DAY 7 TUESDAY MARCH 31 - ANOTHER EMERGENCY DRILL

Today marks our first week at sea.  We went to Deck 7 at 6am to walk around in the dark watching the dawn break.

Then we watched the sun come up almost directly behind the ship.  Very unusual to see it peep over the watery horizon. 

  Unfortunately it hid behind clouds by lunch time and we had rain this afternoon.  We are crossing the bight today but the movement on the ship is still only minor.

Malcolm went to two sessions on using iMovie to make your own video movies.  Quite helpful, but I hope I can remember enough for when a chance comes to make one.

The ship's company had an emergency drill at 10am till 11,  dealing with smoke alarm and man overboard.  When they line up on deck they make a formidable army.

The ship's doctors are busy because this cold has spread widely, apparently ever since the World Tour started in Southampton.  We are still not fully recovered, so we sat at our own separate table for breakfast and lunch.

The restaurant food and service is as good as we have ever experienced anywhere and the musical entertainment is excellent every day, all day.

DAY 6 MONDAY MARCH 30 - AT SEA IN THE SOUTHERN OCEAN

We are both less than 100% today and had a restless night.  Lyn woke at 6am and went outside to get some fresh air. The ship was scheduled to leave at 8am after last night's delay due to necessary repairs.  But it was announced that an ambulance was on its way and there would be another hour's delay.  Then another announcement informed us that they were now waiting for a second ambulance and if it arrived soon we would be clear to leave.  It took some time and just as it arrived the captain announced that the Port Authority had decided that our pilot was to be taken to another ship that was waiting to be escorted in through the channel.  We saw no evidence that another ship was coming in.

Finally we left our berth at 10:30am and many people lined the portside rails to watch the ship move sideways at a perfect angle.  The captain gave 3 long blasts on the ship's horns as we left to signify the three delays we had this morning.  It was a lovely sunny day and people enjoyed watching the Queen glide quietly out through the channel.  We saw 6 dolphins examine the ship and numerous cormorants tried to impede our bow.  The captain gave the three blast signal three more times as we left.

They probably do not have many cruise ships call here, so a news helicopter circled us twice to get footage of the grande dame.

  The pilot climbed onto his tender and gave us a wave before heading for a car carrying ship coming in.

We wandered around the ship and saw people playing shuffle board:

Every day they give us a list of activities to join in. Very extensive:

We had a lazy day as we were recovering from our cold.  Hope tomorrow is better.  The weather at sunset was perfectly clear and we saw big rolling waves hitting us from the south west, causing a pitching movement, but the stabilisers are preventing any roll. 

DAY 5 SUNDAY MARCH 29 - ADELAIDE

We both woke with head colds today, in spite of washing and desanitising our hands a dozen times a day.  We found later that Carolyn, our meal mate, had a similar problem.  This is a situation that the crew are unhappy about, because it can spread so quickly on board, so we kept to ourselves where possible today.  Lyn used her usual hair dryer trick to try and kill the virus.  

At 9 o'clock we tried to disembark but found the queue was too l-o-n-g, so sat down on a lounge for half an hour and the queue disappeared.  Cunard provided coaches to drive us into the city, as the port was 45 minutes from the town centre.  We stopped for 15 minutes at a bridge while a wooden sailing boat passed through.

The driver dropped us at Rundle Mall at 10:30 and by 12:15 we had achieved all we wanted to do and headed back to the ship, passing through Victoria Square, where we saluted Colonel Light and the Queen called Victoria.

The world cup cricket was played on Sky so we settled down in our stateroom for the duration.

Another big group of travellers joined the ship and went for their safety drill at 5pm.  The ship was due to depart at 5.30pm,  but the captain announced that there was repair work needed which would not be completed till 10pm.  The Port Authority determined that it was unsafe to navigate through the narrow and shallow channel in the dark.  So we leave at 8am tomorrow but will arrive in Fremantle on schedule.

This is the channel:

And this is our view of the Adelaide Hills from our level of the ship.

Another great game of cricket!

DAY 4 SATURDAY MARCH 28 - THE SOUTHERN OCEAN

We started the day after a sleep-in by walking several times around the deck at level 7.  It was still quite cool and windy and the ship was rolling and pitching a little.  The captain said later that the stabilisers  were working well.  It is much steadier than a container ship would be.

During the day we went to a lecture on forensic dentistry that made reference to the air crash in France and the dental work that would be needed there.  The news channel later informed us that no intact remains had been found among the wreckage, so identification there will be a terrible job. The speaker used the Black Saturday fires in Victoria, which she was involved in, to illustrate how it is done.

After lunch in the buffet we listened to the steel drum band Vibz again.

 After this we went to a film in the planetarium narrated by Robert Redford.  It was called "Passport to the Universe" and included some ideas on how to avoid asteroids hitting the earth.  We spent an hour in the Apple computer room where "Mitch" Mitchell raced through the basics of Mac computing.

After dinner, alone at our table for 6 again,  we listened to a harpist then had an early night because we could feel a cold coming on.  Tomorrow we explore Adelaide.

DAY 3 FRIDAY MARCH 27 - MELBOURNE

Today is a shore day and we woke to find the ship in Port Philip Bay approaching its berth in Melbourne.  At breakfast the Captain announced that we had experienced very strong headwinds during the night, gusting to 90 knots.  It was Bass Strait versus Queen Mary 2 and we slept peacefully through it.  We have yet to feel more than a slight roll on board; it seems much more stable than any container ship we have been on.

Cunard provided coaches to take us into Federation Square but many streets in the city were closed because Malcolm Fraser's funeral was on, so it was a slow trip, taking a long detour.  We find that Federation Square is an interesting place to explore and we used the free wi-fi to update the blog and check emails while enjoying a banana milkshake for Malcolm and a genuine cappucino  for Lyn.  Kirra Gallery is a shop that sells works of art in glass and we saw some pieces by Maureen Williams who had done the inaugural Larapinta Trek with us.

We enjoyed walking around the Art Gallery upstairs and seeing the originals of many famous Australian works by McCubbin, Tom Roberts, Hans Heysen, etc.

  Malcolm paid $15 to view 23 cars that demonstrated the genuine "Designed and Made in Australia" character.  There was a Holden concept car that looked very sleek.

One very early steam car:

Then there was a Torana GTR concept car that David our son would appreciate.

Malcolm was chuffed to see a 1934 Ford V8 in the form of a ute.

We found "information" people standing on corners in Swanston St and they helped us locate a jeweller to replace a battery in Malcolm's Suunto watch and a Post Office to buy stamps and post a letter.  We hate crowded big cities where minor activities like these are so difficult.

We took the Cunard free bus back to the ship, but it took us half an hour to get back on board and had to show our ship ID cards four times.  Later the captain apologised for the delays; the security seems over the top.  We were all supposed to be back by 4pm but two passengers were not back at 5pm and the crew were anxious to move the ship off.  We have seen that happen nearly ever time people get off the bus on a tour, but on a cruise it is a shocking sin. We were moored next to the Spirit of Tasmania, which we were able to look down on.

We had a quiet dinner in the Brittania restaurant as Carolyn and Judith ate in the buffet and Joan and Geoff were absent again.  We had duck and venison to eat - so yummy.  We ran into Carolyn after dinner and shared a few laughs with her. 

There was a string quartet playing divine music in the bar and we got them on video.

DAY 2 THURSDAY MARCH 26 - FIRST DAY AT SEA

After a night of intermittent sleep we rose at 7am, descended to level 7 and walked twice around the deck being overtaken by the fast walkers and joggers.  We could see land on the starboard side and guessed we were near Bega or Eden.  Our breakfast was on level 2 in the lower Brittania Restaurant near the stern.  We asked for a table with other guests and had interesting conversations with Derek and Liz, Donna and Kevin, and David and Rosemary.  Learning names during meals will probably be found to be pointless in the long run if we meet different people every day at breakfast and lunch.

We looked for a cafe where Lyn could have a good cappuccino for morning tea, but only found one and it was overcrowded.  There are several places where alcohol can be consumed all day.

We tried out the sun lounges on the deck, which were tempting and popular.

The deck is over 300 meters long and looks  to converge to a point at the end.

 We are finding the swimming pools and spas as we explore.  At the bow deck there are 6 big silver "sculptures" which the crew have dubbed the "commodore's cuff links".

We read later that they were actually spare blades for the ship's propeller screws, so they are designed to be shaped for maximum thrust.

After more exploring we returned to the Brittania room at noon for lunch where we shared a table with three couples again and enjoyed sharing conversations with them.  After lunch the southerly and westerly winds made walking the deck a slow process.

Several sections of the ship were closed off for safety.  The Boardwalk cafe is on the deck at level 12, but was closed because of the wind.  We will try it for coffee another day.  We found the covered pool which was a warm spot and well patronised.  A Caribbean band from St Lucia was performing and it featured a chromed steel drum; first time we had seen one being played close up.  They were very entertaining.

We dressed up in our "glad rags" for the formal dinner and felt many years younger and ready to pretend to be posh.  The waiter agreed to take our photo.

Lyn looked "a million dollars".  Only Carolyn and her mother Judith were at our table and kept us laughing all through dinner.  Carolyn told us she had worked as an enrolled nurse until retirement.

The dinner was the same style as last night except for the upgrade in dress.

Our waiter is called Randy and is a very good-looking man with a nice smile.  By coincidence he was also our randomly assigned waiter at breakfast.  He told us he would be on our table all the way to Southampton but he will not go home to the Philipines until June.  We should count our blessings.

After dinner we did not want to go to the Ball in the Queens Room as it did not start until after the 8.30 meal sitting.  Instead we went to the Wintergarden and listened to a German Dixieland band which had a very similar repertoire to our "U Bouddi" band at home.  The winds were strong and all the outside decks were closed for the night.

DAY 1 WEDNESDAY MARCH 25 - BOARDING THE QUEEN MARY 2

Over the last three weeks we have had a farewell breakfast, morning tea, lunch, three afternoon teas, a dessert and a dinner.  Now it is time to justify all the kind messages of good will and actually do some adventurous travelling.

Farewell to our many walking and working friends in Killcare, whom we shall miss over the coming seven months.

And farewell to the most beautiful place in the world, Bouddi National Park. We shall still believe that to be true after our trip to 27 countries.

We started the day with final house cleaning jobs and repacking our luggage. Evelyn arrived at 9 o'clock and we gave her final instructions on looking after our mail and living in our house.  She will move her family in next Thursday.

We rang Telstra to suspend our landline until we return and to disconnect our mobile broadband from April 2 when we leave Australia at Fremantle.

Our embarkation card directed us to board at 1pm and we were finally ready to depart at 11am.  Evelyn took a short course from us on recharging the imiev (Mitsubishi electric vehicle) then drove us to Woy Woy station in it.

 Lyn had a wheeled suitcase and an Australian Geographic backpack as well as a shoulder bag.  Malcolm had a hybrid backpack with wheels, a red backpack, a suit bag with a shoulder strap and a bum bag and a camcorder bag.  We hope to leave the suit bag at our hotel in Southampton until we return to the QM2 on August 11.

We said farewell to our favourite station at Woy Woy

and had a very slow trip into town behind freight trains.  At Circular Quay we had our first view of the ship and it was bigger than we thought.  As we walked towards it the ship seemed to remain the same size but we felt smaller and smaller.

Robyn and Frances were waiting for us at the Overseas Passenger Terminal and gave us a great sendoff.

We passed smoothly through all the formalities and arrived at our stateroom at 2:20pm. Our luggage arrived soon after and it only took a few minutes to unpack and store everything in its place for the next 40 days.  We did an initial exploration of the ship, but it will probably be only when we get to Adelaide that we know where everything is.  There are 20 different restaurants and bars.
This is the where you enter the centre of the ship:

QUEEN'S LOBBY

At 5pm all the day trippers returned and the captain called the mandatory emergency safety drill and we were directed to the Wintergarden with our life jackets for practice in putting them on.  He assured us that seven short blasts followed by one long blast did not mean "abandon ship", it was just an emergency signal.  Back in our room on level 11 we dressed for an "informal" dinner at 6pm in the Brittania Restaurant on level 3.  Men have to wear long trousers, jacket, and enclosed shoes, Tie is optional. Women wear a cocktail dress or co-ordinated outfit and sandals are allowed.

We had chosen to register for a table of six and we will be with four others for dinner every day.  We met a couple called Joan and Geoff from Kurrajong and then a mother and daughter called Judith and Carolyn who flew down from Hervey Bay.  We were all starting our trip today and going to Southampton.  There were waiters everywhere and the meal was very pleasant.

We climbed up to level 7 to go outside on the promenade and watch the mighty ship being piloted to the heads at 7:30pm.  Just overwhelmingly beautiful with the bridge

 and the Opera House at twilight.

We were standing next to a couple who said to us: "We hate to admit it, but this harbour is really beautiful."  They were from Melbourne.

We walked right around the deck, which is something we hope to do several times per day, then retired to our rooms and by 9pm we could not keep our eyes open after all the excitement of the last week.

DAY -14 THOUGHTS ON PLANNING THE TRIP

After having the time of our lives on our trip around the world without flying in 2012, we were keen to do the same again.  This time we would travel anticlockwise and we would use cruise ships instead of container ships to cross the oceans.

Of course this is a very expensive project, so we initially thought 2016 would give us enough time between trips to save up.  But in June 2014 that seemed too far away, so we opted for 2015 and hoped we would have enough money to cover it.  The budget for the seven months that we would be away was set at $80,000 and if expenses ended up $10,000 more, we guessed we might just keep in the black.

In 2014 we booked two short holidays with Luxury Escapes; one to Port Macquarie and one to Fraser Island.  We found these deals to be very good value, so we kept our eye on their offers and ended up booking three holidays in Europe through them:

    1. Four days at a resort in Zillertal in Austria.
    2. Seven days at a resort in Tuscany in Italy.
    3. Ten days on a Sun Island bus tour around Turkey.

In addition, we purchased 11 days in an apartment in Dinan in Brittany through friends in Killcare, and a week in Thollon-Les-Memises in Savoy through another group of friends in Killcare.

Altogether these five bookings formed the backbone of our itinerary and we were able to fill in the gaps around them to our satisfaction.  The main items of interest to us in between these dates were:

   1. Visiting Cambridge where our daughter Catherine and her husband John have been living for two              years.
   2. Staying at St Anton am Arlberg where our daughter Evelyn worked years ago.
   3. Going to Novi Sad in Serbia to meet our new daughter-in-law and her children.  She married our            
       son Philip in June 2014.

We used the Helloworld travel agency in Woy Woy to arrange the three cruises needed to cross the  oceans:

   1. Queen Mary 2 from Sydney to Southampton via Cape Town.
   2. Queen Mary 2 again from Southampton to Halifax in Canada.
   3. Holland America Line Volendam from Vancouver to Sydney in October.

In order to cross Canada without flying we used a Canadian company called Fresh Tracks to plan a trip by train that allowed us to see all the cities and sights along the way.  This was the most expensive part of the trip but after our experience on the Trans-Siberian Railway in 2012 we knew that a personalised trip is the best way to go.

Helloworld also arranged our four day Select Britrail Pass and our three month Continuous Global Eurail Pass.

We booked most of our hotels in advance this time, using Booking.com and Hotels.com

In order to work out how to travel each day in England and Europe, we used a website called Rome2rio, which suggests how to travel between any two spots on Earth by train, plane, bus, car or foot.  For train trips it links with Rail Guru which gives train times and links to buy tickets.  This was very handy.  We supplemented this advice with many hours exploring the national timetables of France, Germany, Austria, Switzerland and Italy. The Deutsche Bahn website DB was the most comprehensive.  Out travel in Eastern Europe was guided by the website of The Man in Seat 61 (Mark Smith).

The back-up resources we used for train travel planning were two books we bought from England:

On Thursday March 12 the Queen Mary 2 will be in Sydney Harbour to meet with the Queen Victoria.We plan to meet Dave and Angela Hartley from Western Australia on Friday March 6 at Circular Quay before they embark on their ship to the US the next day.
QM2 will be doing a cruise around New Zealand until March 25 when we embark. We have paid for four shore excursions: Mauritius, Port Elizabeth, Cape Town and Canary Isles.  This is a photo of QM2 we have put in our travel file last May: