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Alison rang us on the way home at about Bacchus Marsh to tell us that our cat Henrietta is dead. While we were sailing across the Great Australian Bight she was hit by a car in Foote Street. We are devastated.

Day 23 at sea - last day

600 people got on in Adelaide and they're like a blood transfusion - new faces at dinner and livelier feet in the corridors: I think they've lowered the average age to 65. As happens with Adelaidians we have friends in common with our dinner companions.

We were awake early keen to see if Cape Douglas would be visible from the ship - but no, grey fog obscured the shore. At about Robe a cray boat zoomed out of the fog to take a look at us: they travelled much faster than we did.

I saved the best till last - abandoned bridge in favour of a classical concert,  the Duo Avante Garde from Hungary who play violin and piano. They were terrific, the best thing on the whole trip, wish I had ditched bridge for their previous three concerts.

Afternoon tea in the Queen Mary Room was unusually popular - obviously Adelaidians get afternoon tea. Another lovely last experience with our favourite Hannah the harpist playing.

The last variety show was fantastic!  The singers and dancers have enormous talent and energy: this show was only the second in 23 days - you have to wonder what they do all day...

Duo Avante Gard

Afternoon Tea

Hannah the harpist 

Day 22 leaving Adelaide

Adelaide turned it on as we left also. David and I decided to forgo the coveted early dinner in favour of farewelling Adelaide from the top deck and it was terrific when we finally left. We waited half an hour for a late man then after the gangway had been pulled up he arrived and hammered on the gates. The kind captain let him on - how embarrassing it must have been!

People lined the Outer Harbour southern breakwater, cheering and waving and a flotilla of small craft on each side accompanied us about 3 kms out to sea which was bathed in a pearly grey light. 

The magic continued after late dinner as we stood on our balcony with the golden glow of Adelaide in the far left distance, a brighter glow that must be Noarlunga, ashore was the dark bulk of the Fleurieu Peninsula sloping down to a string of orange lights that had to be Cape Jervis. We glided gently through Backstairs Passage with a warm wind in our faces and twinkling stars in a velvet sky.

Day 22 ashore in Adelaide

Son Jon picked us up at Outer Harbour where Adelaide turned on a lovely welcome for QM2 passengers with a bush band playing Australian songs. 

We had lunch in the City Centre and bought blankets for Beechwood - no doubt it will start getting cold soon, but a warm day in Adelaide, lots of people around for the Adelaide Cup holiday. 

Back on the ship for afternoon tea in the Queen Mary Room and there was Ruth Mutton on board with her book group until Sydney.

Day 21 at sea off Port Lincoln

Today I collected my prizes for winning bridge - three Cunard pencils: we certainly weren't playing for sheep stations!

We have achieved a permanent seat at table 222 first sitting in Britannia Dining Room.

I paid another visit to my favourite paintings by Rebecca Lardner in the Clarendon Art Gallery. I'm not buying one because the frames are too heavy. 

Britannia dining room

Day 20 at sea Great Australian Bight

It's rough today, rain lashing the promenade deck and a Force 9 wind to keep everyone inside.

Dinner is at Todd English restaurant on Deck 8 aft for which you have to pay extra for each course - and it turns out to be a delicious meal. The service is over-attentive: I don't need to be asked if every course is OK when I am obviously tucking in to it. My entree called Todd's Potato Love Letters was exquisite ravioli containing potato and truffle swimming in butter. 

We drained our wine bottle to the last drop,  a ritual we learned in Europe last year with Bill and Ann then went off to hear a NZ pianist called  Carl Doy who is very good. 

Todd's Potato Love Lettersgetting Bill's drop

draining Bill's drop 

Day 19 at sea

Bananas are back. The news went around the ship like wildfire - which shows you how little real news there is.  Apparently we couldn't take them on board in Darwin as theirs suffer from brown spot.

The Shirley Bassett tribute concert tonight was well received.

Grand Lobby deck 3

Day 18 in Fremantle

Lovely weather, 26' and the Fremantle Doctor blowing gently. We went ashore - keen for terra firma after three days at sea - and wandered around before meeting David's brother Richard and his wife Ilga for a fish lunch at Cicerelli's on the waterfront. They live in Subiaco and we haven't seen them for a year, so lots to catch up on including nephew Michael's engagement.

After lunch we strolled along the waterfront to look at the Dutch replica ship Duyfken from 1606 where Ilga knows one of the attendants. Then off to Cottesloe for afternoon tea at a cafe on the cliff overlooking a famous shark area and cake to celebrate Ilga's approaching birthday.

Not surprisingly we didn't want much dinner but had to front up because it was our first appearance at a permanent early sitting table, where the 6 incumbents welcomed us very nicely.

Day 12 at sea

A fresh contingent of younger people  got on in Darwin,  bringing the average age of passengers down to around 70. After two days of dining room breakfast we've reverted to healthy corner and fresh fruit.

David went to a talk on Time and was disappointed to find it a thinly veiled plug for selling watches: however the talk at midday was better, a female forensic  lawyer from Perth called Judith Fordham  on the subject of Life, Law and Not Enough Shoes.  She has funny anecdotes and promises to tell us all about the Chamberlain case in future lectures.

We won't talk about Margaret and Helen at bridge: ballroom dancing in the Queen's Room was more interesting if you want to know how to tango. We don't but it is a fairly quiet place to read.

Quiet is NOT the word to describe tonight's entertainer, Ellio Pace,  singer and piano player hot from the UK where he is big deal.  His energy is amazing and backed by the QM2 Orchestra he fairly lifted the roof with his rock and roll numbers.  Best was his rendition of Billy Joel numbers. Late dinner and no sign of the Italians who have deserted us for the early sitting.

Day 17 at sea off Shark Bay

The sea has picked up - now designated rough - and for the first time you have to take extra care walking around the ship but it's very stable really. I haven't noticed anyone puking over the railings. I went through  the Grand Lobby where a steel band is playing and  passengers for Fremantle are collecting their duty free liquor: what an enormous amount! I had a latte at Sir Samuel's coffee shop having given up on iced coffee as no-one knows how to make it and even a latte comes in a flat wide cup.

Tonight's entertainment is an English comedian Jeff Stephenson: we'd been told he is funny: well I've never heard David laugh so uproariously. 

Staff assembling duty-free purchases

Day 16 at sea

Shrove Tuesday and there is a pancake race on deck 13 but it's so windy up there - Force 7 - I give it a miss and have pancakes at lunch instead - proper crepes with sugar and lemon. Breakfast with some nice WAers trying not to think about possible bushfires around their house  in the Perth hills and an elderly couple from Pennsylvania who are travelling New York to New York - six months. I guess it beats doing housework.

As promised Judith Fordham gave us the gen on the mis-handled forensics in the Chamberlain case and an infamous Perth miscarriage of justice,  the Andrew Mallard case. The oceanographer talked about tsunamis and how to avoid being caught up in one - stay away from tsunami-prone areas.

Gossip update: 1000 passengers are disembarking at Fremantle and there are another 5 in the morgue since Sydney.

Dinner tonight with elderly couple, daughter and granddaughter Audrey aged 3 who refused to eat and played a game on Mum's phone. Audrey does reduce the average age somewhat.

Day 15 at sea heading to Oz

We're back in Australian waters in the Timor Sea and have to go through immigration. When we boarded in Melbourne they took our passports in  readiness for Indonesia and charged $50 for a visa  whether you went ashore or not: now we have to collect passports from the purser's office and take them to 4 Australian immigration officers in the dining room. (They were very jolly: I bet this is a popular job.)  Our timing was impeccable, missing any lines and  taking  minutes only. 

Judith Fordham continued her lecture series on forensics and the law and Sir Jackie Stewart talked about Formula One racing and his involvement in improving safety - though I missed that one being too busy trying to get an iced coffee which seems to be a mystery to non-South Australians.

Late dinner with a table of people all from the same retirement home in Sydney. Don't think we'll repeat that one.

Books read and rated

Lots of time for reading

Trick or Treat by Kerry Greenwood ***
Lasting Damage by Sophie Hannah ****
Kind of Cruel by Sophie Hannah ****
Them and Us - Americans in Britain by Charles Jennings ***
The House at Sea's End by Elly Griffiths ****
The Anatomy of Ghosts by Andrew Taylor ***
The Blood Royal by Barbara Cleverly ***
A Perfectly Good Man by Patrick Gale ***
The Saint Zita Society by Ruth Rendell ***
Gold by Chris Cleave ****
The Perfect Lie by Emily Barr ****
Jasper Jones by Craig Silvey *****
A Lady Cyclist's Guide to Kashgar by Susan Joinson **
A Willing Victim by Laura Wilson ****
A Trick of the Light by Louise Penny ****
Do Me No Harm by Julie Corbin ***
The Burning Air by Erin Kelly ****
The Sick Rose by Erin Kelly ***
A Bedlam of Bones by Suzette A. Hill **

Day 14 in Bali

QM2 is moored off-shore at Benoa Harbour as she is too big for the wharf which is occupied by the smaller Seabourn Sojourn cruise ship. The view from our balcony is of a flat shoreline - then suddenly a grey fog shifts momentarily and I can see dramatic mountains.

We've been dithering whether or not to go ashore on Bali: by the time we decided yes the official tours were filled except for 6 hours wood carvings and 4 hours at the Grand Hyatt Resort in Nusa Dua. Easy! We chose the Hyatt and have our Bali experience sanitised and Americanized. Gorgeous resort, winding swimming pools overhung with trees and frangipani blossoms floating in the warm water while surf on the ocean beach roars in the background. Attentive Balinese waiters take your credit card away but return it and delicious cold drinks. I could stay here.

But we return at 3pm on the designated tender and go off to dinner at the pop up restaurant La Piazza for a lovely Italian dinner.  The ship is 2 hours late leaving and John at the next table knows why: 1000 passengers were late returning to the tender. I don't know if it's due to traffic jams or reluctance to leave Beautiful Bali.

Day 13 at sea

Let's do a tour of the ship.

Decks A and B are below the waterline and staff only.

Deck 1 is staff mostly: their sleeping quarters with a cabin each, 3 dining rooms where they are waited on,  a pub called Pig and Whistle, storage, medical centre and passenger disembarking into tenders.

Deck 2: the Queen Mary Ball Room, lower level of Britannia Dining Room, Golden Lion pub, art gallery,  photo hard-selling, purser's office, Royal Court Theatre lower level, Illuminations lecture theatre, freezing cold bridge rooms and a maze of rooms of unknown use.

Deck 3 is the most opulent looking as it is the main entrance: on shore days a line of small men wearing page boy suits and white gloves decorates the entrance looking awfully like well-trained monkeys. It would be nice if they held trays of free champagne... Here are impossibly elegant shops including a branch (more of a twig) of Harrods, Sir Samuel's coffee shop, the upper entrances to theatre and dining rooms at opposite ends of the ship, the Chart Room Bar, the Veuve-Cliquot Champagne Bar and round SPACE with nothing in it.

Deck 4 is where our stateroom is - number 4164 aft (at the back) on the port side which means the Australia side as we go around anti-clockwise. We get plenty of exercise traversing the loooong corridors to the bow (front, pointy end) and up and down stairs. There are only staterooms on 4,5,6 and those on the outside all have balconies which leaves an awful lot on the inside without balconies or portholes - ghastly. I like the balcony for drying our washing rather than sending it to the ship's laundry at $40 per bag.

Deck 7 is where it all happens: a promenade deck runs right around where 1.9 circuits = 1Km for walkers or you can annexe a deck chair and look at the sea.  Inside is an endless stretch of buffet dining called King's Court where you can always find a table.  Not quite endless: at the aft is the Princess Grill reserved only for Princess passengers who have paid double what we did and hence have exclusive dining and sole occupation of Deck 11. The class system is alive and well on the QM2. The usual spa and gym takes up a lot of area and there is a swimming pool.

Deck 8 contains the all-important library at the pointy end but to get there you have to walk endless corridors past staterooms.

Decks 9, 10, 11 reserved for Princess passengers,  12 has another swimming pool and open space for Poms adding to their sunburn.

Day 11 gossip

Leaving Darwin and at buffet dinner fell in with some Adelaidians who had all the ship's gossip. 280,000 litres of fuel taken on board today, 8 deaths since Southampton:  you can pay $1000 to have a look in the morgue, says our informant: his mate says if you stop breathing for long enough you can see it for free - pass - 5000 bread rolls baked per day, 1000 bottles of wine per day - we've helped with that score.

Beautiful sunset:

Day 11 unsolicited testimonial

Returning from Darwin city centre David was collared by a man spruiking Australian Blue Cypress Essential Oil. David was fascinated by the science and the genetics and I was interested when he said "has the power of DEET to repel insects and the power of ti-tree oil to remove the stinging."  Thinking of Beechwood's ferocious march flies I bought some spray. At the same time he gave me a sample of cream which I rubbed into my arthritic texting finger which is usually painful.

By the time we got through security and started back to the ship, about 15 minutes, that pain had gone. So David reversed his tracks and went back to buy some cream - we will both try it.

Day 11 Darwin

"Only 29' in Darwin and dry" announced the Captain.  Dry? Humidity is about 80+ and Darwin is full of QM2 passengers wilting in the tropics. We were anxious to disembark after 5 days at sea but I bet there's a rush to get back to the cool comfort we are accustomed to.

Rain comes belting down and we take refuge in a coffee shop where we can download emails and upload blogs: internet access on board QM2 in the harbour is blocked by them unless you sign up to their internet at great cost, which I consider extremely stingy. Luckily I woke early and sent off my backblogs before they got around to blocking.  

In the Mall is a secondhand bookshop with an Aboriginal woman sitting outside working on a painting - I really like it but won't succumb to impulse buying (Beechwood was bad enough). 

Day 11 Port of Darwin

Early morning arrival in Darwin and we gradually edged over to the very long wharf where a few wharfies lounged. I was glad to see them spring into action when the mooring rope appeared at their feet:

Day 10 at sea

 We are crossing the Arafura Sea on a calm sea towards Darwin at full steam ahead at 18 knots  - as announced by the captain at noon.

David has had another hectic day on the lecture circuit and I am happy to say that partner Margaret and I have cracked the bridge: first with 75 %, which entitles us to two stamps on our cards. We had a drink (elderflower mojito) in the Golden Lion pub to celebrate.

For dinner we tried the early sitting: the trick is check which of the two levels is manned by maitre d "mean eyes" and go to the other where "happy eyes" will let you in. Maria sussed this out and it works. The chilled raspberry soup was magnificent. 

In the Golden Lion

David in the corridor on deck 4 where our stateroom is  - I am about halfway  

Day 9 at sea

Today is different because suddenly I can post my blogs. The captain has just announced we are close to Thursday Island in the Prince of Wales Channel which has a communication tower so that must be why. Soon we'll be turning the corner into Torres Strait and going past Wednesday Island. The view from the port side is beautiful - many islands,  aquagreen sea and fluffy white clouds. It's 27'C and a little breeze.

This is the best yet: the morning's parade of islands and even a town with this lovely sparkling sea - I haven't read a word, too busy just looking and will have to miss line dancing.

Then two Black Hawk helicopters from Townsville flew over - who was looking at whom?

Thursday Island

Day 7 Airlie Beach

Early this morning we moored in the Whitsunday Islands way out at sea, 30 minutes in a tender to Airlie Beach. The day was grey and gloomy and threatening rain though warm so we decided not to go ashore but to stay on board and do something different
from bouncing like a cork in a tiny boat.

Which was have iced coffee at Sir Samuel's coffee shop and go in the quiz at the Golden Lion pub. This was abstruse film questions and we came third with 15/20 e.g. the last words in Gone With the Wind.

After lunch in the Britannia we spent the afternoon out of the rain in our favourite Library chairs - such a hard life.

Then in search of a cup of tea we encountered our Italians Ferdie and Maria green about the gills, spitting mad (Maria) and trying to recover from their excursion to the Great Barrier Reef over rough seas.  39 out of 40 on their catamaran were sick so that was a good one to miss.
Needless to say they are not dining tonight.

We managed to get the early dinner in company with an interesting American couple: Denny is a lecturer in Oceanography whom David will hear tomorrow. He confirmed the lack of internet since Brisbane, frustrating for him as he has university students to keep in touch with. Maybe his is the perfect job?

The entertainment was The Leading Men, four stars of Australian musical theatre, singing their songs to a packed audience. Very loudly.

Day 6 at sea

Already we have settled into a routine for sea days: breakfast in Healthy Corner,  lectures for David (little known facts about Captain Cook and the randy Sir Joseph Banks) and  line dancing for me, lunch at Healthy Corner, a film and bridge in the afternoon. Breakfast and lunch in the official dining room are fraught with danger as we always seem to get stuck with boring old trouts - in the little cafes and pubs you can choose more interesting-looking dining companions.

Our Italian dinner companions went to the pop up restaurant, leaving us alone in quiet splendour - very good food.  As we are 8.30 sitting we miss the first entertainment show and find the 10.30 repeat show too late: will have to change that.

Day 8 at sea

Day 8 was very like day 7: we sat in deck chairs with our books and watched the misty coast of Australia pass slowly by. Our course is within 12 miles of the mainland so the casino may not operate - not that we care, nor is there Telstra or internet. I have no idea where we are, a rumour went round that the settlement over there was Cooktown but it wasn't official.

Official facts: there are 2500 passengers and 1300 staff.

Last night's dinner companion turned into oceanography Professor Denny and gave an interesting lecture on waves - good pictures and a touch of humour. I only went to sleep once...

Once again we fronted to early dinner and succeeded,  sitting with a nice couple from Melbourne who are also escapees from second sitting. There is a minor revolution on board as we older Australians don't like late dinner: "it's obscene!" I heard a man say.

We had good seats for the show which was a man playing the cello - very good - and an American Olympic gold medal gymnast who tied himself up in knots.

Day 5 in Brisbane

Early arrival in the Brisbane River and I awoke at 5.30 to a beautiful sunrise, photographed it and went straight back to sleep. Next time I opened my eyes we were moored at the grain wharf on Fisherman's Island miles from anywhere.

A shuttle bus took us the 40 minute drive into Brisbane where David Jones beckoned: David Boomsma is a dedicated non-shopper but holidays have gone to his head and he bought a white shirt (which would have been handy last night) and a watch. Wonders will never cease!

Our builder sent photos of progress on the renovations at Beechwood which was the most exciting part of the day. Back at QM2 following afternoon tea in the Britannia Room we bagged our favourite seats in the library with a great view over the pointy end.

Day 4 at sea

The ship glides along so calmly you wouldn't know you were at sea until you do the promenade around deck 7 and can see the sea - 1.9 circuits = 1Km which we will try to do every day. But there are many activities to tempt you away from exercise, including eating.

David is on the lecture trail: The Legacies of WW2 and what to see in Brisbane. Don't laugh - I went to line dancing and enjoyed it. There were lots of beginners like me and a patient teacher Amy from England. So now I can boot scoot and will go again.

Margaret and I played bridge in the afternoon, not so well this time but we won't give up.

At pre-dinner drinks a gorgeous young harpist played: she is our favourite entertainer so far. Most people dressed elegantly for our first formal night the Black and White Ball: we did too but preferred dinner at the American Bistro which is a pop up restaurant within the main buffet. They charge extra but it was llovely.

Day 3 in the rain

It's raining and some poor people are climbing the bridge. How nice to be watching them from QM2's library.

Day 3 in Sydney

QM2 passed through Sydney Heads at 4.30am: we took a look from our balcony and went back to bed and sleep again, disembarking at 10 after a leisurely breakfast. The ship is tied up at Circular Quay, very handy to everything including the Harbour ferries. We took a harbour cruise under grey skies which later became rain.

Me on Circular Quay with QM2 in background.

Lunch on board - and the perfect view.

First day at sea

We lost Telstra soon after passing through the Heads at Melbourne and changed to very expensive Maritime so I switched off my phone and went exploring. QM2 is huge and there are miles of corridor to get from one end to the other. Our cabin is aft with the gorgeous library at the bow: what a job that woman has, travelling the world as a librarian.

Our allocated  dinner companions are interesting - two Italian-Australian couples with frank and outspoken opinions on everything,  especially Maria who makes me laugh. Her husband Ferdie lived in Coonawarra as a child but a weird coincidence is that they were on Dawn Princess around NZ the same time we did our first trip. Maria has been dieting in preparation for this trip and is outraged by the tiny exquisite serves we are given.

David attended a lecture on rainfall modification and another on Sydney while I found a duplicate bridge tournament and a nice partner Margaret.  We came second, not bad for a new partnership,  and will have another game after Sydney. On shore days most of the activities are suspended.

Last night's entertainment (apart from Maria) was a singer Karen Beckett, very glamorous in sequins but pushing 60: very clever to have an older entertainer for an audience average age 70. Passengers are in the elderly conservative range and I doubt the nightclub gets much custom. Lots of British passengers: they boarded in Capetown and are getting off 22 days later in Sydney.

Best job in the world?

We're off

Left Melbourne just after 6 pm having been on board since 1, sampling lunch and afternoon tea in the Queen's Room which is on level 3 just below our room 4164. I hoped we could hear the nice piano music through the floor - but no.

The obligatory life jacket drill for passengers who boarded in Melbourne produced very few participants as they seem to get on and off all over the place which must make cabin allocation a nightmare.

Out on level 14 it was extremely windy and this couple was signalling to friends on shore in Geelong:

Preparations

 

David and I are off on the Queen Mary 2 on Monday for a 23-day cruise around Australia, starting in Melbourne then Sydney - Brisbane - Airlie Beach - Darwin - Bali - Fremantle - Adelaide and Melbourne.

 

 

The timing of this trip is unfortunate as we are deep in repairs to Beechwood, our house at Cape Douglas - but I'd booked 8 months ago and paid for the trip just a week before we made our sudden decision to buy Beechwood.
For the blog on this go to: http://bbbatthebeach.blogspot.com.au/2014/02/nearly-jumbo.html

remembering that blogs go backwards in time scale.

 

 

So we are going and leaving the house in the capable hands of the builder who promises to send lots of photos.