Where in the world ?

[bluemarble]

8 hours ago, sfred said:

 

Thanks very much @bluemarble.  Here's a contribution which can help us get to 450.  I've been to this town on a road trip but not by ship, Cunard or otherwise.  Lacking a photo of my own, here is a public domain photo from wikimedia commons.  I've verified in google street view that it is an accurate representation of the port.

 

 

1 hour ago, Palmeat said:

Well done @sfred - Playa Blanca is correct, as is your identification of the lighthouse⭐.  That's 450 I think? No joy with your photo yet - you mentioned 'road trip', so I've firstly eliminated all the Australian ports! 

 

@Palmeat, you were on the right track looking at Australian ports for this one. There's one port in Australia you shouldn't have eliminated. This is Eden, New South Wales, Australia.

[bluemarble]

Now that we've started a new browser page, I'll bring forward these recently posted port lists for easier reference. Keep in mind these lists don't yet reflect the two recently identified ports of Playa Blanca, Lanzarote and Eden, New South Wales.

 

Where in the World 2021-06-15.txt

 

Cunard ports not seen yet 2021-06-15.txt

[Palmeat]

2 hours ago, bluemarble said:

 

 

@Palmeat, you were on the right track looking at Australian ports for this one. There's one port in Australia you shouldn't have eliminated. This is Eden, New South Wales, Australia.

Doh! I couldn't see the match for Eden but glad you've been able to identify another port. I've been scraping the barrel for photos of other ports on the list - and here's another effort. Tricky to identify visually, but a couple of clues might help. 1) The equator runs through this city (hence the remarkable bugs!) 2) The only access by road to this province is via a neighbouring country. 3) We didn't physically land at the port but anchored offshore for a few hours.

More clues if required (but I suspect not!). Bonus point for naming the ship! Bon chance.

Edited June 15, 2021 by Palmeat

[sfred]

6 hours ago, bluemarble said:

 

@Palmeat, you were on the right track looking at Australian ports for this one. There's one port in Australia you shouldn't have eliminated. This is Eden, New South Wales, Australia.

 

It is indeed Eden.  Well done to both.  Mrs sfred and I were there many years ago, on a driving trip through country NSW.  It is a charming town.  The public domain photo has the Eden slipway in the foreground, the piers for pleasure, fishing, and tug boats in the centre, and the cruise ship pier further out by the harbour breakwater.  I think QE is scheduled to make several calls at Eden over the next several summer seasons, if she ever makes it back to this part of the world.  Some fun facts:

• Eden isn't named for the biblical garden, but instead was named in 1842 for George Eden, 1st Earl of Auckland, the British Secretary for the Colonies.
• Eden, situated midway along the coast from Sydney to Melbourne, was briefly a candidate to become the capital of Australia, but Canberra was chosen instead.
• Eden has one of the deepest natural harbours in the world, so plenty of room for cruise ships.

[sfred]

5 hours ago, Palmeat said:

I've been scraping the barrel for photos of other ports on the list - and here's another effort. Tricky to identify visually, but a couple of clues might help. 1) The equator runs through this city (hence the remarkable bugs!) 2) The only access by road to this province is via a neighbouring country. 3) We didn't physically land at the port but anchored offshore for a few hours.

More clues if required (but I suspect not!). Bonus point for naming the ship! Bon chance.

 

This brings back memories of the "what is the closest Cunard port to the equator" game from back in October 2020.  Some of the ports discussed back then have already been seen, like Manta Equador.  A really good candate for @Palmeat's latest photos might be Macapa, Brazil, which is consistent with the three clues provided.  A road into Macapa originates in neighbouring French Guiana, and @Colin_Cameron's post 1309 said that ships often stop at Macapa to pick up or drop off an Amazon river pilot.

 

I'm afraid I don't know the ship.

[bluemarble]

1 minute ago, sfred said:

... I'm afraid I don't know the ship.

 

Identifying the ship in @Palmeat's Macapa, Brazil photos has been an interesting exercise this afternoon. There are two candidates from the ships listed in his signature which I've learned are essentially sister ships belonging to different cruise lines. Those candidates are Swan Hellenic Minerva II and Oceania Nautica.

 

While looking for images of those two ships at Macapa, I happened upon an uncannily close match to @Palmeat's last photo which was taken from Minerva II. On that basis I'll go out on a limb and say the ship is Minerva II.

[Palmeat]

7 hours ago, sfred said:

 

This brings back memories of the "what is the closest Cunard port to the equator" game from back in October 2020.  Some of the ports discussed back then have already been seen, like Manta Equador.  A really good candate for @Palmeat's latest photos might be Macapa, Brazil, which is consistent with the three clues provided.  A road into Macapa originates in neighbouring French Guiana, and @Colin_Cameron's post 1309 said that ships often stop at Macapa to pick up or drop off an Amazon river pilot.

 

I'm afraid I don't know the ship.

Congratulations @sfred! It is indeed Macapa and as you say is a technical stop to board Amazon pilots. The colour of the water also offers a great clue to this Amazonian location. @bluemarble has correctly identified Minerva II as the ship. Hats off to you both ⭐. 

Sadly, I think I've just about exhausted all my photos of ports on the list. I have a few places not yet confirmed as Cunard ports, so is it too much of a stretch to offer these and test @bluemarble and @Colin_Cameron's researching skills? Happy to accept your ruling - but until you advise not, here's one to kick-off the head-scratching.  

[carlmm]

I am glad to see this thread going on.

 

Let's try this photo of a Cunard port, albeit not taken during a Cunard cruise.

[bluemarble]

6 hours ago, Palmeat said:

... I have a few places not yet confirmed as Cunard ports, so is it too much of a stretch to offer these and test @bluemarble and @Colin_Cameron's researching skills? ...

 

I'm good for a few more photos that might not turn out to be Cunard ports (or rather that we can't prove are Cunard ports; without complete itinerary histories it's not possible to prove a negative). As long as they are reasonably popular ports on other lines, let's give it a try. Your latest photo is clearly a fairly sizeable city, not some obscure backwater. It does increase the challenge not being able to work from a list of known Cunard ports as a starting point.

[bluemarble]

7 hours ago, Palmeat said:

Congratulations @sfred! It is indeed Macapa and as you say is a technical stop to board Amazon pilots. The colour of the water also offers a great clue to this Amazonian location. @bluemarble has correctly identified Minerva II as the ship. Hats off to you both ⭐. 

Sadly, I think I've just about exhausted all my photos of ports on the list. I have a few places not yet confirmed as Cunard ports, so is it too much of a stretch to offer these and test @bluemarble and @Colin_Cameron's researching skills? Happy to accept your ruling - but until you advise not, here's one to kick-off the head-scratching.  

 

Oh! Signs along the waterfront at the left read "Federação Alagoana de Vela e Motor". That led me to the port of Maceió, Brazil. Bingo! Without that clue, this probably would have been a real head-scratcher.

 

I'll see what I can find about this being a Cunard port. So far I've found a destination page for "Maceio, Bresil" on the Cunard website for France. That's promising, but there are plenty of other destination pages on various Cunard websites that aren't actually Cunard ports of call.

[bluemarble]

As I'm updating the list of ports we've seen on this thread, I notice you've been operating in alphabetical order again @Palmeat with your last two photos: Macapa and Maceió, Brazil. Sorry, I just couldn't resist pointing out that little detail. 🙂

[Palmeat]

20 minutes ago, bluemarble said:

As I'm updating the list of ports we've seen on this thread, I notice you've been operating in alphabetical order again @Palmeat with your last two photos: Macapa and Maceió, Brazil. Sorry, I just couldn't resist pointing out that little detail. 🙂

Well done @bluemarble - Maceio, Brazil is correct⭐ As you say, a largish city of over 1m souls according to Wiki - so a possible Cunard port of call? Many other lines call there. Not sure what there was to see - no photos suggests we didn't venture ashore (Seabourn Quest).

What a shame Cunard doesn't employ an archivist (as far as I know) - that would be an excellent resource for proving what ships have been where.

Re alphabetical listing, it's over to @sfred for Madang!😀

[Colin_Cameron]

1 hour ago, Palmeat said:

What a shame Cunard doesn't employ an archivist (as far as I know) -

They used to, but the two that I knew have both retired. I don’t think they were replaced.

[sfred]

2 hours ago, Palmeat said:

Re alphabetical listing, it's over to @sfred for Madang!😀

 

Challenge accepted!  😎

[sfred]

21 hours ago, carlmm said:

I am glad to see this thread going on.

 

Let's try this photo of a Cunard port, albeit not taken during a Cunard cruise.

Hi @carlmm.  Good to see you back.

 

This is Mossel Bay, South Africa.  The white roofed building is the Pavilion Restaurant / Jackal on the Beach, and the beach itself is the Santosstrand.  It appeared to me that the van driving up the inclined street at the left of the photo was driving on the left side of the road, so I tried some likely countries that drive on the left and found this location.

 

[sfred]

Here's a Cunard port from another ages-ago driving trip, before the era of camera phones.  Lacking photos of my own, these are public domain images from wikimedia commons.  Both are of the same port, and I've verified both photos in google street view.  If a hint is desired. the port is not in NY.

 

Edited June 17, 2021 by sfred

[carlmm]

2 hours ago, sfred said:

Hi @carlmm.  Good to see you back.

 

This is Mossel Bay, South Africa.  The white roofed building is the Pavilion Restaurant / Jackal on the Beach, and the beach itself is the Santosstrand.  It appeared to me that the van driving up the inclined street at the left of the photo was driving on the left side of the road, so I tried some likely countries that drive on the left and found this location.

 

 Thank you, @sfred.

 

You are perfectly right! In all points. The beach pavilion is somewhat famous as being the only original one left in South Africa.

[Colin_Cameron]

3 hours ago, sfred said:

Here's a Cunard port from another ages-ago driving trip, before the era of camera phones.  Lacking photos of my own, these are public domain images from wikimedia commons.  Both are of the same port, and I've verified both photos in google street view.  If a hint is desired. the port is not in NY.

 

Would this be Albany, WA

 

[sfred]

10 hours ago, Colin_Cameron said:

Would this be Albany, WA

 

 

Yes, it is Albany, Western Australia.  Mrs. sfred and I were there many years ago on a WA driving trip from Perth to the Margaret River area, Albany, Esperance, Kalgoorlie, and back to Perth.   The ship in the photo is a replica of the brig Amity, on display at the WA Museum in Albany.

 

 

[Colin_Cameron]

The “Albany Backpackers” sign would have been a big clue IF I’d spotted it in time.

[sfred]

1 hour ago, Colin_Cameron said:

The “Albany Backpackers” sign would have been a big clue IF I’d spotted it in time.

 

Yes, I wasn't sure if the CruiseCritic board would reduce the resolution of the sign on the side of the building in the first photo.  The van parked on the street also has a WA state registration plate, although the car behind it has a NSW plate. 

Edited June 17, 2021 by sfred

[sfred]

Taking a break for a moment from old driving adventures, here's a public domain photo from a port in a country I've been to once for work, but not on holiday and not on a cruise, Cunard or otherwise.  I found this photo a "challenge".

 

Edited June 17, 2021 by sfred

[bluemarble]

1 hour ago, sfred said:

Taking a break for a moment from old driving adventures, here's a public domain photo from a port in a country I've been to once for work, but not on holiday and not on a cruise, Cunard or otherwise.  I found this photo a "challenge".

 

 

Good one! Yes, it would have been a difficult "challenge" to identify this one but for that hint to start looking at the next unseen port in a recently discussed "alphabetical" sequence.

 

That's the Coastwatchers Memorial Lighthouse at Madang, Papua New Guinea.

[sfred]

10 minutes ago, bluemarble said:

Good one! Yes, it would have been a difficult "challenge" to identify this one but for that hint to start looking at the next unseen port in a recently discussed "alphabetical" sequence.

 

That's the Coastwatchers Memorial Lighthouse at Madang, Papua New Guinea.

 

On 6/17/2021 at 4:33 AM, Palmeat said:

Re alphabetical listing, it's over to @sfred for Madang!😀

 

Alphabetical challenge posed by @Palmeat...

Challenge accepted! ...  😎

Challenge solved!  Correct @bluemarble.

 

I've been to PNG once on business, but only to Port Moresby.  Madang is on the opposite northern coast, and no roads connect the two locations.  The mountainous interior of the country has very thick impenetrable jungles.

[Palmeat]

4 hours ago, sfred said:

 

 

Alphabetical challenge posed by @Palmeat...

Challenge accepted! ...  😎

Challenge solved!  Correct @bluemarble.

 

I've been to PNG once on business, but only to Port Moresby.  Madang is on the opposite northern coast, and no roads connect the two locations.  The mountainous interior of the country has very thick impenetrable jungles.

Well done @sfred😀! Sadly I haven't been to Mahajanga!!

I have been to this place though, which is a destination for some larger lines (as per photographed RCCL). Diamonds International are there for heaven's sake - so must surely prove to be a Cunard port?? The first 2 photos are tricky, but plenty of clues in the last. Bon chance.