Day ... ummm ... 5?

I have no idea what day it is today but we are currently in the Suez Canal having passed beneath the bridge with about 6m to spare. I got a great photo of the funnel and the underside of the bridge - it was lucky that I just happened to be standing in the right place at the right time.

It has been really awesome to stand and shout "salaam" (peace) to the folks that wave to us from the shore. I have some photos of what look like military guys who got up on the roof of their bunker and were whistling to us and waving.

Having arrived at the southern end of the Suez Canal around 1am this morning we had pole position for entry at 6am, at which time the north-bound traffic was cleared to sail. We lead a line of about 30 ships, many of them large container vessels. It's a very strange looking convoy and not easy to photograph as today is cold and a bit hazey from spitting rain.

It is now 2pm and we expect to exit the Suez Canal in about an hour and a half. Then we sail across the Nile delta for Alexandria, and tomorrow a full day trip into Cairo. I'm loving shipboard life and am now a total convert - this is definitely the best way to travel.

Days 2 & 3

Tom Burgess was right about being kept busy while cruising. For the last couple of days I've only managed to be able to eat afternoon tea and dinner but I think my waist-line is going to self-destruct anyway. Heartbreaking after losing 9kg this year but when I'm on holiday it is usually from schedules, diets, and exercise as well as from work.

The Planetarium is really fascinating and I find I am in there every day to see the show (there are 4 different ones to see). The first one was narrated by Tom Hanks and it was impossible to not walk away realising how small the world is. [Editor's note: others are narrated by Harrison Ford and Robert Redford.] Yesterday I learned that our galaxy and that of Andromeda are on a collision course. It's not something I'm really worried about because I don't expect to live to be 3 billion years old - about when NASA expects the crash to happen.

The spa is divine. I had an 80 minute hot stone massage yesterday. I came close to falling asleep it was so good. Before dinner I had my hair put up in a "Do" and had a make-up artist deal to my face which has been done the same way every day since the 1980s. It was nice to have a change and the ladies at my table were oohing and aahing at me ... I think I may have started a trend at our table.

One of the women I sit with for dinner every night is an Australian artist and she is writing a travel book and painting water colours as she goes along. The sketches she did of Dubai were beautiful and I wish there was more art like it available locally. She has also painted the grand stairwell here on QM2 and has given it much more life than my camera could capture.

Yesterday we had a bit of excitement as there were dolphins on one side of the ship and a large whale on the other. It was wonderful to be outside in the fresh air and seeing these animals in their natural habitat, splashing and playing in the water. Which reminds me, I still haven't been to one of the swimming pools and it has been 3 days already! Well, unless you count the jacuzzi in the spa. Usually I'm a wee water-baby and you can't get me out of the water unless a shark bell rings. Even that is a bit tricky - I recall Dad using all his powers of persuasion to get me back on the beach after a hammerhead was spotted at Titahi Bay one time.

I've lost track of time but I think we might arrive at the Suez Canal around 1am in the morning. Apparently it takes the best part of a day to get through so I'll be able to get some snapshots later in the day.

'Bye for now. I'm going to try my luck in the casino...

Day 1

After a leisurely embarkation process that is nowhere near as stressful as air travel, we board QM2 via Deck 2. We are all ushered in the right direction of our staterooms by staff located at strategic points. Yes, I have my own bathroom with a toilet, basin and shower and they are spotless. There's a TV that permits me to send and receive e-mails at US$1.50 a time, check how much money I've spent onboard, and arrange for wake-up alarms etc.

I was introduced to my cabin by Abraham, the Steward that takes care of the staterooms in our part of the ship. Yes, I have a bathroom with a toilet and shower and they are spotless. Abraham has his priorities straight and immediately points out my bottle of complementary "Bon Voyage" champagne, courtesy of Cunard. This is how everybody should travel and I can easily see why the rich and famous of days gone by preferred the original Queen Mary to flying.

While I'm unpacking we have a mandatory emergency drill and have to grab out lifevests and head to muster points all around the ship. It goes like clockwork which is good because it is very easy to get lost. From the photos of QM2 you might be forgiven for making the observation that there don't seem to be enough lifeboats for the 4000+ people aboard. QM2 sports some canisters that automagically become Zodiacs if necessary - quite a clever way to ensure safety while maintaining aesthetics.

We "pushed back" from Dubai a little late but then that's a ritual in Dubai. I'd managed a place on the open-air Observation Deck immediately below the Bridge and had fantasic views as we sailed out of Port Rashid. There was a helipcopter overhead taking publicity photos and I'm hoping I'll be able to see me in the picture if they are ever made available. Fortunately I was wearing my signature colour - lime green - so I'll stand out. I was also right under the foghorn and boy is that sucker loud. Cunard are not kidding when they say it can be heard for 10 miles. When they tooted farewell to Dubai I had the biggest grin on my face. [Editor's note: in the end Cunard's publicist chose to use the dawn arrival photo shown, and not a dusk departure one, but my apartment is visible as the highest building on the left of the image. Thanks to Brett & Susan for finding the photo on Cunard's website.]

As we spun around to face the harbour entrance I got some great shots of the side of QM2 with my apartment building in the background. That will definitely be a wonderful memory for me as I love my little apartment and its views over the sea.
I was so pooped that I crashed fast asleep around 8pm without having eaten a thing all day. I made up for that this morning with the best Eggs Benedict I've had since leaving NZ. Little did I know it would be the first of many wonderful meals aboard QM2.

After breakfast I went to a lecture by one of the pilots of Concorde. He explained to us that because she flew faster than a bullet there was never a military version of the aircraft made. No point - everytime she fired a round, she would have shot herself! Later in the cruise the same lecturer explained to us what caused the fateful Paris crash that signalled the beginning of the end for this wonderful aircraft. It turned out to be a tragically unique set of circumstances, very much a freak accident, but preventable with a couple of modifications. Who could have known that September 11 would take out 30% of British Airway's regular supersonic trans-Atlantic customers spelling economic death for Concorde?

Well, I'm due to see a thing in Illuminations, the planetarium, in a few minutes. It is huge - you have to image something that is movie theatre sized with a domed ceiling. I'm told the dome drops down over the audience when being used as a Planetarium but the rest of the time it is used as a movie theatre with a starry ceiling. [Editor's note: Yep, the dome drops down over 150 seats in the centre of the theatre.]

Anyway - I have to run or I'll be late. More later ...

Maiden Call on Dubai

The first time a ship enters a new port it is known as her "Maiden Call", and today Queen Mary 2 made her Maiden Call into Port Rashid, Dubai. She was a sneaky wee ship and snuck in at least two hours ahead of schedule so I missed catching her on video. She was also supposed to be at Quay 2 but I notice there's been a change of plan and she's been moved back into deeper waters, near where the container ships are. This is nothing new for QM2 - the same thing happened in Auckland as Princess Wharf is too short for her to tie up properly.

Yesterday I told you about the all-white imposter; you can just see her bow in the left of the photo. I would say she is about 0.5+ km closer to me than QM2. Also you can just make out a container ship in front of QM2 (foreground) - she has a black hull with a white bridge. That should give you a sense of scale.

I'm still in my Jammies and there are a couple of last minute errands I need to run so the next post from me will be from onboard.

Special note to Sallie: Damn, I wish you could have gotten the time off work kiddo. We'd have had a blast. I'll be thinking of you and will down a wee glass a champers in your honour. To absent friends!

The Longest Day

Abra are the water taxis of Dubai. They ferry workers back and forth across The Creek which is actually a salt-water inlet.

Dirham and fils are the equivalent of dollars and cents. US$1 is roughly 3.67 dirhams and NZ$1 is about 2.50 dirhams. The abra drivers charge each passenger about 25-50 fils and wait until the boat is full (20-30 people) before ferrying everyone over to the other side.

Smart tourists can negotiate to rent an abra for private tours up and down The Creek. Personally this is the way I'd do it because the little putt-putt abras are far more charming than the touristy dhows that charge hundreds of dirhams per person, and they'll take you up as close as possible to things you want to see better. Also you cannot help but smile when you climb aboard because the driver will negotiate hard (expect around 25 dirhams for a straight ferry, more for a tour) but you won't mind because you'll know you just saved him several hours work for the day. Just be careful getting in and out because the concrete jetties are very slippery.

This little guy will get the shock of his life if he's around the mouth of The Creek tomorrow morning because there'll be a ship three times the size of Titanic heading pretty much straight across his bow. Her name is Queen Mary 2. Only nine more hours to go now. This has been the longest day.

By the way, if you want to add comments, just click on the "number of comments" link below each post. Use the right hand side of the pop-up to type in what you want to say. Make sure the "Other" radio button is selected so you can enter your name (unless you already have a Google account). Please don't use "Anonymous" because I won't know who I'm talking to.

Time for sleep now. I have to be up early to photograph her coming into port. I should have time to post again before embarkation. After that you might not get many photos for a while but I've set up the blog so I can send e-mails that will permit me to add new posts without using the internet.

Night all.

Maintenance Day

Speaking of pyramids, there is a shopping mall in Dubai known as Wafi City and it is built around an egyptian theme. Dubai Raffles Hotel is under construction there at the moment, and the mall itself has some expensive shops: Graff, Lalique, Frette, Chopard, Chanel and so forth. Naturally it seemed like a good place to look for a hairdresser when I first arrived. I found a great little salon, Hair@Pyramids, and a wonderful spa called Cleopatra's right next door. "Maintenance Day" is when I hit both within a 24 hour period in preparation for a big event.

I've been maintained. Literally from head to toe and now sport blonde and copper highlights and french polish at respective ends of my body. It's a girl thing. Besides, Mum would probably take me out the back and hit me over the head with a shovel if I didn't scrub up before I got onboard "the world's most magnificent ocean liner".

I'm looking down on Port Rashid as I type this. The sun is setting and I notice there's an all-white imposter in QM2's parking spot - Costa Classica - using up about 25% of Quay 2. I looked her up and she carries about 1300 passengers. I'm trying to guess roughly how much of the quay QM2 will need for space if she can carry a maximum of 3500 passengers. Scary thought.

Two more sleeps to go ...

Officially on Vacation

As of 3pm today I'm officially on vacation and I feel good! Na-na na-na na-na na. From now until 1st April, work is a 4-letter word not to be used in public.

It is the weekend here in Dubai and there are only three more sleeps until Cunard's Queen Mary 2 arrives almost literally on my doorstep. As I write this she is making her way across the Indian Ocean from Cochin, India. The map shows you where I go from there. The Suez Canal and Cairo's pyramids are the big highlights for me. They're both feats of engineering that have fascinated me since I was in single digits. And of course living aboard a floating palace for a couple of weeks is pretty cool too.

I keep thinking of things I might need or want on the trip. Stupid things. Like spending money for Egypt when I don't even know what currency they use. Or knowing which train to catch from Southampton to London when QM2 arrives. I must be getting old because I never used to worry about such things. There was a time when a courier would hand me an envelope on Friday, containing a ticket and some survival cash and I would just go wherever the ticket pointed. Who knew that at Narita Airport a Limousine is actually a bus? Or that if you get your whites laundered in Beijing they are returned 2 sizes smaller and tinted an odd beige colour?

And then there are all the silly things I haven't done. Like arrange my car insurance, sort out hors d'oeuvres and extra glasses for the Bon Voyage party, pick up my last minute dry-cleaning, check if I really can still fit into my evening gown, and watering the plants.

But you know what they say - don't sweat the small stuff, and its all small stuff. Well, all small stuff except QM2 of course. Did I mention she's bigger than any aircraft carrier in service today?