Our last night on board the Queen Elizabeth was a short sleep, we woke at 5 am to go out on deck to meet the arrival of Queen Mary to follow her into Sydney Harbour for our royal rendezvous. It was the first time that Queen Elizabeth had been to Sydney and it was very emotional for us too, we were looking forward to changing ships, everyone said we had saved the best ship until last to complete our world voyage, the majestic Queen Mary, but we had made many friends and had great fun and experiences on the Queen Elizabeth that it was sad we were leaving.

We took our last picture on the Queen Elizabeth on the lido deck, right in front of the Sydney Harbour Bridge and then off to the Queen Mary, the transition was very quick, we jumped the line, got bumped up to priority boarding and we were the first guests to check in. Just 20 minutes later we were off the Queen Mary exploring Sydney.

With only a quick stop in Sydney we had a busy itinerary, but first stop was Harry Cafe de Wheels, highly recommended by our Aussie friends, Val and "Norm", we weren't disappointed. Harry's is an Australian hot spot, celebrity famous for pie, mash, peas and gravy (a Tiger) and we queued for the experience, the pies tasted as good as they look in the picture, thanks Val and "Norm" luv ya!

Full of pie, we needed some exercise, so a quick taxi ride took us to the opposite side of the Harbour Bridge, unfortunately it was showery in Sydney but that didn't hold us back, two new umberellas and two new bears, Evatt and Ellenbrook, to add the family and we were walking back over the world famous bridge. At one end, we walked up the bridge pier to the viewing point, all 250 steps, for fantastic views of Sydney and the crazy people actually walking over the bridge, we don't know how you had the nerve Aunty Sheila and Uncle Robert!!

Sydney is very much like London, the streets have English names, the people talk about the Queen as theirs and the whole place is very cosmopolitan and upmarket. We just loved the whole place.

Our route brought us back to The Rocks, the first settlement in Australia, now a thriving shopping, bar and restaurant area. We called in at the Shangri La Hotel before we headed back to the ship for a quick change and dinner at the Todd English restaurant on board, before our opera date.

The Sydney Opera House is very deceiving, on the outside it looks small, up close it looks big, inside it seems huge! We had great seats and whilst we had never been to the opera before, Carmen, tonights' performance, was absolutely stunning. The cast, the set and the music were excellent and all the more magical by the location. We were so in awe that we managed to see such a wonderful performance in such a special venue on our only night in Sydney. We even managed to sneak a quick picture for our blog!

A quick change at the ship, now Midnight, we headed out to Darlinghurst to investigate the nightlife, we had a few stops at the local bars but it was a quiet Tuesday night. It was great though to see the ship's crew enjoying themselves and we bumped into some of our favourite folks.

We had almost been awake 24 hours but we still had more to see and do, we had a short sleep again before our excursion called "Leisurely Sydney". Our tour guide pointed out all the landmarks as we drove around Sydney, then we headed over to the famous Bondi Beach. Unfortunately it was a little overcast, but that didn't stop all the surfer dudes and body builders on the beach, fortunately for us! Bondi Beach whilst famous is a little run down but it was great to go, it reminded us very much of Scarborough seaside! Our trip continued along the coastline to the Harbour Heads where the Tasmin Sea gateway is to the Sydney Harbour. Our route followed back through Kings Cross, the red light district, then onto more exclusive district in Paddington and the trendy old style colonial houses with balastrades. We had a picture stop at Mrs Macquaries Chair, an old carved rock space, before we were back in the city.

The monorail whisked us around the Darling Harbour area for an above street view before we alighted at China Town. We made a stop at the Chinese Gardens, totally unexpected, the gardens were tranquil and beautiful, but set right in the heart of the city. Stuart had Jasmine tea, very relaxed now, even though our feet hurt so much!

Before we knew it, it was 4.30pm and we sailed at 5pm, a brisk quick walk and we were back on board for our sailaway from Sydney, we managed to get the best location at the very front of the ship as we waved our goodbyes. We'll be back!

The Queen Mary is the oldest ship in the Cunard fleet, but it's certainly the grandest. The Queen Elizabeth and Victoria could easily fit inside it! Our room is bigger, Stateroom 11103 and so is the bathroom too, the furnishings are very traditional English. The ship is huge, there is so much more to explore and unlike the Queen Elizabeth, it's so much easier to find your own space where you can hide away if you want to. Today we found the lift that goes up the outside of the ship to the lookout deck, amazing!

Maybe it's just because the ship is bigger, we're not sure, but the portions at dinner seemed bigger too, our dining room table for two, 273, is set in the upper restaurant and we have our own balcony to look down into the main dining room, very special. Our friends from the Queen Victoria, William and Malcolm have already found us and we know more people that joined us from the Elizabeth, so we are starting to feel at home and making the ship our own.

Zaldy our steward is wonderful and he is so impressed that "two young, rich gentlemen are travelling around the world", his words! We're not sure if we're the youngest onboard, but we're certainly the youngest gay passengers on board.

We're back in the Tasmin Sea, heading to Wellington, New Zealand, then Auckland before we head north to explore the Far East on our new home at sea.