Video: Harbour Pilot boards Dawn Princess entering Sydney Harbour

Here’s a video from our recent cruise aboard Dawn Princess.

We arrived late into Sydney, which was fantastic, because we got to see everything in broad daylight rather than in the early hours of the morning.

As we approached “The Heads” at the entrance to Sydney Harbour, the Pilot pulled alongside our ship and jumped aboard.

If you ever get the chance on your next cruise, keep an eye out for the pilot. It’s quite spectacular watching them come aboard.

Dawn Princess: "A Day in Brisbane"

Ship Dawn Princess is currently receiving maintenance at a drydock on the Brisbane River.

Brisbane is beautiful in winter, so I thought I’d record and upload a timelapse video from her webcam of a day on the Brisbane River, from sunrise to sunset.

The view is across the river from the cruise terminal where most ships berth. You can see the CityCat ferries zipping across the water all day, taking passengers into the city, and traffic moving up and down the river.

I hope you enjoy it. And if you’re looking for a pleasant, relaxing place to visit during June, you can’t go past Brisbane!

QE2 Final Voyage from the Red Sea to Dubai

Here’s the final instalment from my series on QE2’s final voyage.

This one covers the part of the voyage from the Red Sea to Dubai.

A lot of the video is of the voyage, and not much is of Dubai. This was a deliberate decision on my part. It’s about a wonderful ship, not about “Gaudy Arabia” (aka Dubai) – an ostentatious city of opulence.

Also, I’ve tried to keep the video simple. There’s much I could say, but I didn’t think it needed to be said in the video. QE2 speaks for herself.

I highly recommend a poem posted by “The Real PM” on Cruise Critic, entitled Goodbye. One powerful image from it:

All gone, all gone, the people gone
The Champagne and the bands.
And Gulliver’s made fast at last
By Lilliputian hands.

I’ve enjoyed recording QE2’s webcams, and have fallen in love with this ship even though I never got to see her in real life.

Goodbye old girl.

Video: QE2 from Lisbon to Gibraltar

Here’s another instalment in the series on QE2’s final voyage.

This video covers the sector from Lisbon, Portugal to Gibraltar.

There’s a really nice sunset in Lisbon, and a pleasant Moonrise after the departure from Gibraltar.

BTW I thought the accompanying song was ironic. I think although we feel otherwise, we never have all the time in the world. Neither do wonderful ships like QE2.