Thursday 24 February 2011

Grande dames of the seas

This first photograph taken and processed by Kirsten

A day of two halves - firstly grey sleeting rain, but eventually a blue patchwork - saw me and my gals out on the harbour farewelling Cunard's 'Queen Elizabeth' (2010 incarnation).

There were four cruise liners in the harbour come midday: Queen Mary 2 docked at Garden Island; Queen Elizabeth docked in Sydney Cove; Fred Olsen's 'Balmoral' heaved to in Athol Bight; and, Regent's 'Seven Seas Voyager' docked on the western side of the Bridge, at Barangaroo.


We sat off Kirribilli Point in the tiny Rossmore Ferry, 'Proclaim', having already choofed up the Parramatta River to survey the woeful passenger processing facility for cruise passengers (but then maybe the shipping companies should contribute more), then down to Garden Island to get up-close-and-personal with the QM.

These two liners are BIG boats, as I hope this post illustrates. After a special day of remembrance tomorrow, I will continue with the cruise ships over the weekend.

This final photograph taken and processed by Kirsten

19 comments:

Luis Gomez said...

Gorgeous shots Julie! Love the one where you can see the wings of the Opera House.

Lynette said...

They are so huge! Sounds like a great time you had while getting these super shots, what does "choofed" mean?

Genie -- Paris and Beyond said...

Wow! You have shown us a beautiful scene with a variety of shots, color and b/w, and my favorite is the same as Luis' with the Opera House. It sounds like a great time was had by all!

G

Mary Ann said...

The second photo is amazing to me. What a view!

Artlover said...

Great ships. Gorgeous shots. I like the second one best.
I like Cunards vessels very much.

Kay L. Davies said...

Clouds or not, I like the third photo, Julie, with the QM2 looking like she's berthed right in the city streets. A wonderful trompe l'oeil.
Of course, though, I love them all, being more than somewhat fond of ships. I do wonder, however, why the Queen Elizabeth isn't 3 or III. I looked it up, and there's a confusing number of co-owners with Cunard, which may be the reason, or perhaps not. Then there are the Royal Navy ships...well, very unenlightening.
Anyway, thank you, and Kirsten, for these photos. A wonderful day for Sydney sailors, and fans.
-- K

Kay, Alberta, Canada
An Unfittie's Guide to Adventurous Travel

Julie said...

Lynette: 'choofed' is an Australian informal word meaning 'to go or to move in a specific direction'. It is different from that other informal word that we use down here, 'chuffed', which means 'to be quietly pleased with oneself'.

Joe said...

Thanks for the post Julie. What a fantastic photo opportunity to have the two Grand Dames, The Bridge, The Opera House and The Harbour on show for the benefit of your lens and our eyes.

Ann said...

Love the composition of no. 5 and Kirsten's last b&w. Will put mine up next week. I have both, but not together.

Jim said...

A wonderful collection of shots.

Kirsten said...

And you told me you didn't get any good ones. Pfff I say to that!

Julie said...

I told you that I was annoyed with my timing, that I was always just that little bit too slow, eg the one with the QE and the Opera House would have been sooo much better with just that little more separation, ie taken earlier.

Irritates me ...

RedPat said...

They are huge - look like floating buildings!

Windsmoke. said...

Black & white shots are always charming and do justice to these two huge ships :-).

Joan Elizabeth said...

What monsters. If you turned the one from Kirstens last shot on the side it would be bigger than a city building.

freefalling said...

OOOoo - fancy.
You've had a make-over.
Teehee - "besotted with shabbiness" - you're speaking my language.

Peter said...

These are marvelous! Saw QE a few months ago in Amsterdam [NL]. It's as of a huge office building glides past you, at ease.

diane b said...

They sure make a spectacle and the Sydney bloggers are having fun with them. Who wouldn't.

Around Alice with Mike said...

Love the sharpness and clarity of these shots. The sepia works brilliantly too!