Welcome to the final part of our special Blogs celebrating the first Rendezvous of Queen Elizabeth and Queen Mary 2 in Sydney. Thank you as always for all your great comments; it was an incredible two days but reading Peter’s Blog on Friday, and your comments, certainly brought a new and very moving perspective to our Rendezvous.

It’s always great to read your comments and to hear from Cunard enthusiasts from around the world. On Queen Elizabeth we enjoy celebrating the previous Queen Elizabeths, and it’s lovely to hear about memories guests have from both ships. For fans of QE2 you may be interested in Martha Hufford’s blog which takes a nostalgic look at the longest serving Cunarder. You can find her QE2 Blog at www.linerlady.com.

Back down under and while the Remembrance Service was taking place on Queen Mary 2, Queen Elizabeth let go of her lines and eased back out of her berth at Circular Quay. It was fantastic to see how many people in Sydney spent their lunch hour coming out to bid us farewell from the dockside and from the steps of the Sydney Opera House.  As we backed out waving at the crowds, we could see our Flagship ready to salute us as we sailed out of this beautiful harbour.

As we played some great Australian music Captain Burgess expertly turned Queen Elizabeth so that she had the iconic Sydney Harbour Bridge behind her as she headed out of the harbour.

The decks were lined with guests and crew admiring the view and soaking up the wonderful atmosphere. It’s not often you get to be able to take a photo like this:

As we passed Fort Denison there was another tremendous photo opportunity with one of Sydney’s many ferries alongside us, putting our enormous size in to perspective:

And then Queen Mary 2 came in to view and the two sisters started exchanging whistles, much to the delight of guests on both ships and the many locals on craft around us as well as on the shore line.

Meanwhile I was delighted to receive some photos from Queen Mary 2, and of course they had a wonderful view of the latest Cunarder heading on her way that afternoon.

And here she is again coming in to full view as the horns and whistles blew:

And then as Queen Elizabeth headed out of the harbour, there was an opportunity for one last glimpse of Queen Mary 2, still making a beautiful impression on the Sydney skyline. It was the last time the sisters were in port together until they meet again in Civitavecchia (the port for Rome) on 13 April near the end of their World Voyages.

Later that afternoon Queen Mary 2 headed south to New Zealand by which time Queen Elizabeth was already well on her way to Melbourne. After a day at sea she arrived in the capital of the state of Victoria, and we were lucky that James Morgan, who had taken so many fantastic photos of the Rendezvous in Sydney, was there to capture Queen Elizabeth’s arrival.

What a beautiful picture of our Queen. Here is another great photo as Queen Elizabeth came along side her berth for the day’s visit, and despite the early arrival, you can see there were plenty of guests enjoying the moment on their balconies.

Well, that’s it for this Blog but I’ll be back soon with news of Cunard’s Star of the Year as well as a guest Blog from Queen Victoria’s meeting with Queen Mary, and lots of other news from around the fleet including the 2011 World Voyages. Cheers for now, Alastair

Welcome to the third of four special Blogs celebrating the first Rendezvous of Queen Elizabeth and Queen Mary 2 in Sydney. Over those two amazing days the city was buzzing with excitement but on the second day there was a more poignant occasion as Cunard commemorated the arrival of the first Queen Elizabeth and Queen Mary as troop ships in 1941. Cunard’s President and Managing Director, Peter Shanks was there and takes up the story;

President’s Blog

Peter Shanks

President and Managing Director

Cunard Line

On Queen Mary 2’s second day in Sydney I was honoured to be at an event that was to prove remarkable. Here we were in Sydney Harbour with Queen Elizabeth and Queen Mary 2, 70 years to the month from when Queen Elizabeth and Queen Mary met in Sydney in 1941. They were there to take Australian troops to support the war effort in Singapore, and we had decided some time back to see if we could find any Australian Veterans to join us to commemorate the occasion. Let me describe the scene;

• Queen Mary 2 is berthed at the Garden Island Naval Base, surrounded by the Australian Fleet
• There are 50 young cadets in uniform to help our Veteran guests up the gangway;  remarkably we had found 72 veterans who had set sail on Queen Mary in 1941, and their average age today is 92 years old
• We were very pleased to be honoured by the presence of the head of the Australian Army, Navy and Air Force who were there with other dignitaries to pay tribute to these remarkable men
• We met on the aft deck with a view over Sydney Harbour Bridge. The Navy Band stood to attention, a Guard of Honour took their position and many hundreds of our guests watched from the higher decks.

I my speech I said;

‘On behalf of Cunard Line and those of us who are proud custodians of the Line’s 170 year heritage, it is an honour to be in the presence of veterans who, seventy years ago sailed to war on Queen Mary and Queen Elizabeth. I am sure many memories are flooding back to you today. For every one of you marching on board was a sentinel moment in your life. Like you, we know that behind the smiles and the high spirits, there was also the grim reality of war. For many of your mates who sailed out of Sydney Harbour it was to be their last sight of home. We salute your efforts and you will be forever remembered with greatest respect by Cunard Line. Lest We Forget’

We went on to lay wreath, provide a blessing, a hymn and a very moving Ode, Last Post and Rouse.

Shortly after we sang the Australian and British National Anthems, and as we gazed out into Sydney Harbour lost in reflection of the moment, into view came Queen Elizabeth as she sailed past on her way out of Sydney. Yes there were tears all round.

Remarkable and Great Men…… This is a lovely picture of one of the veterans alongside the wreaths. What is remarkable is that this gentleman in his mid-90’s, brought with him the very kit bag and hat that he took up the Queen Mary gangway in 1941.

A humbling story to stop you in your tracks….I had a long chat with a 92 year old Veteran by the name of Charles Edwards;  a remarkable man. He told me how he sailed to Singapore on Queen Mary in 1941, went into battle and then spent 1,301 days in a Prisoner of War Camp. I was listening to his story in awe and could not speak. He described that he did not see daylight for many months with his job being in the kitchens to prepare the rice and cabbage water for his colleagues. He described day 1,301. He was in the dark, in the kitchens, when an incredible white light came through the cracks of the walls. He looked across to his friend who had a white halo light above his head, white light surrounded them both and he described how that was his time, he was passing to a different world, and strangely it seemed painless and he was almost relieved. But that was not the end; the light was followed by the kitchen doors blowing open and a hot sensation washing over them both. Charles then said ‘ As I walked out into the blinding light and warmth, I looked up and saw an enormous mushroom cloud, I was 60 kilometres from Hiroshima and for me the war was finally over’.

I was so humbled, I was in the presence of a great and beautiful man and I shall not forget meeting Charles Edwards, and his many colleagues.

The man who save Queen Mary…… Yes I am afraid there is more to this blog. In 1945 Cyril Butcher was serving in the air force flying 18 hour missions in Liberators out of Belfast, Northern Ireland. His task was to protect warships and convoys. Late in that day’s mission he spotted and attacked a U-Boat. He was unable to sink it and ran out of ammunition. As he flew on through a rain squall he was amazed to see he was right over Queen Mary in the mid Atlantic. He flew low over the ship and used his radio to warn the Queen Mary of the U-Boat lying just six miles ahead. Queen Mary immediately altered course and avoided the risk. Cyril Butcher from then on was known as ‘The man who saved Queen Mary’. And remarkably at 92 years young, here he was standing next to me on Queen Mary 2. And as you can see from the picture he looks as fit as a fiddle.

Amongst much camaraderie we treated the Veterans to lunch in the Britannia Restaurant. Of course the tucker was a little better that they had last time onboard a Cunard Line. They told us stories of smuggling a Kangaroo onboard, of drinking a little more beer on the ‘wet canteen’ that they should have, and of pretending to be a Senior Officer to grab a cabin rather than a bunk.

So we have certainly had a very interesting time down under. World Voyage Dinners, Press Conferences and Travel Agent Presentations, much time spent with our valued guests, the meeting of the two Queens, valuable time spent meeting with the ship’s company and a bridge climbed. But as I prepare to fly home the highlight of my trip is set in stone; I met Charles Edwards and I met Cyril Butcher and I feel humbled, privileged and enriched for having done so.

Best Regards

Peter Shanks

President and Managing Director

Thank you Peter for such a moving Blog. It is truly remarkable to look back and hear stories like this from such brave men.

Just after the Remembrance Service, visitors, guests and crew were able to see Queen Elizabeth leaving her berth at Circular Quay and make her way past her Flagship, and I’ll have pictures from both ships in the last part of our Sydney rendezvous Blogs on Monday.

Cheers for now, Alastair

What an amazing day last Tuesday was, and another milestone in Cunard’s 171 year history. In the first of three Blogs we will go back to those two very special days, and to begin today’s blog, it’s a pleasure to hear about the arrival of our two Queens from our President and Managing Director, Peter Shanks.

President’s Blog

Peter Shanks

President and Managing Director

Cunard Line

Each year I venture down to Australia and New Zealand to spend time on our ships as they reach the half way point of their World Voyages. It is a long way from my front door, my family and my trusted Labrador, and I have to admit it was quite a daunting prospect to be away from the family and away from the office for such a long time. But I have to tell you we have encountered some very moving moments down under on Queen Mary 2 and Queen Elizabeth and I would like to share some of those moments with you.

Welcome home……after a 27 hour flight, and struggling to get to grips with a 13 hour time difference, I arrived onboard Queen Elizabeth in Auckland. I was greeted by our Hotel Manager, Robert Howie, who said: “Welcome home”. After such a long journey and in the familiar surroundings of Queen Elizabeth, I really did feel at home amongst my Cunard colleagues and loyal guests. It was a busy time in Auckland and Wellington as there was so much interest from the local press. There were also presentations to Travel Agents and the first highlight of the trip; the Queen Elizabeth World Voyage Dinner. In line with Cunard tradition, we take all of our full world voyage guests out to dinner to thank them for coming with us. It was a marvellous evening, including a full New Zealand ‘Hakka’ to welcome our guests. We’ll have a separate post about that next week after I return from Queen Mary 2’s World Voyage Dinner which will also be in Auckland.  As Queen Elizabeth left Wellington, I flew to Sydney to prepare for the arrival of our two Queens.

Oh Dear……….quite an amusing moment on Sunday morning as I became a tourist and took a two hour Captain Cook’s tour around Sydney Harbour. It turned out that there were about 200 people on the boat; 199 Holland America guests and me. As much as I respect our sister cruise line, I could not helping seeing the funny side as the lady providing the harbour commentary spent most of the two hours telling all the Holland America customers about the pending arrival of Cunard Line and their two Queens. So I kept my hat on, head down and enjoyed the irony of the moment.

The magical arrival of two Queens……..Fast forward to 0600 on Tuesday morning. I am standing on the steps of the Sydney Opera House surrounded by thousands of people. Some had paused on their morning jog, some had stopped by on their way to work but all had come to see the arrival of Queen Mary 2 and Queen Elizabeth. There was a marvellous feeling of expectation in the air; where were they, would they be on time and would they come in together, but I had every faith in our Captains.

Then round the headland and into the incredible Sydney Harbour came Queen Mary 2. I have seen her so many times, but back came the goose pimples and all around me I could sense the excitement. But hang on a minute, where was Queen Elizabeth? I could not stand the suspense so I called a colleague on the Bridge of Queen Elizabeth to be told ‘don’t panic we are just coming round the corner’. And round she came; the two ships approached Fort Denison as the sun came up.

There were nine news helicopters in the sky above us, and both ships were a wall of flash bulbs as over 4,600 Cunard guests were treated to a moment they would never forget.

I was proudest person lucky enough to be standing on the steps of Sydney Opera House. After much whistle blowing Queen Elizabeth and Queen Mary 2 headed for their respective berths.

It was apparent that Cunard had arrived in Sydney and we were set for an interesting 24 hours!

Thank you Peter for a great perspective of this incredible day. For all of us on Queen Elizabeth it was so wonderful to be guided in by our Flagship, and as she turned in front of the Sydney harbour bridge she looked so graceful.

As she came even closer you could almost hear the cheers from Queen Mary 2’s guests, if it wasn’t for all the cheering from our guests!

Then as our sister headed for her berth, Queen Elizabeth started to turn towards Circular Quay, with the magnificent Sydney Harbour Bridge creating a wonderful backdrop for our stay.

Sydney is always a highlight for our crew as well as our guests and for our Australian crew on board it’s a fantastic homecoming. For one of our Hair Stylists in the Royal Spa, this was an opportunity to meet up with family members after four months away. Beverley Chilcott, from Brisbane, has worked on all four Queens and was very excited to see a banner from her parents and children on the quayside as we got closer:

By 7.00am Queen Elizabeth was nearly at her berth as Queen Mary 2 edged towards hers, but you could still see her iconic red funnel above the trees.

As Queen Elizabeth got closer and the lines were being tied up, we could see Peter Shanks, on the quayside being interviewed by the Sydney TV news programmes.

I’ll have more pictures from Sydney in a couple of days but talking of reunions you may be interested to hear of another important date coming up. On 3 March maritime history will be made, when Queen Victoria and Queen Mary will meet for the first time.  At approximately 6:00pm, Queen Victoria will sail into Long Beach Harbour to meet Queen Mary, and the two ships will exchange whistle salutes amidst a sparkling fireworks display.

This rendezvous marks only the second time in Cunard’s history that a modern Queen has visited her docked sister ship; the first was in February 2006 when, on her maiden call to Los Angeles, Queen Mary 2 met her namesake.

This historic event also signals the celebration of a significant milestone:  the upcoming 75th anniversary of Queen Mary’s maiden voyage from Southampton, on 27 May 1936. Talking about the event Peter Shanks said:

“After the spectacular Cunard Royal Rendezvous in New York with our three modern Queens back in January, it is quite fitting that we continue the grand celebration on the West Coast. Queen Mary is an important part of our history and legacy and what better way to salute her than with a visit from Queen Victoria to celebrate the completion of her debut Americas season.”

For those not lucky enough to be on Queen Victoria the best viewing location will probably be on the Promenade deck of Queen Mary, at the aft of the ship. The good news is that I understand admission will be free for guests to board the ship to experience her attractions, including different tours, shopping as well as the Observation Bar and dining at the Promenade Café, Sir Winston’s and the Chelsea Chowder House

That’s it for the moment but I’ll be back in a couple of days with part two of the Sydney Rendezvous Blog with some wonderful video footage as well. Cheers for now, Alastair

Countdown to Queen Elizabeth – 216 days

As Queen Victoria left the southern hemisphere, her big sister Queen Mary 2 was being welcomed in New Zealand and Australia. Auckland was a special celebration, as Trelise Cooper, the internationally renowned New Zealand fashion designer, chose Queen Mary 2 as a tableau to display her new collection when Cunard’s flagship paid her third visit to Auckland on 4 March.

One hundred and fifty of New Zealand’s fashion community came together on the top deck of Queen Mary 2 to enjoy the flamboyant colours and the exotic fabrics that are the hallmarks of any of Trelise Cooper’s collections. Her unique approach to style is born out of the adventurous New Zealand spirit, and embraces the quirkiness and originality that comes with living at the edge of the world. Trelise Cooper’s international client base includes Julia Roberts, Liv Tyler, Meg Ryan, Reese Witherspoon and Catherine Zeta Jones and her garments are sold throughout Europe, America, Asia Australia and of course New Zealand.

In addition to the fabulous collection, guests enjoyed an amazing view of Auckland Harbour that only the top deck of Queen Mary 2 can offer, while they enjoyed a cocktail reception of Moet & Chandon champagne and fine canapés laid on by Executive Chef Karl Winkler. Queen Mary 2’s International Band, Vibz entertained VIP’s, guests and media during the event. Sunshine prevailed and the day showcased Queen Mary 2 at her best proving that the models were not the only well dressed ladies in port that day.

Three days later the largest ship to ever visit Australia arrived in Sydney in spectacular style marking the half way point of her 101-day World Voyage, and her third visit to this truly magnificent city. At 5:00pm she slipped through the famous Heads into Sydney Harbour.

Despite the slightly breezy conditions, a welcoming armada was waiting inside the harbour, in the many small coves that grace the Harbour’s edge, ready to greet Queen Mary 2 as she made her way slowly into the channel past Quarantine House on the North Head, and Vauclause Bay in the Eastern Suburbs. Craft appeared from every quarter, and in no time at all Queen Mary 2 was escorted by a growing flotilla of every conceivable variety of pleasure boat, from a jet boat to a water Taxi. 

Several helicopters buzzed the ship with photographers hanging precariously form their sides recording the event for the evening news. Australian flags appeared from the balconies of several staterooms adding to the atmosphere of the occasion. After Captain Bates made his turn off Fort Dennison Queen Mary 2 then backed up towards the iconic Sydney Harbour Bridge.

What a fantastic picture to see Queen Mary 2 from this view, especially when you consider she is two-thirds the length of the bridge and taller than the bridge’s road deck! To huge crowds she then proceeded to pass the famous Opera House, which she seemed to dwarf.

She then headed to her berth in Garden Island docking at 7:00pm 

Guests then went ashore to enjoy their first of two evenings in this amazing city with Queen Mary 2 leaving late the following night. I’d like to thank James Morgan for sending me these fantastic pictures and to David Stephenson, Queen Mary 2’s Hotel Manager, for all his help in putting this Blog together.

As promised I’ll be back tomorrow with a report from Queen Victoria’s World Voyage Dinner and my regular post on Thursday. I did mention it was going to be a busy week! Cheers Alastair

Countdown to Queen Elizabeth – 237 days

A highlight of every World Voyage, is visiting Sydney for two days, and this year on Queen Victoria was no exception. In fact, as you saw on Thursday’s Blog, it included a world first with Queen Victoria being the first ever liner being bathed in pink light. I’ll let our President and Managing Director, Peter Shanks, take up the story in a special guest Blog.

Guest Blog – Peter Shanks – President and Managing Director of Cunard Line:

Tickled Pink Down Under in Sydney…………………… and then I climbed the bridge

It was with a real sense of excitement that I set off from Heathrow for Australia last week. I was on my way to Sydney to see our ship Queen Victoria. Excitement changed to a sense of being rather knackered – it really is a very long way and you lose all sense of which day it is and where you are. I flew on the new Qantas Airbus A380 – it’s a terrific aircraft but any aircraft loses its appeal after 22 hours. Nonetheless I arrived safe and sound with two objectives in mind for the visit – to catch up with my friends and colleagues on board Queen Victoria and to give a well deserved shot in the arm for our colleagues in Carnival Australia who are doing so much to grow Cunard’s awareness in the Australian market.

I thought I would share with you three remarkable things I got up to during my short visit.

Turning Queen Victoria Pink – We worked with the National Breast Cancer Foundation to host an event to launch their fund raising efforts for the year ahead. The champion of the foundation here in Australia is Sarah Murdoch, and what a delightful and famous Australian she is. Many of us find ourselves contributing to charities, but very few people are passionate enough to drive and champion a foundation as brilliant and well deserving as Breast Cancer – so hats off to Sarah and her colleagues. Our little bit to help was to offer Queen Victoria for a reception on the aft deck at sundown. It was an awesome setting; on the port side the Opera House and on the starboard side Sydney Harbour Bridge. But being a Cunard event we had to give a twist. So we thought; how about we turn the ship pink to support such a famous ‘Pink’ charity.

Well the pictures speak for themselves. Not only did we turn the ship pink; the resulting media pictures went right around the world.

That gives us so much pleasure – of course it helps to see a Cunard ship a part of such a fabulous event but to help the charity in a small way is jolly satisfying for all of us.

Climbing the Bridge -The next afternoon I had a few hours to spare prior to setting sail for Melbourne. I thought the only view to have of Queen Victoria would be from the top of Sydney Harbour Bridge. It is something I have always wanted to do. Well, I can now recommend to everybody who visits Sydney to climb the bridge if they can. It is the most well organised I have ever seen. They are meticulous in preparation; medical checks, complete kit of overalls, harnesses, headgear, hats and radios. We were a group of 14 strangers from all over the world, but over the course of three hours became friends through the adventure. I tried not to remind myself that I don’t like heights. Once you get up the ladders onto the top structure – it’s a walk in the park and you climb up the beautiful curve of the bridge. It did not take long until we were right at the top, looking down on one of the most beautiful vistas in the world. But today that vista was even more special because below us was Queen Victoria.

OK, so I stand accused of going to any length to gain positive coverage for the Cunard brand, but I have to admit that having a picture of myself and Queen Victoria from the top of Sydney Harbor Bridge is pretty cool. In fact why don’t I lay down a challenge to see if any of our competitor cruise lines can better that? I very much doubt it.

To the real reason for my visit to Queen Victoria – Many of you will know just how special White Star Service is to Cunard Line, our staff and our valued guests. As we sailed from Sydney to Melbourne we launched the new and revitalised White Star Training Program to the ship’s company. Over three presentations during the day, I was able to share our plans face to face with every member of the ship’s company. We are investing in new training programs, new personal development opportunities, as well as awards for ‘Star of the Month’ and ‘Staff Suggestions’. At the end of the presentations we also gave every member of the ship’s company a small gift, to thank them for their incredible efforts in looking after our guests on the World Voyage. Later that day there was another highlight, as we launched the new Cunard Long Service Awards. Along with senior officers, we presented 33 awards to staff who have been with Cunard for more than 20 years. This included stewards, able seamen, waiters and many others. They each received a special White Star Pin, a certificate and an award commensurate with their length of service.  The longest serving officer was awarded for over 38 years and 7 months of dedicated service to Cunard Line – how special is that?

So we arrive in Melbourne today which presented another chance to share Queen Victoria with travel agents and media guests. Tonight we have our famous World Voyage Dinner in the National Gallery in Melbourne to those guests travelling right round the world with us. Then it’s back to London for me, suitably knackered (technical term), but immensely proud of the team we have on board.

What was the highlight of my visit? No question, it was seeing the pride and delight on the faces of our staff when they received recognition for their dedicated service to Cunard – good for them.

We will be back in Australia next year with both Queen Mary 2 and Queen Elizabeth in Sydney on the same day. And to make it special, it will be the 70^th anniversary of when Queen Mary and Queen Elizabeth met in Sydney in 1941 – I can’t wait…………..

Best Regards

Peter Shanks

Thank you Peter for this guest Blog and I can say that it’s been a busy, but very exciting time on board Queen Victoria. As we said goodbye to Peter we are now heading, for the very first time, along the southern coast of Australia to Adelaide and then Perth. I’ll post some more pictures and news as we go along. Peter mentioned Queen Victoria’s current longest serving officer, and I’ll be interviewing him in a week or so. He is the Crew Housekeeper. His name is John Davies and he has a fascinating story.

I’ll also be back later in the week with a special announcement about Queen Elizabeth along with some new pictures from her under construction in Italy. It’s going to be another busy week of Blogging! Cheers for now, Alastair

Countdown to Queen Elizabeth – 241 days

There are very few harbors in the world that can welcome Cunard Liners quite like Sydney. In fact for me it is up there with New York and Venice for sheer breathtaking views. I have sailed in to Sydney quite a few times and despite having to get up at 5.30am, to watch the sun rise over iconic structures like the Sydney Harbour Bridge and the Sydney Opera House, it’s always worth it. But before I get in to this last week on Queen Victoria’s World Cruise, here’s “This week in Cunard’s History” for the week of the 27^th February to the 5^th March

February 27 2001

Pamela Conover becomes the first woman at the helm of Cunard when she is appointed President and Chief Operating Officer.

February 29 2008

Queen Victoria makes maiden call at Port Douglas.

March 2 1950

Caronia transits the Suez Canal for the first time.

March 5 1975

QE2 makes her maiden call at Kobe, Japan.

So back to our arrival in Sydney; I would have been up on deck early anyway but this time I had to call in to a local radio station to describe the sail in which of course was very easy with so much to see. As it turned out however, they were more interested in Queen Victoria. There is no question that there is something special about Cunard and our ships, that when they arrive in ports around the world, there’s always a tremendous amount of interest. It was also great to see so many of our guests on deck listening to a commentary from the bridge (ours I might add – not the harbor Bridge!) I managed to get on deck as dawn was breaking to take this picture of two of the most famous landmarks in the world with the Cunard house flag in the foreground fluttering in the gentle daybreak breeze.

We are too tall to fit under the Harbor Bridge, so we docked at Circular Quay, which is a perfect place to start discovering Sydney with all the ferries coming and going from there, as well as trains and busses etc. Yet again we were so lucky with the weather with Sydney enjoying its best day of weather for a week or so. This picture shows not only what a stunning place this is to be berthed, but also puts Queen Victoria’s size in to perspective against such an incredible backdrop.

There is so much to do in Sydney and our guests were lucky to have two days to do as much sightseeing as possible, with a few trying the now famous Harbor Bridge Climb which I can thoroughly recommend. There’s a ferry to take you to the beautiful beaches at Manley or a bus to the famous Bondi beach which definitely has a strong English seaside town flavour to it – just a little warmer! There’s a lot to discover and much of it is within a short walk of the ship, such as the historic Rocks district where amoungst all the carefully restored old buildings on George Street, I discovered what claimed to be Sydney’s oldest pub – The Fortune of War.

Convicted of theft, Samuel Terry arrived in Sydney in 1816 and his fortunes definitely changed as he established the pub twelve years later. As he built his property empire he gained the name of the “Rothschild of Botany Bay”! However it burned down and what we see today is a building built in 1922 which means according to the staff at The Lord Nelson up the road on Argyle Street, that they are in fact the oldest hotel in continual use as the same building!

It was built in 1842 and gave me an excuse to have one of their beers brewed on the premises! Then it was time for a bit of shopping and yes I did buy a didgeridoo. I know what you are going to say but – well, I didn’t have one and it seemed a great idea at the time and at least I am not flying home! Little did I know how hard it is to play or even get a sound out of it. However that night back on board Queen Victoria, we had invited a local show featuring Aborigine music and dance, to perform for our guests. I met the leader of the group called Gambala (though for some reason he said I could call him Paul!),

He showed me the technique of how to play this incredible instrument, which is thought to be one of the oldest in the world. He showed me how to play it, but I still couldn’t despite his best demonstration. It takes incredible mouth and diaphragm control as well as loads of practice. Like all things it looked a lot easier than it was – still it’ll look very nice somewhere in a corner at home! The show with the dancers was wonderful as they illustrated how the Aborigine culture can communicate through dance.

They looked fantastic and it turned out to be very much a family affair. With a great deal of pride they showed us how they pass on their traditions through the generations.

All too soon it was time to leave this amazing city, but yet again the crowds gathered to see us off for another year. As we waved our farewells we all had another chance to add to our photo collections – I mean it doesn’t get much better than this does it!

We had two days at sea sailing along Australia’s eastern coast to get to Queensland and the port of Yorkey’s Knob (and before you ask – it’s named after the man who apparently came here at the beginning of the 20^th century and saw a hill that resembled a door knob). It is a small port that serves as a gateway to the City of Cairns, which is a popular destination for tourists. It is also one of the best access points for the Great Barrier Reef which unlike the Great Wall of China, can actually be seen from space. It’s a beautiful part of the world and we just got everyone on board that evening before it started to rain. Wow we have been lucky with the weather – again!

The next day turned out to be Shrove Tuesday which meant another World Cruise tradition was going to take place. It was time for interdepartmental rivalry as 17 teams of the ship’s crew gathered to see who was going to take the crown from the Musicians who won last year. I’ll avoid the obvious jokes about pancake tossing, but I can tell you, so fierce was the competition, that the Britannia Restaurant waiters were divided in to two teams (upper and lower level). After a stewards enquiry as to whether the pancakes had been flipped sufficiently (oh yes it was very competitive!), in the end it was the Britannia Tigers who won the crown. Here are the victorious team pictured with Captain Wright.

Well that’s it for another week but I’ll get you some more news soon as we progress north. Alas as we approach the Equator again on the 27^th our summer will be over again but we will have ports such as Nagasaki, Hong Kong and Shanghai to look forward to. Until then all it leaves me to say is thanks again for reading and for all your comments – keep them coming! Cheers for now, Alastair