19thMarch – Kobe Kobe lies between deep blue waters of Osaka Bay and the tree clad hills on Honshu. In 1995 a devastating earthquake (7.3 Richter) killed over 6000 people and made 300,000 homeless. It became known as the Great Hanshin Earthquake because as well as destroying the city’s infrastructure it caused the collapse of the elevated section of the Hanshin highway. Some damage is still visible, and as part of the regeneration several memorial parks have been created. Kobe is home to the famous ‘Kobe beef’ , the animal is massaged every day and fed beer, it is also said that they are supported so that their feet do not touch the ground giving a more marbled effect on the beef!!! Our tour was another long one (11 hours) and was entitled ‘Ancient Japan’ The ... read more

JAPAN In order to try to catch up with the blog, this is the itinerary for Japan, we are going to put a few more pics on 15th March - Kagoshima 17th March – Yokohama 19th March – Kobe 21st March – Nagasaki All the ports of call into Japan were maiden, that is, the Queen Elizabeth had not visited before. Our overall impression of Japan was how clean the place was, (they don’t have rubbish bins on the street for instance). The people were so friendly and helpful, they have little English and there are not many European signs. However the guides were great and sometimes very amusing, having not been to Europe to study English, their interpretations were ‘quaint’ to say the least. We did a tour at each port of call which with ... read more

9th March Rabaul, Papua New Guinea This is a maiden port of call for the Queen Elizabeth and was meant to be a tender, however for some reason a berth became available in Simpson Harbour and we docked at about 8 am on this glorious Sunday morning. This was from the sublime (Airlie Beach) with all its fancy yachts and infrastructure to the ridiculous (Rabaul) a township struggling to survive. Rabaul sits in part of the volatile ‘Ring of Fire’ and suffered its last eruption in 1994. Over 80% of buildings were destroyed during this time and after the eruption the capital was moved to Kokopo about 12 miles away. The violent eruptions of Mt Tavurvur followed by Mt Vulcan on the other side of Simpson Harbour quickly buried the eastern side of Rabaul ... read more

4th March Brisbane, Australia We arrived early into the Port of Brisbane, and berthed alongside the Graincorp silos. The Brisbane River is not navigable for ocean liners so we were back in the industrial dock area of the city. There is a huge amount of reclamation going on here in the dock area and it has been a conscious decision by the city planners to keep the industrial areas including the airport on the periphery of the centre. The Brisbane River runs right through the heart of the city and it was what we have chosen as the best option to view the area without having to do the rat run of the shops and stores. Off one boat and then on to another!!! Waterways are the life blood of the city, and are ... read more

26th February Bay of Islands, New Zealand Today sees our last port of call in New Zealand, having sailed overnight we arrived at anchor off Waitangi in the Bay of Islands The Bay of Islands is in the northern region of North Island and is renowned for its silvery beaches and a coastline of bays and islands. This is a tender port and we landed at the small pier on Waitangi. Waitangi is famous for the historic pact between Britain and the Maori tribes, signed in 1840, the Maoris accepted British sovereignty and in return we agreed to protect Maori land. As mentioned in a previous blog the true implications of the treaty were questioned and this led to the infamous ‘Land Wars’. The treaty is still regarded as a true affirmation of Maori ... read more