to St Helena, 700 miles to the south. They have been there ever since.

The population is about 800 or so.

I will be working at the small hospital as the only Medical Technologist. After work I will be required to carry a radio in case of emergencies, but apparently that is a rare occurance.

The island is about 30 sq mi in size so I should have a chance of exploring most of it during my month vacation -- [paid, I might add!!

I did about 3-400 dives in Okinawa and never saw a shark. Seeing one at Ascension Island will be a great treat.

I plan to take plenty of photos while gone.

And I think you are right -- there will be no trains.

If this trip works out, I will probably be going back 2-3 times per year.

John


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## noelw (Jan 2, 2008)

Posted By Rod Fearnley on 21 Mar 2011 03:23 PM 
Was there in 82 on the way to the South Atlantic to retake the Falkland Islands from the Argentinians. Basically it is a dead Volcanic island. The U.S. has an Airbase there called Widawake base.
The base continues this staging post role for the Falkland Islands, for both the RAF and the United States Air Force.
Scuba at your peril, I fished from the Carrier I was on, and for every 5 Tuna I caught, sharks had 3 before I could get them onboard! 
Did I mention it's hot?
Have fun.
Rod 



...............................................................................................

Boy...I'M WITH ROD......... I'm convenced....... No place for me... lol... Sharks, Hot, Water has to be air or boated in/ dropped, Tuna is ok if you can keep them before sharks eat you .. oh and NO TRAINS
For old Calif guy....... NAAAAAAAAAAaaa..







HAHAHAHA ENJOY YOU VAC. IF YOU DON'T GET ATE WHILE FISHING OR DIVING..


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## ThinkerT (Jan 2, 2008)

Back in the old days the British would drop problem crewmen off on Ascension Island. I guess there is no natural water so when they came back in a year or so to check on them they were dead 

I read the account of one such crewman, dropped off alone. He made it most of six months before perishing, biggest problem being lack of fresh water. He recorded a series of impressive and fantastic hallucinations/visions that kicked in about the second or third week. 

More relevant to the board...no doubt it is long gone, but I recollect seeing an account of a narrow guage railway on the island at one point. Real hazy here, but I seem to recollect it was used for a construction project...


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## John J (Dec 29, 2007)

We all heard of Doggy Treats. We all heard of Kitty treats. We don't want to hear of a Sharky Treat near that island. Be carfull









Post pictures.

JJ 

PS I thought it was in the Pacific ocean and we had used it for A bomb tests. Shows how much I know.


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## Richard Smith (Jan 2, 2008)

Posted By John J on 21 Mar 2011 07:03 PM 
We all heard of Doggy Treats. We all heard of Kitty treats. We don't want to hear of a Sharky Treat near that island. Be carfull









Post pictures.

JJ 

PS I thought it was in the Pacific ocean and we had used it for A bomb tests. Shows how much I know.



It WAS in the Pacific! But, then....that was before the tests!


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## jbwilcox (Jan 2, 2008)

You heard the Japanese Earthquake actually moved Japan a couple of inches, well . . . . . .

Ascension Island is on the Mid Atlantic Ridge -- the place where I think they first proved that continents are moving. New earth is being formed there all the time and the continents of South America and Africa move apart slightly each year. There are numerous undewater volcanoes. I think there are 40 volcaones on Ascension Island, but they are either dormant or extinct.

The cvapital is Georgetown.

 I fly into Wideawake airport. I hope the pilot is paying attention. If he misses this small speck of rock the next land is about 1500 miles to the East.

John


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## jbwilcox (Jan 2, 2008)

Here is some interesting information about Ascension Island for those who may be interested.
*
Ascension Island* is an isolated volcanic island in the equatorial waters of the South Atlantic Ocean, around 1,600 kilometres (994 mi) from the coast of Africa, and 2,250 kilometres (1,398 mi) from the coast of South America which is roughly midway between the horn of South America and Africa. It is governed as part of the British Overseas Territory of Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha,[1] of which the main island, Saint Helena, is 1,287 kilometres (800 mi) to the southeast, and the territory also includes the "remotest populated archipelago" on earth, the sparsely populated Tristan da Cunha archipelago some thirty degrees farther south–about half the way to the Antarctic Circle.


The Island is named after the day of its recorded discovery, Ascension Day, and is located at







7°56′S 14°22′W﻿ / ﻿7.933°S 14.367°W﻿ / -7.933; -14.367Coordinates:







7°56′S 14°22′W﻿ / ﻿7.933°S 14.367°W﻿ / -7.933; -14.367 about as far south of the equator as tropical Venezuela is to its north. Historically, it has played a role as an important safe haven and coaling station to mariners and for commercial airliners during the days of international air travel by flying boats and during World War II was an important naval and air station, especially providing antisubmarine warfare bases in the Battle of the Atlantic and throughout the war.[2] Ascension Island was garrisoned by the British Admiralty from 22 October 1815 to 1922.


The island is the location of Wideawake Airfield, which is a joint facility of the United States Air Force and the Royal Air Force, a European Space Agency rocket tracking station, and the BBC World Service Atlantic Relay Station. The island was used extensively by the British military during the Falklands War. Ascension Island hosts one of five ground antennas (others are on Kwajalein Island, Diego Garcia, Colorado Springs and Hawaii) that assist in the operation of the Global Positioning System (GPS) navigational system.


Ascension Island, as a part of the wider overseas territory of Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha, does not yet have its own flag or coat of arms. The Union Flag and Royal coat of arms of the United Kingdom are used instead


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## jbwilcox (Jan 2, 2008)

Here is a map of the island. Georgetown is the capital. I will be staying at the military base. There are several excellent hiking trails on the island as well as some beautiful and secluded beaches. There are letter boxing locations and several geocaching sites also.

Apparently internet is very expensive, but the person I am replacing for the month has told me that I can use her internet service while there.

Cell phones do not work from what I have been told. They buy phone cards which connect to Patrick AFB so the calls are charged only from within the US.


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## tmejia (Jan 2, 2008)

So how long is the flight from Patrick Air Force Base to Ascension Island? Do you hitch a ride on a cargo plane? 
Tommy








Rio Gracie


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## jbwilcox (Jan 2, 2008)

We stop in Antigua for a 2 hour layover. Then it is about 8 hours from there to Ascension.

It is a military operated flight. I think it is transport plane that has 32 seats in the rear of the cargo hold.

I have flown in worse. I once took a small plane from the deck of the USS Oriskany to Hong Kong. We did not use the catapult as I remember. I swear the plane crashed from about 50 feet when we landed in Hong Kong. It was the roughest landing I have ever gone through. Then coming back and landing on the deck of the Aircraft carier was a real treat.

That was a great adventure as I evaded Shore Patrol for 4 days who were out looking for me. If anyone is interested, I can supply the details of why they were searching for me.

John


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## jebouck (Jan 2, 2008)

John,
We floated along side the Oriskany while she was burning after that Zuni rocket fell off of that plane.
Tried to help as best we could.
Were you aboard during that time?
jb


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## jbwilcox (Jan 2, 2008)

Luckily I was not on board when the fire occurred. 

Actually, I am a little embarrassed to admit that I only spent about 2 months on the ship. I first flew to the Philippines where I waited for the ship for about 2 weeks. Then I spent the next month cruising around the Philippine sea with a couple of port stops at Subic Bay. Then it was back to San Francisco where the ship was decommissioned. My speciality was Lab so during the decomissioning process I was not needed. I spent two years working at Oakland Naval Hospital but was still assigned to the USS Orisikany so it counted as sea duty.

Those 2 months were my only actual sea duty in 21 years in the Navy. Heck, I don't even know how to tie a square knot.

I did spend two tours in Okinawa with the Marines during the Vietnam war, however, I never saw any combat or anything even remotely resembling real danger.

I spent 4 years at Ford Island Dispensary in Pearl Harbor during the Vietnam days.

I got out in 89, just before the Iraq troubles started.

John


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## jbwilcox (Jan 2, 2008)

Sorry to keep boring everyone with my adventures. I really thought some of you might be interested in what is going on in my life.

I filled out the final piece of paper this afternoon and faxed it back to Florida. Actually, I had completed this form about 10 days ago but apparently they lost it. I now hope I have every thing completed for my trip. I leave Saturday morning at 0800. First stop is Atlanta for a 3 hour wait then a short hop to Melbourne Florida where I pick up a rental car to drive the last few miles to Patrick AFB. I am booked for Days Inn Hotel for Saturday and Sunday nights. Sunday is a free day. I can use the time to explore the base and relax a bit.

Monday morning I meet my contact at the Main gate. She will escort me to the flight line where I will sign in. Hopefully my name will appear on the flight manifest. If so, then I can relax again until the flight is called at 1200. We board the plane and wait for departure at 1400. Then a 3 hour trip to Antigua for another 3 hour layover. In Antigua we will be bussed to the near by base for dinner then bussed back to the aircraft for the next leg of the trip -- a 7 1/2 hour flight to Ascension Island where I meet the woman whom I am replacing.

We will have about a three day overlap to familiarize me with the lab and its procedures then I will be on my own for the next month. It should be quiet unless there is an auto accident and blood is required. then I have to put in place their walking blood donor program. They do not stock any blood on the island.

The return itinary is still up in the air.

I have also b een working hard on my railroad. I have completed a mine shaft to connec my Colorado Scale Donner Mine kit to the mountain next to it. I took some 1/4 inch plywood and made a 26 inch long box 4 1/2 inches by 4 1/2 inches. I then took cedar strips and glued and nailed them to the box to simulate planking. I then did my usual spray paint job using at least 4 different colors of spray paint ending up with a weathered red color. 

Next I took some mortar, mixed it rather stiff, dug a hole in the mountain, inserted the end of the mine shaft in the hole and then mortared the whole thing into the mountain. The shaft is supported by a timber bent that I built at least 3 years ago out of cedar which I found laying out in the yard. The mine shaft is not physically connected to the Mine building itself. That allows me to remove the mine building for maintenance. It looks rather strange to see the shaft protruding out of the mountain with no building connected.

A small building for storing dinamyte, a siding and some coal on the ground completed the scene.

John


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## Jerry Barnes (Jan 2, 2008)

I've enjoyed this, post some pix when you get there.


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## tmejia (Jan 2, 2008)

not bored







. Being this a a place in the world I will never get to, has got my curiosity way up. Just waiting to see some pictures of your adventure when you are able. 

Tommy








Rio Gracie


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## John J (Dec 29, 2007)

I am not bored either. I find this thread very interesting. It tells about what is going on in the life of one of our fellow Train Freak. We are hoping you will take and post some pictures of what this Island looks like. 
JJ


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## jbwilcox (Jan 2, 2008)

I just bought a new Sony A33 DSLR camera a couple of months ago to take advantage of some old Auto Focus Minolta lenses I had but was unable to use.

I plan to be out taking pictures as much as will be allowed.

I am sure the workload there will be very minimal. I start at 0700 and work till 1600 with an hour off for lunch.

As soon as i get off work I plan to head for the beach to look for shells and take pictures.

I have a beautiful shell collection from my time in Okinawa and would like to add to it. Most of my shells from Okinawa came from scuba diving, however, when there was a very low tide at night we would take lanterns and search the tide pools for shells. Every night we would find at least one or more Sea Snakes stranded in tide pools. They were of the Yellow Bellied species, I believe. Extremely poisonous but not very aggressive.

One time I was snorkling in very shallow water with maybe only 6 inches between my belly and the sand. A sea snakeslithered under my belly sticking its head in crevaces looking for worms or small fish. It did not even seem to notice that I was directly over it. I sucked my belly in and the snake swam up by my mask and went on about its merry way. 

Another time I was in about 60 feet of water on scuba. I looked up and a 3 foot snake was entwined in my bubbles above my head. It seemed to be enjoying playing in them. I basically ignored him and went about my dive.

Then once I was with a partner when I noticed that he was frantically pointing towards the surface and blowing bubbles like he was in serious trouble. We both surfaced and he immediately asked me if I was okay. I said sure, why? He said he saw a large (aabout 5 feet) brown sea snake strike me as I swam around a coral head. These brown snakes are not real common but they are agressive. Anyway, he was sure I had been bitten. We looked at my wet suit top and sure enough there were a couple of small pin prick holes near my shoulder. I never saw the snake. 

Many Okinawans get bitten while fishing. They catch the snakes in their nets along with fish. When separating the fish from the trash sometimes they get bitten. The yellow bellied sea snakes have very small mouths and about the only place where they can really bite you is on a finger or inbetween fingers. We have actually picked them up when we find them in tide pools. They are not real active out of water.

It is rather alarming when scuba diving at night when swimming on the surface and to run face to face into a sea snake swimming on the surface.

John


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## jbwilcox (Jan 2, 2008)

Sometimes I wonder why I even take the time to post on this site. I realize there are some of you who are interested enough to reply to my posts, but out of the 21 replies 8 have been mine.

I am currently in Melbourne Florida at the Days Inn. I arrived here about 11 PM after leaaving Shelton Wshington at 0430 this morning. It has been a long day.

I had a 3 hour layover in Atlanta, then when we went to board the plane they had changed the gate so I had to run to get on the plane. Then we waited an hour for the weather to clear and we were also told the pilots had gone to the wrong gate and were looking for the plane. Finally we took off and made it to Melbourne.

I remember running for an airplane in Tokyo back in 1964. I was a Mormon Missionary heading for Hong Kong. We had a 6 hour layover in Tokyo. There were six of us. They gave us a couple of rooms to rest but if you know how 19-20 year old kids are, we did very little resting. We set out to explore the airport. One Missionary spilled soda on his suit so he decided that he needed to have it cleaned before we left for Hong Kong. The steward came to pick up the suit about 2 hours before our plane was to leave. My friend put on his long overcoat and waited for his suit to return. 1 hour to go and still no suit. Panic set in and he ran out the door only wearing his overcoat looking for the laundry. we all laughed like crazy at the site.

Next another missionary decided he needed a haircut and talked me into going with him. We had only about 40 minutes before the plane was to depart. We finally found a barber shop and sat down hoping for a quick haircut. Little did we know that a hair cut involved a shampoo, a haircut, a massage and a shave! I kept looking at the clock. 15 minutes to go .. .. 10 minutes to go . . . . 5minutes to go. Finally we hear our names on the overhead pager. We are still in the middle of the shave with shaving cream on our faces. Departure time has now arrived and past. I am getting really antsy but my friend is relaxed and enjoying his shave. We hear our names being paged again. Still we continue with the shave. Finally a man in a uniform comes running into the barber shop shouting our names. He pulls us out of the chairs, we wipe some shaving cream off and we all start running through Tokyo airport. As we are running down the concourse we encounter our friend who was looking for his suit. He now has the suit but is still only in his raincoat. He joins us as we race through the crowds towards the gate. We get to the gate and two are allowed to pass but I am stopped for some reason. They start talking in Japanese and gesturing back and forth. The argument becomes rather heated and I am still standing there wondering what the problem is. They start pointing at my passport and by now they are yelling at each other and I am getting really nervous. Afterall, I am supposed to be a Mormon Missionary spreading the gospel and setting a good example and I have not even reached my assigned place of duty yet. Another uniformed guy shows up from Customs. It appears that when we arrived my passport was not stamped so in theory I was not even in the country! I got that information in broken english from the flight attendant from the airplane. After some considerable arguing the customs rep finally stamps my passport and the flight attendant grabs me and we start running again with the customs guy yelling in the background. We run out on the tarmac and they have to retu;rn the boarding ramp so we can get on the plane. As soon as we board, the ramp is removed again and we taxi down the runway and take off. Everyone on the plane erupts in clapping and laughing. THe other missionary was able to lock himself in the lavatory and put his clothes back on.

With this ominous start of our 2 1/2 year mission you might think we would be failures. Not so! We will see if this TRUE adventure generates any responses.

We all served successful missions and had wonderful experiences teaching the Cantonese people in Hong Kong.

Tomorrow is a free day. I hope to do some site seeing and watch a couple of basketball games. Speaking of games, wasn't that Butler game something? I hope they win it all this year.

Monday morning I have to report to Patrick AFB for the flight to Ascension Island.

Thats about it for now.

John


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## Andre Anderson (Jan 3, 2008)

John, 

Don't be dismayed at the number or replies look at the number of people that have read it, only 22 replies but over 900 people have looked at and if like me after reading it the first time had to Google to find out where in the world Ascension Island is. I have enjoyed the travel log so far and am looking forward to new posts with photos as your stay in the middle of nowhere progresses. So keep the faith and keep the rest of us informed as how the trip is progressing.


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## John J (Dec 29, 2007)

yea John 
Some of my Post don't get much response but then I also look at the number of peoplel who read it. 

JJ


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## jbwilcox (Jan 2, 2008)

I got up this morning and drove to Patrick AFB. I found the terminal where my flight will leave from and I found the building where I meet my contact tomorrow morning. Patraick AFB is a very pretty base. 











After checking out the base I went to Kennedy Space Center. It was a great experience.









This is me at Kennedy Space Center. I cannot figure out how to put a caption on the picture itself. I guess I need to take some lessons from Blackburn 49 on how to post images and pictures.

I was once again reminded of the 1969 moon landing and how exciting it was to watch it on TV. It was one of those moments that made me extremely proud to be an American. Just think -- we had the audacity to show every step of the trip on live TV. We had no idea what the outcome would be but we were confident and open enough as a country to show everything as it happened. On the other hand, the Russians hid all their failures and only showed their successes. That shows the difference between the two countries and how we operated during the cold war.

Those were days when I was very proud to be an American. Sometimes I wonder what has caused us to slip so much over the past 40 years. I do not feel that kind of pride anymore. I feel like we are taking a back seat to several other countries. American pride is at a low point in my life. I want this country to be a strong leader. I want the Congress to get together and make some difficult decisions to get this country back on track. We can still be the greatest country in the world.

I will get off my soapbox now before i get in real trouble.

I really enjoyed the simulated blast off of the space ship. I had never seen the Saturn 5 rocket up close. It was amazing. The complexity of the shuttle is almost beyond belief yet it has worked well with two exceptions. 










The early space pioneers that gave their lives in the name of progress were brought back to my memory. I learned new facts about Apollo 11 moon landing. Armstrong threw away the flight plan over the last 2 minutes of the landing. Had he landed where they were programmed to land, they might never have been able to return. Then I remember how Aldrin used a part of his pen to toggle one of the switches when they found it had been broken.

Tomorrow I head for Antiguq for a 3 hour layover then a 7 hour flight to Ascension Island.

I learned that Ascension Island played a very important part in tracking most of the space vehicles.

Only 2 more shuttle expeditions before the program is phased out. The end of an era.

John


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## jlcop (Jan 2, 2008)

I didn't notice that anyone had posted this but here is link to some train stuff about Ascension Island. 

http://railwaysofthefarsouth.co.uk/11csthelena.html 

John


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## jbwilcox (Jan 2, 2008)

Just a short note to let those who care know that I actually arrived on Ascension.

Iwill not have good internet access until later this week when I will try to post some pictures.

I actually wrote an account of the first week of my trip but it is a Word DOcument. I do not know if I can actually post it here or not.

Anyway,

This place is really interesting. 

John


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## Andre Anderson (Jan 3, 2008)

John,

Glad to hear that you arrived safely. Keep us informed. You would think with all the stuff that NASA and the two Air forces have going that an internet connection would be the last of your worry's.


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## ShadsTrains (Dec 27, 2007)

Glad you made it safe John. I've been following your adventure.. You can't directly post a doc, but you can copy and paste out of one.


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## ThinkerT (Jan 2, 2008)

I *knew* I'd read somewhere about there being a railway on that island!


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## John J (Dec 29, 2007)

I was Just about to ask. "Are you there yet?"


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