Day 53 of 102 Saturday 4th March 2023

I may regret this!  But somehow, believing strongly that I won’t be coming this way again, I feel that I might regret even more, not taking the opportunity to see the Great Barrier Reef from the air.  I just hope that I am not deemed too heavy to take part in the flight in one of those small aircraft so common Down Under and elsewhere.

From leaving Darwin, with the pilot on board until Brisbane, we would pass through the Clarence Strait into the Van Diemen Gulf, North through the Dundas Straits, and East towards the Torres Straits (later today). Mid afternoon, we are scheduled to enter the Great Barrier Reef.

The grey and murk continue outside, the ship’s air-conditioning, disguising how humid it is on deck. I’m not sure what kept me awake much of the night; it seemed very noisy outside, and I presume we came through some rough seas, and annoyingly, I stayed awake for long periods. Despite being in exotic waters, I do feel lethargic for a second day. According to Captain Hall in his midday address, the weather may become more agreeable sometime tomorrow afternoon.

Unusually, for me, I sat through a lecture on the history and development of Brisbane. It was an interesting subject but delivered in a tedious way, which failed to keep my, and probably many others’ attention. Several in the audience did not stay to the end. I prefer the fresh air to sitting indoors.

After being told all there was to know about Brisbane in Illuminations (set up as a lecture theatre), and then forgetting most of it, I returned to my room to pick up my posh watch to adjust it on Deck 12. Now then, I have an ordinary watch which, when the time zone changes, I just advance the hour/minute hands as required, just like thirty or more years ago. The posh watch failed to adjust to the correct time in Darwin, flirting forward to G.M.T. + 10.5. You can’t argue with the satellite signals. Darwin time must be wrong! Today, ship’s time remains one hour ahead of satellite time. I foresee interesting correspondence between me and Citizen on my return in April.

In the Kings Court Buffet, I had a very pleasant lunch of a kind of clear vegetable and bean soup (no bread roll these days) followed by a very nice piece of chicken with sauté potatoes and steamed vegetables and a small covering of gravy.

By the time I had finished lunch and was relaxing in the Carinthia Lounge, we were about to exit the Torres Straits into the Great Barrier Reef. The onboard pilot announced over the ship’s P.A. system that we should look out on our starboard side. Land! The waters had changed from grey to a gorgeous shade of blue. Time to take some (rather ordinary) photographs. It was still damp and cloudy, and the heavens did open, but only briefly.

Deck walking is more of a challenge today. Rarely do I manage the 18,500 (+) of yesterday on two consecutive days. I doubt I will be anywhere near today.

Temptation in the form of Cunard scones and endless cups of tea got the better of me this afternoon. I like the humidity of outside even if I do find it draining of my dwindling energy. So, I do allow myself a tea break in the afternoon.

I have cut sandwiches from my afternoon tea treat in the Queens Room. Eventually, I shall just have one small scone with around four cups of tea. Tonight is Roaring Twenties Gala Night. Right now, I don’t feel like donning the tuxedo even if there is little difference to changing for dinner on an ordinary night.

Once again, it’s time to continue deck walking. I am well on the way to 700,000 steps, which I hope to achieve before we arrive at Brisbane. Also, I need to start preparing for disembarkation at Sydney. Independent travel is going to feel a bit weird after so long on board QM2. But, I couldn’t come all this way without a little bit of the real world “down under.” In Brisbane, I shall attempt to locate the railway museum I have heard about in Ipswich. It never occurred to me to pick the brains of the lecturer at lunchtime!

It is almost 6.30 tonight, and as you will see from the maps below, we are now heading South.

I did dress for dinner. Jo (understandably) decided against dinner altogether, and I had two neighbouring tables for company. I went alone to the show, an Aussie song and dance act which with strange gymnastics and tap dancing was quite extraordinary. These shows seem to stretch to almost an hour these days. Thankfully, I slept much better last night.

Many thanks for reading, David 14.41hrs GMT +10 the next day, over lunch in the Britannia Restaurant.