Cruising up the Australian East Coast

OK so it wasn`t to be New Zealand but we were determined to enjoy ourselves on the cruise up the east coast spending mos of the onboard credit they had awarded us on drink and trips! Checking in was relatively painless and queue free. Again we noticed how many older people seem to have the holiday rep jobs in Australia, some way past retirement age. The person on check in was keen to see evidence of our Australian visa. "But it`s electronic - i our passport details " I said. "We`ve already been in Australia for a fortnight and would not have been allowed in without one". Nevertheless Sue dug deep i her travel folder and found printed evidence of having one - another example of always ensuring you have a paper back up for your phone / emails. We had proof of our self administered lateral flow test ( as if anyone would fail that) and our jab list and soon were on board. Lovely room, larger than we`d had on any other boats though a bit smaller bathroom but what a beautiful ship the Queen Elizabeth is. Lots of art deco features and art work.

The fouled hull that cost us New Zealand!

The Churchill Cigar Lounge

We loved to play scrabble in the Cigar Lounge. There was never anyone in there and it was beautiful. Occasionally someone would come in from the deck door and I`d say"Welcome to our private cabin" - it threw one or two into a hasty retreat :-).

The library was stunning with a spiral staircase in the middle

We had a salad lunch on boarding and then finally unpacked everything for the first time this trip. The cabin was so well planned it accommodated everything we had without being cramped.

Later it was our first dinner. Sue had insisted we book a table for two in case we ended up with anyone weird. As it happened we were on a table for 2 right next to 2 other tables for 2 that were so close it was effectively for 6 and they were  all weird and we had to talk!  Sorry Greta, Jopi, Jan and Don - couldn`t resist that!:-)

Service was very good and food all looked lovely although occasionally desserts looked better than they tasted with overuse of the old gelatine and a tendency to overcook fish and meat at times. Seems a perennial problem on cruises as they are scared of under-cooking items and causing sickness it seems.

After dinner it was into the theatre for a good but middle of the road singer, into the pub for a disappointing singing duo where the main singer seemed to mumble her words and a nightcap.

After an early night to catch up on sleep next morning we ate, as we did every day in the dining room choosing eggs benedict which were lovely. We always find eating every meal in the dining room controls what you have as buffet food all looks so good it is easy to overdo it. Dining room portions are smaller but enough. After a presentation on Eden and Brisbane on this our first sea day ( of many!)  we watched ship`s cooks do a cookery demo based on curries which I never saw on a menu whilst on the ship! 

After listening to a classical pianist concert we had our first afternoon tea which was an occasion! We met up with Christine and David on this our first tea, the people who had rescued us from eating again with  Keto Man on the train. Wec were surprised to also see Keto Man at afternoon tea with Mrs Keto , though what he had to eat I don`t know!

Later it was time for our first formal dinner. Cunard had set a theme of "Black and White" and had strict policies of smart dress for dinner including a shirt with collar and tie if not wearing a full tux. I`d brought navy trousers and a jacket to masquerade as a dark suit and hoped it would get me in. Not a problem and the meal was very good. Surf and turf with medium rare fillet and a glass of fizz compliments of the captain for all. Don and Jan didn`t come for formal evenings so we got to know Greta and Jopi a bit better chatting over dinner. They were so funny to talk to and reminded me so much of my mum and my auntie when they were together with one being a little naughty and the other with a twinkle in their eye and having a laugh. I was stopped short with a "You`ve told us that already!" by Greta when I accidentally started on a story about our trip to a Cuban cigar factory for a 2nd time in two days - well I forget who I`ve said what to! Anyway that led to me trying to tell the Cuban cigar factory story to her every other day after that :-).

The theatre was their own cast doing songs from the shows - all very professional but not really my thing and then we were off to the main ballroom to watch others dance. I did offer to dance with Sue,having studied Strictly Come Dancing over the years and feeling quite expert, but she declined.

The theatre boxes. We tried to get one most nights to avoid wearing a mask.

The next morning we docked and took a free shuttle into  Eden. A pleasant enough little town but once you walked through and down the hill you came to a lovely beach. After the beach we went back into town for an iced milk shake and met a man and his son who it turned out were entertainers on the ship. A Celtic music due who were to be our go to entertainment for the rest of the cruise, the Newfoundland Duo. We watched them at sailaway before seeing  a funny Australian duo in the theatre called  The Scared Weird Little Guys. 

Then it was a late night drink in the lovely Commodore lounge. Enjoying the night skies.

Next day was another sea day. Lecture about what to do in Cairns, scrabble, reading and on deck shuffleboard. We risked the buffet for lunch sticking to salads and the best raw tuna I`ve ever had on the side. Boredom on my part had set in so much that I found myself watching an ice carving demonstration with a guy giving a running commentary on it for 30 minutes!!! The funniest bit was when he asked "Can you tell what it is yet?" in the style of a disgraced Australian singer / drawer. "That`s a strange guess"  he said when one wag shouted out "Is it the outline of New Zealand" - clearly not getting British sarcasm. Afternoon tea had to be done again as it was a sea day and the evening entertainment was the Newfoundland Duo and a rather strange game of what seemed to be a version of Blankety Blank.

It was a flamingo in the end!

Next day was an early breakfast in the buffet and coach trip into Brisbane, first stopping at the lovely Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary. Here we were finally able to see koalas and get up close to kangaroos as well as getting a bird show and sheep dog exhibition thrown in.

One of my favourite days on the cruise.

Dingo

Who left the shell on my dinner?

After that it was a drive around Brisbane which was hot and humid! We stopped at some viewpoints for pictures and declined the chance to walk around in the heat in favour of a return to the ship.

Dinner and an acrobat show followed that evening.  Next day was out Ruby Wedding Anniversary and a sea day instead of Christchurch as we had hoped :-(. Of course I always drop huge hints when we travel around the time of our anniversary and have embarrassed Sue many times when people have presented cakes to be eaten with loving spoons, serenading waiters and the link. Cunard gave us...nothing. Not a balloon, not towel sculpture only a card. M most disappointing fail ever on an anniversary trip.

We rejected the theatre in the evening in favour of the Newfoundland Duo again where I resisted the urge to request a song for us.

Next day was another sea day with the usual difficulty for me to entertain myself. Scrabble and shuffleboard sufficed on another hot , muggy day, We had met a young couple Tim and Romy who stood out by being at least 30 years younger than the average on board age! Tim advised that the target age range for Cunard was 70 - 90 so they obviously gravitated to us as the other youngsters on board:-). Really nice couple who we ate breakfast with and chatted to a few times. So well travelled which was amazing given how far Australians have to go to get anywhere!. A formal " masquerade" dinner enabling Cunard to sell masks in the foyer was followed by dancing and observing the excellent professional dancers on board who would give us a run for their money!

Next morning was another highlight docking in Cairns. With nothing booked we rushed off after breakfast to try and fine a Barrier Reef cruise and successfully booked a trip to Green island and the Inner Reef. We resisted the snorkelling option as it was so hot and instead went for the glass bottomed boat looking around the stunning Green island first. It took us an hour and a half to get out there and the far reef was too long a trip for the time we had in port. We walked along a boardwalk with branches off leading to small , deserted beaches apart from the main snorkelling area. Stunning!

It has to be said that in comparison to the island the glass bottomed boat over the reef was a little  disappointing. The glare and reflections made things hard to photograph and whilst the fish were beautiful the coral itself was rather boring and monotone green. The boatman explained that to get the colours at those depths you`d need to be underwater with a lighting rig which is how the Attenborough teams get such wonderful colour and depth. Nevertheless it was interesting and entertaining when they fed the fish.

The next 3 days were sea days and we did our usual of scrabble, reading, deck activities and generally eating and drinking with a bit of live music and entertainment thrown in. Again  stress that the Queen Elizabeth is probably the most beautiful and classy ocean liner we have been on and we`ve been on a few now. Service was top class throughout and staff friendly and welcoming. By this stage people had forgotten about New Zealand and were happy with what had been offered as the alternative , especially with the promised refunds and credits. By this stage I`d discovered the free use launderettes on board and managed to do 3 loads of washing ensuring we came back with very little washing to do. It was always challenging as opening hours were blatantly breached and you forever feared your washing being taken out of the driers early but I got a lot of commendations for my ironing skills if no takers for my offers of paid services. Our next blow came when the captain announced an increase in covid cases onboard and asked that masks be worn at all times other than drinking and eating which meant little wearing of them! We noticed increasing numbers of food trolleys going to cabins. especially deck 4, where no doubt people were isolating in their own cabins. It had very little impact on us to be honest though we feared a big rise might mean the Australians refusing to let us off in Sydney. Without doubt the highlight of our sea days was the cocktail masterclass undertaken with a family of 3 Mexicans and the mixologist from the Philipines. He showed us how to make all the classic Cunard cocktails named after their various ship commanders with us getting a slightly smaller version of each. In addition you answered questions correctly for the full version and we got two more.

After more than 2 hours we had to excuse ourselves and take our last 2 cocktails with us as we`d been invited to Greta and Jopi`s cabin for drinks with Jan and Don. It`s fair to say we were a little bit the worse for drink. After another great dinner we had arranged to meet up with Christine and David to celebrate his birthday with them over another drink. We worried about hangovers the next day but were obviously immune by now!  Next day it was more of the same with the addition of a fashion show featuring Tim`s mum we realised part way through who did very well as she strutted her stuff down the catwalk. There was a Roaring 20s gala dinner followed by drinks in the Commodore Lounge with Christine and David again. Irish Duo in the pub and Top Hat production in the theatre which was very good. The next day was Sydney which you`ll be pleased to remember I`d merged with my Sydney blog but again to view Sydney Opera House as we sailed in to what the captain called the "best parking space in the world" opposite was fantastic. So many photos - see Sydney blog. Next day we were at sea again and after breakfast with Tim and Romy I finished my domination of the Australia scrabble tournament with a crushing aggregate win. Pre-dinner drinks in the Commodore lounge with our dinner friends was followed by a swapping of email contact details and the obligatory group photo. Sorry Don but you`re just one of those people that is never quite ready for the shot :-)

Of course we had the horrific prospect of a long flight to Kuala Lumpur and then onto Heathrow followed by a nationa Express ride back to Leeds but with a nice bit of banter with the desk staff we got free legroom seats that made it all the easier and it was not as painful as we had feared. So that was it. The trip of a lifetime flying thousands of miles, 2,700 miles on a train across the breadth of Australia and taking in Perth, Adelaide, Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Cairns and lots of little places along the way. All the Australians we met were so friendly and it ws lovely meeting Christine, David, Tim , Romy, Greta, Jopi, Jen and Don who all had lovely senses of humour and were such good company. I`m not sure we`ll ever get to New Zealand now as it`s such a long way there but i had realised anyway that a cruise was not the way to do New Zealand so don`t think we missed out.

Sorry this one was so long but if you`ve read until the end well done!