by Gary Tate
Excitement ensured an early morning awakening in our Sydney high-rise harbourside hotel. It is getting light at 5.15am as we look out over the iconic white sails of the Sydney Opera House. Gliding into view is the great white Crown Princess – our cruise ship.
Boarding procedures are efficient and seamless, we are a little early and the cabin is not quite ready for us.
At midday every day the ship’s captain details our position, weather conditions, points of interest and facts about the local history. The commentary is comprehensive and the most interesting we have ever heard.
Time for lunch. Avoiding the hungry buffet hoards, our choice is to dine in the lovely Bortecelli Restaurant. After a fine three-course meal, way too much for lunch, a little bit of ship exploration helps us get our bearings. Along the way we register at the mandatory muster station by logging in using our individual ‘medallions’. The medallions are about the size of a 20 cent piece and alleviate the need to carry cabin keys. They are also used for ordering food and drinks and highlighting your onboard location along with notification of embarking and disembarkation of the ship.
Cruising past the Opera House down the beautiful harbour and through the heads must be one of the most stunning sights in the world. The pilot jumps across to his waiting boat and we are on our way.
In 10 days, we will cruise north up the coast with stops at Tangalooma, Airlie Beach, Cairns, Port Douglas, out to remote Willis Island and back down to Sydney.
Day two we are at sea, about 15 kilometres off Western Rocks breakfasting on our balcony with the jagged Great Divide in the distance, cruising at around 13 knots (24kph).
The day has around 130 varied activities and events to keep the 3170 guests from 31 countries entertained. Today’s highlights were the sighting of a pair of pilot whales right alongside the ship and a fruit and vegetable carving demonstration in the centrally located Piazza. The day finished with a fabulous formal dinner followed by the outstanding Encore production show.
Day three dawns as we glide into our anchorage just off the Tangalooma Resort. Getting ashore required the use of the ship’s lifeboats and a couple of Tangalooma’s well fitted out ferries.
Many activities are on offer while visiting the island: quad bikes, Segways, parasailing, helicopter rides, scenic land and water tours, just to mention a few. As we had previously visited this location our choice was to find a shady position adjacent to the soft sandy beach, have a paddle, and watch the other visitors enjoy their island stay. A bonus for the bird watchers were several beach stone-curlews wandering around the soft green grassy beachside areas.
Day four is another sea day as we head north towards Airlie Beach. Many cargo ships pass by as does the occasional patch of rain. The guests are being very well looked after by the 1137 ship’s crew.
We pass across the Tropic of Capricorn and sail through streams of fawn coloured ‘sea sawdust’ Trichodesmium, a filamentous cyanobacterium.
Day five starts with a golden sunrise over the Whitsunday Islands as we glide through the occasional rain shower towards our anchorage three miles off Airlie Beach. As we anchor a turtle pops up in the emerald green ocean outside our balcony for a bit of a look and possibly a greeting?
Market stalls adorn the town playing fields and are being well patronised by the visiting cruisers.
Day six: our arrival into Cairns port is timed with high tide to facilitate our passage down a shallow and narrow channel into the city. Cairns is a major gateway out to the Great Barrier Reef with up to 20,000 tourists per day taking the various tour boats out to this world-famous natural spectacle.
The Kuranda railway and cable car are also ‘must see’ attractions. Having been to Cairns a number of times we take the hop-on hop-off bus at the senior’s daily price of just $30 each. Our destination was the lovely Centennial Lakes, where there were a good variety of water birds to be observed, and Flecker Botanic Gardens where we spent a very pleasant hour walking the protective boardwalk through the rainforest. Here we chanced upon a brush turkey defending itself by kicking up forest debris into the face of an extremely large monitor lizard.
Our seventh day has us arriving at our anchorage at Port Douglas, where we are enveloped in rain and grey skies. By 10am the skies are clearing and we board a tender to the well protected marina to explore all the village delights.
The reef is a bit closer than at Cairns, with a plethora of excellent transport options available. Beautiful Mossman is just a 20 minute drive, Daintree 50 minutes and Cape Tribulation 100 minutes up the track. Many tours to these beautiful natural areas are on offer from Port Douglas.
Saturday, day eight, the ship is heading out into the Coral Sea, destination is tiny Willis Island where four scientists spend an isolated six months.
A radio link to an island scientist provides an interesting commentary and is broadcast across the crowded decks. Hundreds of masked, red-footed and brown boobys use the island to nest and raise their young.
The next two sunny lazy days are sea days as we cover 1168 nautical miles at 17 knots bound for Sydney.
December has arrived, as have stunning Christmas trees, wonderful wreaths and gorgeous garlands decorating the ship. Carols, old and new, add to the festive atmosphere.
Tuesday morning dawns with a beautiful golden sunrise as we turn and make our way through the Sydney Heads. Gliding down the harbour, the ship turns and the stunning Sydney skyline, Opera House and bridge are all gradually revealed.
My little travel camera is capturing every moment for my next forthcoming holiday DVD.
Total distance cruised during our very relaxing and enjoyable ten days was 2811 nautical miles or 5206 kilometres.
