Day 1
This world voyage consists of 30 ports, excluding the start and finish line of Southampton. Sydney is port number 15, so I guess we're officially half way round!!
Arrival was an early one, it's a partial turnaround port where we lose a bunch of guests who disembark in Sydney to either fly home or spend a bit of time in Australia. I don't envy them, the current geopolitical situation has caused havoc with flights that would ordinarily use the middle east as a layover. Many of our crew have been arriving late or not at all as the company finds alternative flight routes, I'm sure guests will be facing similar issues. Our newly embarking guests are predominantly Australian, it'll be interesting to see how they are across the coming weeks!
The early arrival meant a 04:45 start, followed by probably the most complicated clearance procedure we've seen to date. Environment, security and immigration procedures meant shore leave took an age, not quite up there with US bureaucracy but definitely competitive. There was way too much going on to have any realistic hope of getting ashore during the day but come the evening, I was able to walk down the gangway and head into the Rocks area of the city only a short hop from our berth
The temperature was lovely, a perfect warm evening to sit and nurse a beer. Sadly, Australia decided to throw in a thunderstorm, so for a couple of hours we sat outside a german themed beer hall, watching the rain thrash down.
It had been a tiring few days and an early start, so the beer was most welcome, I stuck to just the one beer obviously
A couple of hours hunkering down out of the rain was followed by a short 10 minute walk to a steakhouse which Em had found and pre-booked for us. This ended up being a man V food moment. The food won!!! The steak and ribs combo was the clear choice, a couple of hours later and some meat sweats and the plate had defeated me!
It was a chilled evening, relaxing in good company and a delight to be off the ship for a few hours, the proximity to the ship is a big factor on a port day and to be parked up so centrally meant there was no huge stress in having to get back
Unless however you were still out after midnight....... At that point it was a hotel or a long swim in shark infested Sydney Harbour, Day 2 will elaborate on that point.
So, before the witching hour, we headed back to the ship, through the terminal security to head to bed after one more for the road. But before we did, we took the opportunity to quickly pop in and see tonights on board entertainment.
No less than the 1970s pop legend Leo Sayer. In rhyming slang terms, having a Leo means getting out on a day of drinking. 'The lads and I are having a Leo at the weekend' Leo Sayer = An all dayer.
I have to say, in a world voyage of firsts, I hadn't anticipated seeing Leo Sayer as one of them!
So that was that for Day 1, curtailed by the fact that despite this being an overnight call into Sydney, at 00:30, thie ship was no longer going to be there
Day 2
Just after midnight, the ship removed it's gangways, let it's lines go and headed out to anchor in the harbour! A day of tendering ahead, my favourite thing...... Sigh....
Queen Mary 2 made way for the arrival of Carnival Splendour who was due in the early hours. The first shore tender came alongside the ship just before 06:00, we loaded the shore party equipment on, I took a seat and we made our way across Sydney Harbour to our drop off point for the day.
As we left, the Carnival ship was just arriving to take the berth we had left a few hours earlier.
As much as I am not a fan of tendering, today's location is up there in iconic locations. I've tendered in the caldera of a volcano in Santorini, Greece, in Ville Franche and Cannes in the French Riviera, the Norwegian fjord's and off the coast of Croatia to name a few. But today's location was pretty cool.
Tendering today was going to take place at the Man O'War steps at the foot of the Sydney Opera House and beside the Sydney Royal Botanical Gardens.
As backdrops go, this was up there for sure. The weather remained just overcast enough that sunburn was just about kept at bay. The temperature was mid twenties but when the sun popped out it escalated up to about 30 very quickly with a UV index of 9, sun cream was the order of the day. No shelter when tendering can be brutal if you're not slapping the cream on!
Tendering was the usual challenge, exacerbated by the swell created from the numerous ferries going back and forth across the harbour.
The Ozzie's are a fit bunch, by about 06:30 the paths around the opera house and the gardens were rammed with runners all drawn to the well marked 10k route that takes you round Sydney's iconic waterfront.
The rest of the day I'm pleased to say went as well as I can hope for given the challenges that tendering brings. It nearly went perfectly but that's another story. Let's just say we finished the day one crew member light! Someone had misjudged the all on board time and found themselves watching the Queen Mary 2 depart without them.
Next up is Brisbane where said crew member will rejoin us having flown at their own expense. There's more to that story, but sadly this isn't the forum.
Otherwise, Sydney was lovely as always, Brisbane here we come before we head further north.
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