This is our first posting on the Blog since we came aboard on Sunday in Sydney. It was a seamless process that took less than an hour and Phyllis took to unpacking our 4 bags, each of which fit under our king sized bed. We are settled in cabin 8-138 and our stewards name is Ramonette a Phillipine gentleman.

But the most exciting moments came when the Sydney Harbor Police began clearing the water of personal pleasure craft away from the QV. At 6 p.m. The Captain began the process of backing our ship away from our dock and turned in the direction of the Harbor entrance while the Queen Elizabeth 2 came away from her berth on the other side of the Opera House. You can see the QE2 in the top picture AND look at the crowds around the Opera House. The crowds were enormous (well over 100,0000)and came out to see the 2 sister ships pass in the harbor giving whistle and horn salutes that could be heard for miles. And all the personal boats honked their horns while we waved the Australian flag from our balcony.

After we passed QE2, The police boats gave the signal that it was okay for the sailboats and motorcraft to chase the Queen Vic all the way to the harbor opening into the Pacific Ocean. You can see the beginning of this spectacle in the second picture above. It was a sight to behold.

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.

Half World Cruise Itinerary for Barry & Phyllis Feb 13-Apr 23, 2008

Telephone: Barry’s cell phone should work in all ports 202 368 4593
Email for both Barry & Phyllis will be available at all times barring satellite failure.
bcCredit@mindspring.com & phylliswc@earthlink.net

Tuesday February 12,

4 p.m. leave Orient by car with Bernie.
RON Fairfield Inn BGR

Wednesday Feb 13,

DELTA 5200* LV BANGOR ME 1235P 3C
AR BOSTON 138P

Hampton Inn 230 Lee Burbank Highway Revere, MA Tel: 1-781-286-5665

Thursday Feb 14

2:45 p.m. UA 181 lv Boston av San Francisco 6:21 p.m.

Hampton Inn 1755 Bayshore Highway Burlingame, CA Tel: 1-650-697-5736

Friday Feb 15

7 a.m. FADV Audit Committee Call 7 a.m.

10:20 p.m. lv San Francisco UA #863

Saturday Feb 16

In flight to Sydney

Sunday Feb 17

7:50 a.m. Av Sydney

10:05 a.m. lv Sydney QF 516 av Brisbane 10:35 a.m.

Car pick up

RON the Riparian 52nd Floor Penthouse John & Sandra Pearce 011-617-3229 2751 (H) John Cell 011 61 419 734326 While in Brisbane we are 15 hours ahead of Eastern time and 16 hours ahead of Central (Houston) time.

Monday Feb 18 thru Thursday Feb 21

Collection House Audit and Board meetings
RON with the Pearce’s

Friday Feb 22

11:45 a.m. Car arrives at Riparian to transport to BNE

1:45 p.m. QF 535 lv BNE av SYD 4:15 p.m.

Taxi to hotel

Amora Hotel Jamison Sydney 11 Jamison Street Tel 011 612 9696 2500
Booking ID:25647925

Saturday Feb 23

Leisure day in Sydney

Sunday, Feb 24

11:30 a.m. depart hotel by taxi for Port

12 Noon Overseas Passenger Terminal 5 Hickson Rd The Rocks NSW
Board Queen Victoria Stateroom 8-138
To Call Ship: 1-877-266-0985 follow prompts on Maritime Network to enter credit card info to be billed at $10 per minute.

Our email addresses are the best means to communicate with differences in time.
Except for those days shown “At Sea” Barry’s cell phone is expected to work in all ports.
In emergency when you can’t reach us call Cunard Line @ 1-800-7-CUNARD

February 2008
24 Sun
Sydney, Australia
Depart 6:00 pm

25 Mon
Cruising the Pacific Ocean

26Tue
Brisbane, Australia
8:00 am - 6:00 pm

27 Wed
Cruising the Pacific Ocean

28 Thu
Cruising the Pacific Ocean

29 Fri
Port Douglas (for Great Barrier Reef), Australia
7:00 am - 6:00 pm

March 2008

1 Sat
Cruising the Coral Sea

2 Sun
Cruising the Coral Sea

3 Mon
Cruising the Banda Sea

4 Tue
Cruising the Celebes Sea

5 Wed
Cruising the South China Sea

6 Thu
Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia
8:00 am - 6:00 pm

7 Fri
Cruising the South China Sea

8 Sat
Cruising the South China Sea

9 Sun
Hong Kong
8:00 am - 11:59 pm

10 Mon
Cruising the South China Sea


11 Tue
Da Nang (Chan May), Vietnam
7:00 am - 7:00 pm

12 Wed
Cruising the South China Sea

13 Thu
Ho Chi Minh City (Phu My), Vietnam
7:00 am - 7:00 pm

14 Fri
Cruising the South China Sea

15 Sat
Bangkok (Laem Chabang), Thailand

16 Sun
Ko Samui, Thailand
8:00 am - 5:00 pm

17 Mon
Cruising the South China Sea

18 Tue
Singapore
7:00 am - 6:00 pm

19 Wed
Kuala Lumpur (Port Kelang), Malaysia
7:00 am - 6:00 pm

20 Thu
Penang, Malaysia
7:00 am - 5:00 pm

21 Fri
Cruising the Andaman Sea

22 Sat
Cruising the Bay of Bengal

23 Sun
Chennai (formerly Madras), India
8:00 am - 6:00 pm

24 Mon
Cruising the Bay of Bengal

25 Tue
Cruising the Indian Ocean

26 Wed
Cochin, India
8:00 am - 5:00 pm

27 Thu
Cruising the Indian Ocean

28 Fri
Mumbai, India
7:00 am - 10:00 pm

29 Sat
Cruising the Arabian Sea

30 Sun
Cruising the Gulf of Oman

31 Mon
Dubai, United Arab Emirates
7:00 am - 6:00 pm

April 2008

1 Tue
Cruising the Gulf of Oman

2 Wed
Cruising the Arabian Sea

3 Thu
Salalah, Oman
8:00 am - 5:00 pm

4 Fri
Cruising the Arabian Sea

5 Sat
Cruising the Gulf of Aden

6 Sun
Cruising the Red Sea

7 Mon
Safaga (for Luxor/Karnak), Egypt
Arrive 6:00 am

8 Tue
Safaga (for Luxor/Karnak), Egypt
Depart 1:00 pm

9 Wed
Transiting the Suez Canal

10 Thu
Cruising the Mediterranean Sea

11 Fri
Athens (Piraeus), Greece
6:00 am - 11:59 pm

12 Sat
Cruising the Aegean Sea

13 Sun
Naples, Italy
9:00 am - 7:00 pm

14 Mon
Rome (Civitavecchia), Italy
7:00 am - 7:00 pm

15 Tue
Cruising the Mediterranean Sea

16 Wed
Barcelona, Spain
8:00 am - 5:00 pm

17 Thu
Cruising the Strait of Gibraltar

18 Fri
Cruising the Atlantic Ocean

19 Sat
Lisbon, Portugal
8:00 am - 11:59 pm

20 Sun
Cruising the Atlantic Ocean

21 Mon
Cruising the Atlantic Ocean

22 Tue
Southampton, England

Arrange transportation from Southampton Port to London Heathrow

4:35 p.m. lv LH British Air 215 av BOS 6:45 p.m.

RON Hilton Boston Logan Airport

One Hotel DriveBoston, MA United States, 02128Tel: 1-617-568-6700

Wednesday April 23

LV BOSTON 1100A DELTA 5631 5C
AR BANGOR ME 1204P

Pick up or Car Rental to return Sunday April 27 for return flight to Houston

Logan Fire Trucks, Ambulances Line Runway for
Troubled Delta Flight From Bangor

BOSTON February 13, 2008--A passenger filled Delta Comair flight 5222 landed safely about 2:30 p.m. today after dumping it's fuel over the Atlantic Ocean as a precautionary measure to limit fire in the event of a crash landing.

Shortly after takeoff from a rain soaked and slushy Bangor runway, the pilot discovered that his wing flaps were not functioning. Temperature was 31 degrees at takeoff time and there was no icing on the wings. The pilot informed passengers in an unusually matter of fact voice that, "we have a problem with flaps that are not working, so our arrival in Boston is going to be a little bit delayed while we dump fuel before landing. I'll let you know a few minutes before we begin our landing procedures.

"It seemed that he lowered the wheels very early in the process," said Phyllis Connelly a passenger in window seat 3-D. "Visibility was very poor and we first saw the north Boston house tops moments before seeing the airport and the yellow fire equipment was obvious and plentiful."

Mrs. Connelly notified her companion in 3-C, who didn't have a clue and was still reading the voluminous Bangor Daily News, "those fire trucks are there for us!!!!"

At that point it was obvious the Regional twin engined jet was landing at an unusually high speed while racing past fire engines at every intersection of runway. There was no reaction from passengers. As soon as the wheels hit ground it was evident that the pilot was applying an unusual amount of pressure on the brakes and brought the plane to an uneventful ordinary stop. The alternative was to run into Boston Harbor or to spin off the runway into 20 foot snowbanks. The fire engines were seen scattering back to warm houses except for one that accompanied Delta 5222 to its gate.

An ebullient pilot emerged and told the Connellys they had just participated in a "full speed landing." It was remarkable how few passengers seemed to be even aware that they were on an injured plane and made an emergency landing of sorts. Barry immediately popped two of Dr. Older's Lomotil to slow the reaction!

Sorry, no pictures of the pilot, the plane, or the snow...on to San Francisco and Happy Valentines Day to all...