Mon 26 Feb.......We stopped at a place called Yorky's Knob, near Cairns, Australia.Very small place, not much there, but it is a starting point for visiting the Great Barrier Reef. All the scuba diver and snorkelers went there (not too many on our ship due to the average age of us all, not forgetting walking frames and wheel chairs). Yes we have our share of those!The remaining able bodied crowd, including us, went up into the mountains in the rain forest. Th...

Wow! Sydney Harbour is quite something!The Queen Mary 2 arrived there on Tuesday Feb 20 in the morning and received a huge welcome. We sailed in at 6PM and by that time it seemed that everyone in Australia was there to greet us. Thousands of people lined the shore all round the harbour to watch us arrive and sail past the Queen Mary. Also it seemed like every small, and large, boat in Sydney came out to escort us in. It was an incredible sight.Hundreds and hundre...

Feb 17....Hobart, Tasmania, where the devils live (but didn't see one, only fluffy toys). At first glance the city was rather disappointing, a bit like a suburban English town. But we found a very large outdoor Saturday market which turned out to be very interesting. Then we can to the inner harbour which was very attractive, and we had great lunch in the Blue Skies restaurant outside on a terrace overlooking the water. Very good indeed, but it also turned ve...