Year: 2018

Day 9 

This is our last sea day as we head to our final port. At long last the weather is calm and warm; the sort of weather we had expected for the whole trip, but in fact it has been quite chilly at times. Since we live so far north, in this Southern Hemisphere country, we tend to forget that the further down the country you go, the cooler it can get.

It is lovely to get out on the decks, whether to read or stride about. The children really enjoy being able to try the various deck sports.

During the afternoon we check out the menu for our restaurant. When Miss V spots lobster tails, it is decided that it is a restaurant dinner tonight!

Master G has also spotted a book about a bear and a QM2 voyage in the Book Shop, so of course that has to be purchased.

Tonight is our last formal night. After this our formal attire will be packed away, ready for the next cruise!

Day 8 

Our day in Wellington, our capital city, begins with a shuttle bus ride from QM2’s berth into the city. We are very impressed at the number of electric busses.

As always we are in search of good coffee. Wellington is renowned for its coffee and we are not disappointed. Full flavoured, rich (not burnt)! Thanks Victoria Street Café!

We love the way the newer buildings blend so well with the older architecture, the feel of the city with workers walking into work, the lovely big department stores and the green spaces and walkways along Jervois Quay. It is a busy city, but it has a calmness about it, unlike hectic, aggressive cities.

During our meanderings we come across a small group of primary school children who are having a question and answer session with the Commissioner for Children. Children are asking some fairly serious questions about his role and when he asks them how the commission could make Wellington a better place for children, their ideas are well considered and thoughtful until one very young lad ponders whether there could be more sausages!

Day 7 

Boarding a catamaran on the quayside, we set off up the harbour in search of wildlife. The skipper gave a running commentary and was well informed, giving us lots of information and pointing out interesting facets of this lovely inlet.

The harbour was formed by a series of massive volcanoes millions of years ago; accounting for the shape and for the layers of volcanic rock we see in the walls of the harbour. We see various sea birds as we progress.

Then it’s out into the entrance of the harbour and the boat rolls quite a bit as we come out into the Pacific Ocean. Just along the coast we draw into a small cove and there on the rocks are some native fur seals. We pull up quite close and sit watching for a while. The seals look at us but go on with their lives without fear. Native fur seals are a diminishing species that are now under protection. To see them in the wild is certainly pleasing. They played and swam and basked-a mother suckled her young: all without requiring keepers or trainers or humans of any kind.

The skipper turned the boat towards home and crossed the mouth of the harbour when someone thought they saw a dolphin. The boat cruised quietly into the Area Of Interest and waited. Quite soon they were around us. About a dozen Hector’s Dolphins. A species about as rare as Bengal Tigers or Silver backed gorillas, playing in the water around us. Completely free and wild. It was a wonderful experience to see them. Hopefully the marine sanctuary around them will allow them to recover a little as a species. I certainly wish them luck and hope they continue to survive.

Our little trip into Akaroa harbour was a wonderful day.

  Day 7

We wake to find ourselves anchored in the bay of Akaroa. It is another sunny day and stunning scenery all around us. Gray and the family have chosen to go dolphin watching.

I have chosen to go to the Akaroa Cooking School. We all tender into the township and I walk across the road for my day.

The couple who own and run the school are wonderful; very good cooks with a great knowledge of using local produce extremely well and very personable people.

The food they prepared and shared was superb, and they generously shared their recipes with us. We later enjoyed a lengthy lunch where they cooked a fresh lot of food and served each course with local wines.

Everything was yummy! Silly me left my phone on the ship so no photos, sorry. However, if you go to http://akaroacooking.co.nz you will see them and some of their food.

Day 5  

Queen Mary 2 entered Milford Sound, in the south west corner of New Zealand, at 7am. From the vigour of the Tasman Sea, suddenly we were sailing serenely in calm, still waters as we progressed, slowly up this beautiful Sound. The land seemed to drop into the water almost perpendicularly, and, as QM2 progressed into the sound she seemed to be almost touching the sides. Most guests were on deck to gaze at the wonderful sight of wild, untouched land surrounding deep, blue waters. No houses or roads here. Completely untouched. Breathtaking.

At the head of the sound, Queen Mary 2 turned through 180 degrees to face out towards the ocean again. Some very clever navigation and control here. This was definitely an experience for The List.

Then we were back in the ocean again and it was fascinating to see how little of the entrance to the sounds would have been obvious to the ancient sailors who discovered this place.

And so on to Doubtful Sound and then Dusky Sound before setting course for our next port of call: Dunedin

Day 5 

We live in a small coastal village so to get to any concerts, ballet etc, we need to travel down to Auckland, our nearest city – and sometimes the effort involved puts us off.

However, on a ship there is always a plethora of entertainment. We make sure we get our fill of live music; enough to tide us over until the next cruise!

Miss V loves ballet, so when the first show with singers and dancers was announced, we knew she’d love to go. Broadway Rocks was full of energetic dancing, glamorous costumes and familiar show songs. She smiled all the way through and loved meeting two of the dancers after the show.

Day 4 

We always seem to be eating! Ship life is planned between meals. We have fallen into a daily routine already. A tap on our door in the morning means that it’s time to head to the buffet for breakfast.

Finding a table for 6 is usually the most difficult task, then we take turns to supervise children and gather our food. After breakfast the children decide whether to go to the Zone or stay with us. As the weather has been a little disappointing we have explored the ship, found the shops and the library.

We prefer to have lunch in the restaurant, but the others head back to the buffet which is often very crowded at lunchtime.

We have had dinner in the restaurant the past two evenings. At first the children were not too sure whether they would like it. They were pleased that there was a children’s menu, but on the other hand they really wanted to be more grown up. What a dilemma!

Tonight when we arrived in the restaurant, the children were warmly welcomed by the wait staff. Two chairs had cushions. Master G decided he would only order from the adult menu. Apparently the duck was ‘amazingly good’. Miss V and I had the same dessert, so compared the flavours of the ice-cream and sorbet. All in all a successful experience.

Day 3 

It is a grey day with rough seas keeping us confined to indoor activities. All decks are closed due to the high winds. We have sailed the Tasman before and have felt wary of this stretch of water, but until now it has always been fine. Not a good start to cruising for our fellow travellers.

A feature of any Cunard voyage, is the formal night, when we don our glad rags and escape into a more glamorous world. Some people do not enjoy the bother of such occasions but we really enjoy them. Stories of formal nights intrigued the two grandchildren so they were ready in their ‘fancy clothes’ well before dinner. Master G resplendent in his tux and Miss V in an elegant white gown. On the way to dinner we stopped to have a family photo, all 6 of us on the stairs of the atrium.

The children are a little taken aback at the attention they are receiving from staff and other passengers. There are very few children aboard and ours are so beautifully behaved! 

Day 2 

Meeting up with family for lunch on the quayside, we hear that they had been able to see Queen Mary 2 come into her berth early this morning.

Embarkation can be tedious. We were very pleasantly surprised when we dropped off our luggage, that we were encouraged to proceed with embarkation even though it was at an earlier time than had been scheduled. We were more than ready to get out of the sun! The process went so smoothly. Unpacked we feel that we are home again!

A feature of a sea voyage is the sail-away. We’d planned to have dinner in the buffet and stay out on deck as we headed off. However, we were to leave Sydney very late. After dinner we all headed out onto Deck 13 to enjoy the lights of the city. The Harbour Bridge emblazoned in red light looked magnificent. There were also many other lights and lanterns celebrating the Chinese New Year.

Day 1 

We arrived last night and have spent this morning exploring near The Rocks. The clear blue skies, balmy temperatures and excellent coffee are what we always enjoy when we pop over here. The energy of this city is infectious so we are feeling more than ready to be ‘off on the ocean waves’.

Our fellow travellers are due here this afternoon and we will all embark tomorrow afternoon.