Cruising the Queensland coast

P&O Cruises, Pacilfic Star

Queensland (NE sector of OZ) is lush and green, fed by the many rivers flowing from the mountains to the sea. As we drove north along the coastal highway from Sydney to Brisbane to meet the Pacific Star for our cruise, we passed river after river flowing from the hills on the left to the sea on our right.

Not the scene you’d expect from an area that was recently awarded level 5 on the drought scale. So why is there a drought in Brisbane? “Years of government inaction resulting in virtually no water management plan,” said Mike, our companion in the gondola on the sky ride across the rainforest near Cairns. “Dam levels are down to 20%, and we’re still in the monsoon season here.”

Indeed, it rained for at least an hour each day during our cruise along the eastern shore from Brisbane to Port Douglas. The skies darkened, rain fell in a deluge, then 15 minutes later the sun would shine and the heat would turn the place into a sauna. Not my kinda place! We went as far north as Port Douglas at 15 degrees below the equator before turning south again through the much sunnier coral sea to Brisbane. Winds were strong causing the boat to bounce around a lot, sloshing the water out of the swimming pools and making several people seasick. Waves weren’t any higher than Lake Ontario on a moderate day, so not sure what made the boat sashay so much. Luckily, the motion didn’t bother us; in fact, the rocking made for great sleeping!

A week with 1,167 Aussies! No worries!
Almost everyone on the cruise was from OZ, mainly Brisbane and surrounds. There were a few Brits, but we were a curiosity as the only North Americans. Everyone was very friendly and universally welcomed us. I loved the Aussie slang and male sense of “silly bugga” humour! Good fun!

We signed up for a table of 8 thinking that we’d meet more people, but much to John’s surprise/chagrin, they were all women! There were four who had known each other since kindergarten and were on a 30-year reunion . . . giggles galore …. and a mother/daughter threesome from Adelaide rounded out the table. They were good fun and we learned a lot from them about life in OZ. I’ve been astonished at the sensitivity here to Canadians – almost everyone has said “Where in North America are you from?” or “Are you Canadian or American?” (in that order). One asked if we were Canadian and said that she always asks it that way to North Americans because Americans are flattered, whereas Canadians are insulted if it’s reversed.

The entertainment was amazing – it was the quality of the crew at Deerhurst with a different program almost every night. On their nights off, headliners took the stage, a comedian/magician and Jackie Love who sang everything from Patsy Cline’s Crazy to Edith Piaff songs en francais!

We ate too much, but didn’t drink much cause the wine list wasn’t very good and they didn’t allow you to bring alcohol aboard. We did smuggle on a bottle of port, but it didn’t last long enough! The best bottle on the list was the Brown Bros shiraz – had it for dinner most nights.

It was our first cruise, and we really enjoyed it. But we’ll know what questions to ask next time. How many nights at dock in port? What kind of tenders do you have to get ashore? How long does it take to get to port? Does the water stay in the pools when the boat’s underway? And a few others . . . !!