2024 – Queen Mary 2 Grand World– Part 2 –Cape Town to Sydney  2.4 Melbourne to Sydney

It was February 25 and things were starting to move faster and faster.  Two couples would leave us in Sydney, so I’ll be meeting them for cocktails tonight, with whoever else still remembers the newsletter I got out on the 22nd, before Melbourne.  Hooray, the games and puzzles came out again, in the corridor I walk to get to my desk.  They had been put away, while we were battling the various infections. 

The invitations for the big World Cruise ToDo onshore came out last night.  Rats, it’s in Hong Kong, the last place in the world that suits me.  If you ask me, it shouldn’t suit anyone.  There’s a lot a person can do with an overnight in Hong Kong and a feeding at the communal trough for 500 will just get in the way.  So, I won’t be going.  I already have $500 sunk into a non-refundable room at the Grand Hyatt.  

I bought the disembarking passengers a last drink.  No one else came, but one of my single ladies stopped by, just as they were leaving.  She introduced me to her friend, Paul Curtis, a writer in residence on the ship.  He wrote “High Tea on the Cunard Queens”.  In its review, Amazon says he has an off-beat sense of humour and I got an example.  Apropos of nothing, I remarked that, when I started working, there were very few women in jobs other than teacher, nurse or secretary.  As a result, my colleagues were almost all male and I worked hard to be “One of the boys”.  So he asked me if I scratched myself inappropriately.  I didn’t and have to wonder if that’s why I hit the glass ceiling?

We docked in Sydney, Australia, on February 26th.There was just a little work that had to be done early in the morning.  I did it and went out in Sydney.  I only had one taker for visiting the Museum of Contemporary Art, but we had a super good time.  The tour was on Tacida Dean, who does a lot of things, with just about every medium known to art, including film, in this day of everything digital.  I think my favorite was ‘The Story of the Lemon that grew Hair’.  To be honest, our real favorite was lunch.  It was at Graze MCA, outdoors on the patio of the MCA.  What’s not to like about this view?  

Yes, that bottle neck was on our table and yes, that’s the famous Sydney Opera House peeking out from under the bow of the QM 2.  The weather was perfect.  The menu was interesting and well executed.  I especially enjoyed my fresh local oysters and Peggy and I enjoyed getting to know each other better.  I can recommend this little outing wholeheartedly, especially for people who need to conserve energy, because we’re old and all.  This was the view from my stateroom balcony:

I did have local knowledge to rely on for the MCA Graze coup, and it came from Helen Pakchung and Nick Hamilton-Kane, whom I was meeting for supper.  I strolled around the rocks for just a bit after lunch, came back rested, cleared my email and went out ato meet them at another of their brilliant recommendations.

Café Sydney is on the roof of the old customs house and it’s fabulous – all of it, the view, the food, the wine, the service, the lot.  I had more oysters on the half shell, kingfisher carpaccio, and an excellent chocolate dessert.  I want to highlight the wine, because it was interesting.  We decided on a Pinot Grigio and asked the sommelier to recommend.  He came back with two tastes, one a typical run-of-the-mill very good PG, and the other, rich and full bodied, which you don’t expect in a PG, but it was delicious.  I chose it, price unknown, and it was almost twice the price of the first one, but worth every penny.  Gweily Pinot Grigio.  I just googled it and I can’t find it – must be spelling it wrong.  Did I mention the view?  Here are the Helens and the Queen Mary 2:

Helen and Nick walked me home, and you can just imagine how far that was from the pictures.  Nick took them, by the way and this is a really good one:

How good is that?  And I couldn’t resist going out on my balcony when I got to it and this isn’t too shabby, either:

And so to sleep, with one of the best views on this earth.

Still in Sydney on the 27th, my very shore excursion taking group opted for more of that rather than Dim Sum in Sydney, but you couldn’t keep me away from it.  Before I went out, I was happy to read that we would now be in port in Singapore with the Zuiderdam and there would be a chance of meeting up with the Starrs, and all.  I checked the berthing arrangements on http://www.whatsinport.com and we are both at the Marina Bay Cruise Terminal, which will make it easy.

Around noon, I got off the ship and got the tram, between the dock and the Customs House.  It’s so easy in Sydney now, you just tap your card to a post and board.  Only I didn’t tap hard enough, or at the right angle, because it didn’t take.  Luckily, I made friends on board with a couple of nice Uni students, who pledged to help me find The Eight, Zilver’s new high-end offering in the dim sum market.  Good thing, too, because my card wanted to start a new trip when I tapped to sign off the old one.  With their help we managed to end that new trip, and my credit card hasn’t been charged anything at all.  I did everything right on the return trip and there’s no charge for that either.  How nice of the Sydney Transit Authority.  The kids walked me to The Eight and I invited them to join me, which would have been great fun for me, but they did have class. 

The dim sum place looked perfect:

And the dim sum looked good:

Yes, I ate every bit of that and three daan tarts, too.  It wasn’t a patch on regular Zilver, though.  Never mind, I am going to Hong Kong.  The dim sum cart pushing ladies loved my red and gold Zulu necklace.  No, not THAT one, a much more subdued version, but the Chinese love red and gold, especially near Chinese New Year.  The lady who served me in the pharmacy commented on it, too.  For a five buck necklace, it’s doing very well. 

Paddy’s Market is closed on Mondays and Tuesdays so I got back on the tram to The Rocks.  They have a Gelato place between the tram stop and the dock area, so I got a chocolate sorbet on a sugar cone and sat down and ate it on the dock. 

The sailaway was stunning.  It was sunset so we started out all taking pictures of each other like this:

And finally the farewell shot, from the stern:

Then I went in and has a pizza at The Chef’s table.  My server loved my red and gold Zulu necklace, too.  After dinner, it was still early so I called the Mamos again to welcome them and left a message.

Back at sea on the 28th.  Every so often, at my desk, I venture to help some random person who has a question.  A nice man, who boarded yesterday, wanted to know how to sign in to the Internet and I was stupid enough to offer to help.  A half hour later, his phone still couldn’t reach the Internet, but his wife was next in line at Cunard’s help desk, and they eventually solved it. 

The ship sent out invitations for tonight’s DV cocktail party.  The WC lounge had scones and tea and all again, which was wonderful.  The new people never showed up for their own cocktail party.  It was pretty intimate.  At one point I mentioned I had a French restaurant in Singapore , highly recommended by certified gourmet French friends.  I got a taker.  Another of my single ladies thought that sounded just right for her.  At the end of the cocktail party, I went to dinner with just one guy and that was good, too.

Still at sea on February’s extra day, I did some work and I booked Loulou. 

I had tea in the WC lounge with some Quebecers, and had dinner in the Verandah with one of my single guys, who had a voucher for two, doubtless from his TA.  I was happy to be the beneficiary. We finished off in the Royal Theatre with Aussie comedian, Darren Sanders, the best comedian we have seen yet.