Pacific Explorer
P&O Australia
Nothing was going to stop me from capturing the first images of P&O’s Pacific Explorer cruising into Sydney Harbour for the very first time.
Not the towering (yet lovely) security guard at White Bay Cruise Terminal who kicked me out of the restricted area, not the 63 slippery steps I nearly tripped running up to the Harbour Bridge walkway and certainly not my frozen fingers from standing in the drizzle mistakenly filming the Pacific Jewel.
Hells to tha no! I did not haul my ass outta bed at 4:57am to miss this once-in-a-lifetime event. And, plus I had promised all of you that I’d Livestream it on Facebook.
So after making a mad dash from the suburbs to White Bay to Milson’s Point, there in the soft grey light of the wintery dawn, she appeared!
Hesitant at first, she shyly stuck out her southern-cross emblazoned bow from behind the Sydney Heads. Inch by inch, the newest addition to the P&O fleet floated across the silvery harbour.
Almost in slow motion, the Pacific Explorer manoeuvred in a quarter circle, gliding effortlessly towards me.
Well, maybe not to me, but in my head, this majestic ship could hear my beating heart. I was her beacon, standing there, a sole frizzy-haired figure in the semi-light wearing a slightly-crazed look on he face.
With every minute passed and every metre traversed, more details came into focus; the unique southern cross artwork on the hull, the 1000000 sized font P&O logo in on the funnel, the trademark Princess curved feature that was now missing the ‘Princess lady’ and replaced with a P&O logo. As she passed Fort Denison and edged closer towards the Harbour Bridge, my excitement was almost too much to contain. You can hear my voice on the Livestream rise in pitch and volume. Sorry.
Suddenly, it seemed like she built momentum, and I could actually see dozens of crew and the contractors who’ve been working tirelessly on the refit out on the decks, cameras and phones out.
I waved, I screamed out “Welcome Pacific Explorer” nearly losing my iPhone in the watery depths below. They waved back and let out a collective whopping cheer as Pacific Explorer sailed under the Sydney Harbour Bridge for the very first time.
Somehow, in all my excitement I kept filming, trying to capture all the new and exciting features P&O have been promising. The waterslides looked amazing and I almost wished I was sliding down them at that moment.
As I continued to wave frantically, this beautiful girl of the sea continued her crossing, majestically, on her way to White Bay for a few more days of dry-dock.
She was out off sight for now, but she had cruised into my heart. Until we meet again Explorer, adieu.
Thank you to Tim from I Love Cruising for top two amazing photos!
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| Photo courtesy of Colin Tissington |
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