We Are READY TO SAIL

Greetings friends and family...the moment we have been waiting for is almost here. It is Sunday morning Feb 24 and we have returned from Mass at St. Patrick's on a perfect summer day in Sydney. We will be picked up at 11:30 and go to the Passenger Terminal which we have already scouted out so there should not be any surprises.

We'll have all afternoon to familiarize ourselves with the ship, confirm our daily excursions reservations and check out where our dining table is located in the Brittania.

Then at 6 p.m. it should be quite a site as the QV slips away from her berth into Sydney Harbor to greet the arriving Queen Elizabeth II...the two sisters will salute each other as fire ships douse them both with arches of ocean spray while all the boats in the harbor sound their horns.... and away we go..

The idea that you could photograph the Sydney Harbor Bridge and the Opera House with the Queen Victoria in the middle was obviously the most sought after picture for the thousands of Sydneysiders who came out Saturday...all day and night to se the grand new lady.

As you can appreciate, the papparazi went crazy when they had a chance to photograph the Captain seen here on your right.

We have had a glorious weekend in Sydney and caught our first glimpse of Queen Victoria around 9 a.m. Saturday after our breakfast at MacDonald!! Oh, wow..how magnificent she looked in Sydney's famed Circular Quay, dominating the harbor and competing magnificently with the familiar icons of the Harbor Bridge and the Opera House.

Our Penthouse Home in Brisbane,Australia

See the three dark windows at the top of the building? That is the Pearce 52nd floor home where we are living this week. The openings to the left is the outdoor deck.