sfred

I thought I saw another cruise ship this morning!  Might have been QV.  It was a little too far to tell and I couldn't check on Marinetraffic as I'd run out of QE WiFi and wasn't yet close enough to shore for mobile data. 

QE is back in Sydney today Tuesday 5 March.   Coffee on disembarkation day isn't nearly as good as beer on embarkation day.  Safe travels to all those returning home today. 

Back in Sydney this morning.   Just a little slice of sunrise behind the opera house. 

5 hours ago, NE John said:

When I was in northern Quebec, I used my seven years of French to end up telling the hotel clerk in French “Yesterday I am a telephone”…

I'm sure that would enable you to blend easily in New Caledonia!  😀

I have several sunrise photos that I haven't posted yet, as I didn't want to provide too many spoilers for the port photos in the Where in the World game.  Here they are…

2 March approaching Noumea 

1 March st sea

29 Feb approaching Suva Fiji

28 Feb approaching Lautoka Fiji

6 hours ago, D&N said:

Google Lens provides a match for Suva, FIJI.

There's a photo of a HAL ship that is almost identical to that of QE, not such a nice day though. And one of QV in March 2015. Building and cranes are same.

Correct!  QE's maiden call to Suva on leap day 29 February.

These two Fiji ports Lautoka and Suva are 648 and 649 in our game.  Here are the daily program guides for Fiji and Noumea. 

Unfortunately that brings to an end my new port photos from this voyage.   We disembark back in Sydney tomorrow.   

A reminder to all the Where in the World participants that Port D is not yet identified.   Photos are at the bottom of the previous page 211.

1 hour ago, bluemarble said:

I'll go ahead and complete the identification of Port F after having identified the bonus photo for port F yesterday. I suppose many of you have already figured out Port F is Noumea, New Caledonia where QE was yesterday. This is the port we've seen once before on this thread, but not from a Cunard ship. That was in @ExArkie's post #3576.

Noumea is correct.  @ExArkie's post 3576 on 13 July 2021 was quite a milestone for this game --  port number 500.  Excellent that we're still going in 2024.

Mrs sfred and I had a very nice day in Noumea.   As usual we walked all around the city, and went to lunch at a French restaurant on the waterfront.   Here's a photo from our outdoor table on the terrace.  We also brought back a bottle of bubbly for evening sailaway on our QE balcony.

I even managed to use some of my school days French with the locals.  Amazingly we seemed to understand each other!  🇫🇷  🙂

39 minutes ago, NE John said:

What an exciting voyage to be onboard and visit all these beautiful spots and making QE maiden calls. Great call in booking this one!!
Is there any recent history of Cunard visiting these South Pacific islands? Maybe past world voyages? 

It has been an excellent voyage.  We've been lucky with weather.   This time of year there's the rainy season and usual cyclone risk.

Cunard is planning more of these voyages before QE leaves for the Caribbean.   There is a 2025 itinerary the same as ours plus a call into Brisbane.   And some of the cancelled New Zealand trips have been rescheduled to these islands. 

I don't know Cunard’s history in these waters.   Although all ports are maiden calls for QE, several of the unseen ports were on our list indicating that one or more of other Cunard ships have been before.   @bluemarble or @Colin_Cameron will perhaps know and comment once ports D and F are identified?

6 hours ago, NE John said:

My guess for Port E based on seeing containers is Lautoka, Fiji. 

That's right!  QE's maiden call to Lautoka on 28 February.   Nicknamed "sugar city" for the surrounding cane fields and the largest sugar mill in the southern hemisphere.  

1 hour ago, bluemarble said:

I'll give this bonus photo a try. I think it's recent enough that I can calculate your sunrise position on your past track. Is this Canal Woodin, New Caledonia?

Absolutely correct!  A wonderful sunrise from QE this morning.   The "Canal" in the name is French, meaning waterway or channel, rather than the English meaning of man-made.  Canal Woodin separates the main island of New Caledonia on the left in the photo from Ile Ouen on the right. 

I don't think the bonus photo qualifies as a cruise-by as it wasn't a named destination in our itinerary or a place that was particularly noted in our route.  But it was extraordinarily beautiful this morning in the dawn light.  We had an ideal temperature of about 26c and a light tropical breeze over the deck.  Plus a cup of coffee! ☕️  

Here is a bonus photo for Port F, taken at dawn from the stern of the ship about an hour before arrival.  Can you name the body of water in the photo?  It was a stunning sunrise!

Port F

Port E

Port D

Here are three more ports, D E and F.  All are maiden calls for this Cunard ship.  Two are on our unseen list.  One has been seen, although not from a Cunard ship.  Good luck!

Last night I found two more Mauretania photos on QE.  They are on the wall on Deck 1 adjacent to the purser's desk.  My photos of the photos attached below.   I'm always amazed that after so many days on QE I can still discover new things. 

A stormy horizon this morning.   Doesn't look too likely we'll get a sunrise for today's sea day.

3 hours ago, ExArkie said:

Assuming Port A would be in the same neighborhood as the other two, I got a good match on the third photo to the Iririki Island Resort, which is also in Vanuatu. The island is in the harbor for Port Vila, which appears to be a cruise stop.

Correct!  Port A is Port Vila Vanuatu from our maiden QE call on Sunday 25 Feb.  And the third photo is indeed Iririki Island adjacent to the city.

With each of these three ports now identified, here are the cover pages from the daily programmes.  I'm told we also received maiden call plaques for the wall collection on deck 10 by the Commodore Club but they haven't been hung yet as of this morning.   I did find the plaque from QE's recent call at Port Lincoln SA.

Saturday 24 February full moon from QE, and today's 26 February sunrise on approach to Louganville Vanuatu. 

10 minutes ago, NE John said:

“C” is recent call to Louganville, Vanuatu. I may have found a match from picture #2 of Photo 😄

 

Congratulations @NE John.  Port C is indeed today's maiden QE call to Louganville Vanuatu.   Good find on the photo from the similar vantage point. 

Quite a bit of the town, port, and airport infrastructure dates from WW2.  The third photo is Million Dollar beach, taken during QE's sailin this morning.   The beach and adjacent seabed contains equipment abandoned after the war and left to rust away.

35 minutes ago, bluemarble said:

I'll go ahead and identify Port B. That's Lifou, New Caledonia. I think the third photo for that port is showing us the Chapelle Notre Dame de Lourdes on the hilltop.

That's correct @bluemarble!  QE's maiden call to Lifou.  This was the replacement for Isle of Pines in the itinerary change a few months back.  And the third photo is indeed the Chapelle Notre Dame.  A bit smaller than the Paris one.  The photo of QE in the second picture was taken from the Chapelle hilltop.  Here also is the Chapelle itself.

Port C

Port B

Port A