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Days 1 and 2 of 10 ( 9 nights) Day 61 of 102 of the whole journey. Again, I am writing this a day late and begin this entry, having arrived by taxi from the Harbour to the Rydges Central Hotel, thankfully so close to the station, I will not need a taxi tomorrow, unless…

I felt it was incumbent on me not to sleep through our dramatic sunrise arrival at Sydney, through the Sydney Heads, where we would anchor within an approximately 15 minute transfer to the Opera House side of Circular Quay.  I awoke at 05.50 hrs and, unable to get back to sleep, slipped on some shorts…

Day 59 of 102 Beautiful days like this are rare. A still sea to begin with, gloriously blue with colour coded sky, a welcome breeze, and fabulous hot sunshine, rounded off with dolphins leaping about all around the ship.  In the evening, a party in the Queens Room with tribute quartet, The Vallies, from Sydney. …

Day 57 of 102 *(written the following morning, and later. Day 58 of 102. En route, Brisbane to Sydney At long last, on my third visit to Brisbane, I made it to the Ipswich Works Railway Museum.  * I had known about this museum for some years, but on previous visits to Brisbane, events, the…

Day 56 of 102 This is beautiful and relaxing. Really, I should be racking up the walking. Right now, I am in QM2’s sumptuous library, having had my e-mails page re-booted yet again.  For some reason, the “sync” on my app switches off, and I am then unable to send or receive e-mails.  It is…

Here are some pictures I didn’t include in yesterday’s Blog, mainly of Whitehaven Beach. Once again, this was a tremendous experience. I felt these pictures should have been included yesterday. Many thanks for reading, and looking, David 09.42 in my stateroom!

Day 55 of 102 What a change from the last few days.  We had continued South, along the coast of Queensland, through the Great Barrier Reef, home to 2,900 individual reefs, passing numerous islands, e.g. Fitzroy Island. (Information from the Daily Programme, 5/3/23). We are at anchor now, for the day.  Airlie Beach is the…

Day 54 of 102. Sunday 5th March 2023 Being Sunday, and a sea day, I attended the Interdemoninational Church Service in the beautifully adapted Royal Court Theatre, arriving in enough time to hear Campbell Simpson’s unusual improvisation of Jesu Joy of Man’s Desiring. (Composed 1723, 300 years ago!) Campbell Simpson has been with Queen Mary…

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…

Day 52 of 102, 3rd March, at sea, between Darwin and Airlie Beach, Queensland. I awoke this morning feeling as if I had slept well. But, for some reason, during the day, I would become momentarily overwhelmed with fatigue.  It is always difficult travelling eastbound, and we still have just one more time zone to…