Today is noticeably cooler as we reach the west coast of South Island, New Zealand. Incredibly, after a pea-souper of a fog last night we have wall to wall sunshine again; perfect for enjoying the delights of Milford Sound. On entering the Sound we were transported back to our 2004 Norwegian Coastal Voyage. A local expert had come on board to provide a commentary as we sailed along the fjord; pity the ship's PA system is still so intermittent. In fairness it did...

Our second day in Sydney involved another very early start to return the car to Avis before we had to start feeding the meter again. This enabled us to catch the 8.10 ferry across to Manly where the locals were just beginning to surface. Surf dudes were negotiating the waves and seem to spend more time waiting for the appropriate wave to come along or falling off their surf boards than doind the Hawaii 5 O bit. Again I had to restrain Ian from rushing in to the ...

Everybody reckons the approach into Sydney Harbour is amongst the most spectacular you can experience, and to give us as much time as possible in the city Cap'n Bob was rolling in to the outer bay at 5.30, that's am for Lord's sake! So along with a few hundred other souls we were there, up on Deck 13, with the old Kodak Box Brownie, oohing and aahing in wonder. Seagulls asked us to quieten it down a bit as they were still trying to lay in the zzzzzz's before anot...

Why are ships always regarded as 'she'? They always show their tops but keep their bottoms hidden, they need constant applications of paint, they need a good man to steer them in the right direction and when in port they always head for the boys (sic). That's today's contribution from the Officer of the Watch. We are now sailing south through the Coral Sea, looking forward to 2 days in Sydney. Today marks the half way point in our trip - we have been at sea now...

Before we reached Airlie Beach, the mainland gateway for the Whitsunday Islands, Oriana steamed for 3 days east across the Timor Sea before heading south into the Coral Sea. En route the Queen Mary 2 sailed past at midnight on the 18/19th and this morning the 20th, Oriana's sister ship the Aurora headed north past us to loud foghorns from both ships. Aurora left Southampton the day before us on its World Voyage heading west, with a slightly different itinerary. W...