1983 - Snow and the QE2 - At Sea - Very high seas and snow: Gale Force 10

Tuesday 20 December 1983 – At Sea Day #4

It was quite a night with the waves bigger than ever. It seemed to me that we hit every seventh wave with a boom that sounded right through the ship. Despite that we all had a good night’s sleep and only woke about 07.45. everyone felt fine despite the very significant movement. Not surprising since the wind was now Gale Force 10.

I tried to look our of our porthole when I got up but found I could not. The outside was iced up from the bow spray – and the inside was too, which gives some idea of the temperature in our cabin. When we turned on the radio we heard the disc jockey mention that there was snow on the decks, so we washed and put on our winter gear and shot off up to the boat deck. Sure enough there was a thin layer of snow all around and an icy wind. 

 

White water over the bows - unbelievable!

Enough snow for a snowball

We made our way towards  the bow against the howling gale to see the fascinating site of white water breaking over the bows – not something we expected to see in such a large vessel. After hanging around long enough to take a couple of photos, we went off for a hearty breakfast. Soon after that the captain announced that passengers were forbidden to go out on the decks.

Matt and Rab almost blown away

I don’t think I have mentioned before now that the Moaner left us – can’t recall just when it was, but either Sunday or Monday – for better and greener fields. The general consensus at our table is that she is after a man but is having conspicuously little luck. We have bumped into Dorothy Adams a few times lately. It turns out that she is Tourist Officer for the State of Florida.

After breakfast we each went our separate ways: Rab to a lecture in the Queens Room by the dancer on how she designed and made her costumes; Matt to the ice box that was the Teen Room to play video games, fully fitted out with scarf, woolly hat, anorak and gloves so he could survive; me to the Theatre Bar Lounge to catch up with this journal, write some postcards and to watch the passing parade. I always find that of interest, but it is especially fascinating on board.

The noon report was that the wind was still Gale Force 10 (occasionally dropping to Force 9); very heavy seas (we’d seen those!); occasional snow flurries. The ship was still moving a lot but no-one seems to notice it much now unless something (or someone) falls over. How some of the poor old ducks keep their footing I just don’t know. Most of them have one foot in the grave and that is a distinct handicap on a ship bouncing about in a gale force storm.

We all ate a hearty lunch to celebrate our return to health and Matt distinguished himself by have four desserts. That feat even impressed English John who has been munching his way right through the menu at every meal. Matt really enjoys the John’s company, especially, I think, American John and his phrases such as (with a Virginian drawl) “she hasn’t a snowflakes chance in hell”.

After lunch we saw a very interesting film about the Ritz and then went through to the Double Down Room for afternoon tea (and delicious éclairs) and then Bingo. Rab won a house of $129 but the snowball went up to $640 when nobody won it. We had a couple of celebratory cocktails before dinner and then had a very good meal.

Unfortunately a leak had developed in the dining room so some tables had been moved. Cunard don’t seem to be too lucky with this trip. The only effect of the icy weather in our vicinity in the dining room was a small leak of water at the top of the window which had run down and then frozen. It was pretty chilly in that room and yet women who still dressed for dinner were coming in backless frocks accompanied by men in their dinner jackets. We stuck to our anoraks.

After dinner we went to watch the cabaret – two Latin American dancers and a faded pop star whose name has eluded me already. It was amazing that they could even try to dance on a surface that was moving to the extent that the deck was, but they persevered. They had done the cabaret last night in the Queens Room and English John saw them there. He said, rather waspishly, that the best part of the whole show was when the male dancer fell flat on his face as he took his opening bow and then when the pop star was singing his finale and going around the perimeter of the dance floor, shaking hands, one old duck was fast asleep.

1983 - Snow and the QE2 - At Sea - Very rough seas: Gale Force 9

Monday 19 December 1983 – At Sea Day #3

The seas really got up during the night and we were crashing around. I was very worried about Rab who had been feeling very cold and who woke up at about 02.00 to go to the toilet. I was waking up every hour or so to check on her and Matt. Not really necessary actually since the two of them slept like logs until about 06.00. Matt said he felt OK but Rab wasn’t sure so we decided to go up to the boat deck despite the weather.

We made our way up (by lift) and forced our way out on the leeward side dressed in our heavy weather gear – my goodness, what conditions we faced. Even though we were protected by the bulk of the ship there was a tremendous wind and spray from the bow was being whipped past us. It turned out that it was a Force 9 wind so that with the forward speed of the ship the combined wind speed was about 85 mph. It was as cold as charity – it felt about -4 C. (The ‘Force 9’ is a reference to what is known as the Beaufort Scale which measures wind strength. Technically 9 is a “Strong  Gale”. The highest grade is a 12 – Hurricane Force.”).

We walked the length of the deck and back again and then went to the Lido for coffee. Well, Matt and I did but Rab was feeling bad again. I gave her another pill and we went below to wash and change. There was no water for the basin, although the shower still worked. The movement down in the cabin got to Rab again so we took her up to the Queens Room and left her there while Matt and I went in to breakfast. When we got back to her we found that Cliff (the odious Welshman we met the first night) of all people had persuaded her to get the injection – something I had been suggesting for days! The ships company says it is a sure cure and Cliff said he was evidence of this.

So I took Rab down to the hospital while Matt watched a video on Hollywood. She had a long sleep, as prescribed by the doctor and when she woke was feeling better, although not a hundred per cent. The captain apologised for the lousy weather this morning and said that although it might get better during the day, there was another storm which seemed to be building up. He also said that our ETA New York is now 20.00 – 12 hours late! – and it might get later, depending on the weather. There is no sign of the storm abating yet, so who knows what time we will get in finally. I’ve enjoyed the incredible experience so far – and Matt has, by and large. It is such a pity that Rab hasn’t been well.

Not very fit!

Matt watched the end of the video and then stayed on for the movie quiz with the Two Johns from the dining table.  I came in half way through and believe if they had played as a team they might have won! From there Matt went on to play his arcade games, which have now been repaired, while I had my caricature done. I went down to wake Rab, who felt a little groggy but was much better despite the wind which was up to Force 9-10 now with the sea being described as “very rough” – and they weren’t joking.

Rab had an adequate lunch and after that we went through to the Double Down Room to find a seat slightly more warm than the others. There is something radically wrong with the way the cooling/heating system is working at the moment. It is absolutely freezing in the DD Room so much so that after lunch I had to put on my thermal long johns! The seas were still very rough and  all afternoon tea cups would fly off  tables with a loud crash.

We watched the rehearsal for tomorrow night’s show which needs a good deal of work to be done before it is any good. Bingo after that – shades of the Reina del Mar cruise –with the snowball opening at $250 and closing, unwon, at $460. No doubt we’ll be back there. The ETA was changed again from that given us earlier in the day with the new time being given as 08.00 on Thursday – a full 24 hours late. So clearly the gales haven’t just been a figment of our imagination.

We read for a bit after Bingo then went below to to get even more warmly dressed for dinner and the evening entertainment. Rab has taken to wearing an anorak everywhere and to hell with elegance in favour of warmth. The dinner was good as usual although Matt didn’t eat much. Turned out he was feeling a little queasy but didn’t want to say so as he wanted to watch the movie – Blue Thunder – at 22.15. he did this while we watched the cabaret and the fancy dress parade – there had been a child’s fancy dress in the afternoon. The main singer in the cabaret was a young lady from Liverpool who was very good and we enjoyed the show although I was nodding off from time to time. Hyperthermia I think it was. The fancy dress was a bit disappointing with only eleven entries and only one of those any good. I must say the entertainment is non-stop on the ship. There is always something on and I still haven’t finished reading my book.

We collected Matt after the movie and off we went to bed in our bounding cabin.

1983 - Snow and the QE2 - At Sea - Day 2

Sunday 18 December 1983 – At Sea Day #2

I was awake about 06.00 and my companions were stirring by 06.30. both said they felt fine despite the fact that we were still plunging away. Quite an interesting movement actually: calm sailing then a small plunge followed by three increasingly larger ones. This series repeated on and on in rotation. It wasn’t quite as rough as it was during the night because the spray wasn’t flying past the porthole and the bow wasn’t making quite so much noise when it hit the big waves.

Matt and I decided to go up on deck to have a look around at about 07.00 since the sun was well up. Donning our warm weather gear we had a good bit of exploration and visited some of the decks we had not seen before. It was pretty nippy despite the watery sun and we had some sympathy for the jogger who was running with a pair of rugby socks on his hands.

Matt relaxing in a lounge note the iced windows

We stopped off at the Lido Deck for a cup of coffee and a Danish. Quite amazing how many people were up and about at that time. Then we went below only to find that Rab was not feeling too hot again. I said that I thought the best thing for her to do was to get out of the cabin and into a steadier part of the ship. We chivvied her along and sat her in the Double Down Room munching her dry crackers as we went into breakfast. She didn’t even put on any make-up which shows how bad she must have been feeling. Once again a most pleasant meal, marred only by the Moaner rabbitting on about her cabin companion getting up at 06.00 and waking her.

Matt as The Inctredible Herb

Rab was feeling a bit more sprightly when we got back to her – or at least well enough to do a little shopping. So we browsed around the shops for a while – they have some pretty nice stuff in them. We had to go below in the end to get our cabin and ourselves tidy.. Rab felt a bit queasy, but not too bad, so we went to watch a video of the QEII cruise to the Pacific last year. After that I was trying to catch up with this journal while Matt and Rab were distracted by the band and the singers/dancers rehearsing for tonight’s show. We also had a caricature done of Matt by the resident artist – as The Incredible Hulk – and very good it is – I might have one done for myself tomorrow.

Despite the rough seas – which one feels noticeably in the restaurants because they are well forward – a good lunch was had by all. We sat in one of the lounges where it was warmer and watched the bridge players getting more and more annoyed by what appeared to be a fault in the public address system, which every now and then allowed a burst of pop music to escape. Very distracting for them of course, but very amusing to watch. Actually the same thing had beeen happening during the band rehearsal and drove them to distraction.

There was an interesting film about the demise of the superliner (yet another example of ‘experts’ being absolutely wrong in their predictions!) so I went to that while Matt and Rab had afternoon tea with English John – and no doubt gossiped about the Moaner. We then met up and went to Bingo. Matt had not been too keen to go, but when the first house produced a prize of $101, he was much more interested. The snowball jackpot closed at $281 so no doubt we’ll be back tomorrow.

Rab is at an art lecture as I bring this up to date, so we’ve had a pretty full day. We went down to change for dinner after Rab’s lecture finished as everyone felt quite well. Rab developed a bit of tummy trouble which made the evening a bit uncomfortable for her, but we watched the cabaret until about 23.30. It wasn’t much cop actually. The opening act was the crowd we had watched rehearsing earlier in the day. The lead singer had to actually read his lines when rendering a Noel Coward number. They were followed by a Country and Western man with his big guitar. He was OK but not brilliant. Rab and Matt swallowed their pills and we went off to bed.

Dressed (warmly) for dinner - note ice on window!

1983 - Snow and the QE2 - At Sea - Rough Seas: Strong Force 8 Winds

Saturday 17 December 1983 – At Sea - Rough Seas Strong Force 8 Winds

When I woke in the early hours of the morning we were pitching quite a bit and as the cabin was so far forward, the movement was accentuated. I was rather concerned how we would all cope with this kind of sea.

When Matt and Rab woke they were far from happy. I finally got them upstairs to one of the cooler areas where they felt a little better. I snaffled a couple of rolls for them from the buffet breakfast which is served on deck each morning and left them to it while I had my breakfast in the dining room. Two of our table mates were there – John the English schoolmaster and The Moaner, an Englishwoman whose name we have not ascertained but who bitches about everything. She was feeling very ill and left us shortly. Breakfast took an age because many of the staff were seasick and many of the others were learners.

I began to have severe doubts about the wisdom of the trip especially after I got back to my companions and found they were not much better. The final straw for them was the lifeboat drill. We had to go up, up, up about six flights of stairs, past several pools of evilly glistening vomit, wearing our outdoor clothes and our lifejackets. Then we just hung around there. We had worn the warm gear because our gathering point was out on the deck, but they kept us inside and it got very warm indeed. To cap it all one of the children vomited just near us and I think that was the final straw for poor old Rab. I hustled both her and Matt out into the (very) fresh air of the boat deck. It was blowing half a gale but we took a turn around the deck. They still didn’t feel too good, so I went back down to the cabin to fetch the pills

The one mistake I made was to get some Dramamine from the steward, which I gave to Rab, while Matt got the Avomine which we had brought with us. He went out like a light soon after we got back to the cabin and felt much better when we woke up. Rab couldn’t sleep properly – just dozed – and didn’t make nearly as good a recovery. While they slept I saw a very interesting film in the cinema about whales and then went into lunch after reading for a bit. I was actually hoping to get a lot of reading done on this trip but there is so much entertainment that I don’t know if I will.

I went into lunch and our third tablemate was there – an America, also John said to be a retired real estate man and very pleasant. The Moaner was also there, doped to the gills. She had gone to the doctor for the seasick injections but instead of sleeping it off was battling away. Maybe she didn’t want to miss a meal? I took some crackers and an apple down to my two and was pleased when they managed to eat this and wash it down with a ginger ale. I got them to their feet and up onto the Quarterdeck which, due to some quirk of the air-conditioning, is the coldest deck on the ship. They were soon feeling almost normal – I could tell because they started arguing.

Matt also wanted to go off to play the machines but found that some clot of a kid had managed to short out all the machines – and apparently narrowly missed electrocuting himself. “He fried the machines and his hair frizzed out and went pop.” , as Matt’s informant put it. So we sat and read and watched the passing show for a couple of hours.

It is really fascinating watching the people on this ship – they are such a diverse mob and the differing states of dress are incredible. The testing time for the team was when we went back below to change for dinner. I was very apprehensive, but they managed it and we all went through to dinner together. The food has been very good so far and the service improves with every meal.

The Moaner was in fine form and a bit pissed we thought, being rude to everyone. We can’t make her out really. She claims to have been everywhere and seen everything but doesn’t seem to work. She mentioned in passing that she was a guide, but as English John said on the side, he wouldn’t care to have her guiding him anywhere!

Dinner over, and both Rab and Matt ate well, if carefully, we went back to the Double Down Room to watch the dancing and the cabaret. The main star was a hypnotist who was quite good, but dragged his act out for far too long.

At lunch time yesterday the weather was said to be “moderate with a moderate swell”; today it was “rough sea with strong wind – force 8”. Since the ship was still moving pretty well, and I thought it might get rougher, I dosed up Matt and Rab before we went below. The pills seemed to do the trick because they both slept like logs.

1983 - Snow and the QE2 - leaving Southampton

Friday 16 December 1983 – Leaving Southampton

We slept well at the Polygon, with the heating off and the windows open. We were all awake at about 07.00 and watched BBC Breakfast TV for an hour or so. Very interesting, but as Rab said, she would never get any work done if she lived in the UK as she would be watching TV all the time. (This judgement of course was based on a comparison with Zimbabwean television. Having experienced Australian quality TV years later, the judgement was withdrawn.)

We decided not to have breakfast in the hotel as it was a little pricey at £7 for an English breakfast and £3.50 for a Continental, so we drifted off down town and found a very pleasant little coffee shop where Rab satisfied her craving for a sausage roll. The café was run by a genteel English gentlewoman who had been educated in Durban and seemed to have fallen on hard times. She was wearing, rather incongruously, a pink straw hat on a chill winter’s day.

Her coffee was good and, fortified, we went on our way to do a bit of last minute shopping and to buy a new pen for me. (I bought a fairly cheap Shaeffer fountain pen which used ink cartridges and had a number of italic nibs. I still have that and use ir regularly – not bad after forty years!) The shops were quite crowded but very nice. Matt got a few more of his toys (and found that his radio controlled cars would have been a little cheaper here) and Rab got, surprise, surprise a new handbag. We also popped into the Post Office to see about posting Rab’s dress materials home. We bought one of their Jumbo boxes. Just as well, because we filled it. It weighed 8.5 kilograms and we sent it by sea mail for £15.95. (The same parcel would cost over £100 today although it would be sent airmail) we had a pleasant lunch of fish and chips at a café just off the main street at a reasonable price then back to the hotel for a taxi.

We were all pretty excited at the prospect of boarding and had tried to get a glimpse of the ship as we wandered around during the morning but couldn’t spot her, although we had been told she would be sailing tonight. There were lots of people from the hotel who were also boarding, so we thought we would set out early. We got back to the hotel at about 15.30. the porter called a taxi – we were third in line – and before too long we were on our way, one suitcase on the roof, with a chirpy driver for a change. Apparently all hell was breaking loose in the taxi world. Because the university students were going home, two ships were sailing and for some reason, he said, the hospital had been very busy too.

I was a bit worried about my case but the driver assured me that it would not fall off until he got up to 70 kph – adding that, mind you, when he was taking a student out to the airport this morning the suitcase had come off and when the student had told him he wanted a new case he told him where to get off. So that wasn’t much comfort for us. It took us about fifteen minutes to get to the docks and then we were there! Matt was very excited.

Finally aboard

Boarding was not a problem because we were early and avoided all the lines so we were aboard by 17.45. we found our cabin without any problem – right in the bows and on the third deck down. Rab’s first impression was that the décor in the arrival foyer was rather grim. Bright lime and purple, so she said. My first impression was how long the ship was. At our level the passageway goes almost the entire length of the ship – and it seems to go forever. It was about 100 yards from the staircase to our cabin.

Cabin 3008

The cabin décor was pleasant and it was bigger than we had thought it would be with, of course, a shower and toilet en suite. (Our previous experience on ships had been on the mail ships to South Africa and a cruise to South America. Cabins on those voyages were very small and none had en suite facilities.) although we had been told that our luggage would be aboard before us, it wasn’t, so we set off for a preliminary exploration under my expert guidance.

We didn’t get too lost too often and found most of the major places. Matt was agog – it is not quite what he imagined it to be – and that is about all he will say but will not expand. We could not help but notice though how tatty the ship is in so many places. It is also clear that the refit carried out recently has not yet been completed. Because there are pots of paint, spare panels to be fitted etc etc all over the place. I mentioned when talking about the Polygon that we had a similar feeling there – luxurious at first glance, but patched up (rather badly) on closer inspection.

The Double Down Room where we spent a deal of time

There was a bit of a messup with the baggage. Two out of our three cases finally arrived at about 18.15 but the last one took another hour or so to get there. Coincidentally, it was the missing Zurich case which of course had all our shipboard clothes in it. Anyway it turned up so all was well.

The, rather elegant, dining room

We were feeling a bit peckish by then and as the captain had announced that we would be sailing about an hour late – at 20.00 – we thought we might as well eat before we sailed. It was free seating so we landed up at a table with a very pleasant American woman, who had lost her voice,  and a really annoying Welshman – Cliff – who wore a ginger Sirs hairpiece. Real bloody know-all, look you, he was; complaining about everything. Admittedly things were shambolic but it is a half price trip and quite obviously being used as a “shake down”. We had a couple of bottles of wine and the food was good. A pleasant meal spoiled only by the Welsh Whiner. Matt was, I could tell  killing himself with suppressed laughter at having Jip at the table. (I used to read the Dr Doolittle books to Matt with different accents for the characters. Jip the dog had acquired a Welsh accent.)

The ship did not sail at 20.00 after all. There was another announcement during dinner from the Captain saying that we would be leaving at 22.00 because we were still taking on fuel – a likely story, we thought. After unpacking we we went up to the Double Down Room where the band was playing and dancing was in progress. The Teen Room was adjacent and Matt was in there like a long dog because it was full of arcade games – all free!

Rab and I settled down to watch the passing show killing ourselves laughing at some of the sights, including one couple with the man in his tail suit and the woman in a full length white lace dress. We finally sailed at 22.00 at which stage there was a good comedian on stage, so we never actually saw the parting from the land. The cabaret was pretty good and it was darn cold out, so we just watched the passing lights through the lounge windows and didn’t go out on deck. Matt gave up playing games and enjoyed the rest of the show with us.

We lose an hour a night on this voyage so although we eventually got to bed after 23.00 it was actually only just after 22.00.

1983 - Snow and the QE2 - almost there!

Wednesday 14 December 1983 – Zurich

We had a very early night last night. Rab was asleep by about 20.00 and I had to turn out the light at 21.00 as I was disturbing her and Matt. Despite that we slept through until 08.00 and although Rab said she felt a bit better, she is far from well.

After the usual good breakfast and sending off a bundle of laundry (which has just come back – cost f115/$50 for eight shirts, 10 underpants and 8 pairs of socks) we set off for town and wandered around bickering until about 12.30 when we had some grilled cervelat etc at Jelmoli. Nothing like food to stop Herberts arguing. (When we were all young and living at home, my mother would not allow any talking on Sundays until we got back from church and had our breakfast – no food; no talk!)

Rab was feeling a bit washed out so we came back to the hotel and I left her there having a nap while Matt was paging through his multitude of catalogues yet again. I went off to the Zurich Landsmuseum which neither of my two travelling companions wanted to see (both being averse to museums generally). For once they were absolutely right. Even I could not drag up much enthusiasm for the collection of old farming implements and maps on show.

I headed home view Murka to pick up a bottle of Pear William and some chocolate plus a bag of chestnuts for the sickly one. We sat eating and drinking and watching television until suppertime. Rab felt that she shouldn’t go out in the cold so Matt and I nipped along to Burgerland for burgers for two. I stuck to my wurstli on rye.

And so to the end of a quiet day – off to England tomorrow.

Thursday 15 December 1983 – Southampton

Another bad day, the finale of which is that when I came to write this I was unable to find my pen which is either at the du Theatre or lost in transit. I think the latter. It started off badly because I was awake at about 04.30 unable to sleep despite having turned out the light at 21.30 after protests were registered. I was worrying about all sorts of things, as you do at that time of the morning, the main one being whether our errant suitcase would be where it was meant to be. Another being that we would not be able to get confirmation of our Amsterdam/Southampton flight.

Rab wanted to be up early to do her hair so I got her up at 06.30. I felt pretty grim, some of it no doubt psychosomatic, but in fairness I think it was also fighting off Rab’s cold. We finally got all our goods into the multiplicity of receptacles and after a hearty Continental breakfast I felt much better. We paid our bill and decided to catch the 11.10 bus out to the airport rather than the 12.10 as planned. We had a last stroll down Limmatquai and to the Co-op and then we were off to the airport where Lo and Behold! – No Suitcase!!

The Railways people were very polite, but as I could see, there was no suitcase. Could it have been removed by SwissAir, I suggested, and forwarded to Amsterdam? Horror! Oh, No! Not possible. If that had been done there would have been an entry in the ledger and, as I could clearly see, there was no such entry. Clearly it had gone astray and if I could just fill in these 10,000 or so forms they would see if it could be found.

At this stage, since I had left Matt and Rab back at the airport, I thought I should just bring them up to date. So back to the Flughaven for me. I was certain that SwissAir must have uplifted the case, so leaving Matt and Rab to check in – with the check in clerk giving us further discomfort by initially telling Rab that we were waitlisted for both flights – I went forth to do battle with SwissAir. Telling my story again and again as I was sent up the line of command, I finally spoke to The Chef. No, he assured me, SwissAir could not have forwarded the suitcase because, if they had done that, there would have been a file. No file, no suitcase! I suggested that we might telephone Innsbruck to ask what they had asked to be done. Impossible! But if I wished to make a call from the Post Office, well, of course I could do so.

At that stage I became a little more forceful and demanded that the call be made. It was. And guess what? Contrary to all rules and regulations, the case had been collected, without signatures, without journal entries, without a file being created and had been sent on to Amsterdam. No apologies from anyone, mind, just a bit of sheepishness. Much relieved I rejoined Matt and Rab and we were soon on our way to Amsterdam. Nice seats and a tasty cold meal – Fillet of Beef Wellington – with some spectacular views of snow peaks and fields.

Down at Amsterdam I left Rab and Matt again as I went off in search of the elusive case. It was finally tracked down in KLM’s lost property section and to add insult to injury I had to pay f5 to retrieve it. It was a relief to have found it and to finally have our flight here to Southampton confirmed.

We had about four hours to fill in Schipol and we enjoyed ourselves, watching videos and browsing through the shops. We were not certain what type of plane we were flying on, except that it was small. Just how small was quite a shock when we went to the departure gate. There dwarfed by a couple of Jumbos on each side was a twin engine high wing monoplane built by Short in Belfast. It looked rather like a shipping container with wings attached. We initially thought we were in luck as there were only four other people there, but as the time for the flight drew nearer, more and more people turned up and in the end the plane was pretty well full. As I say, it is a small plane and seating is one/two seats across the aisle, with no overhead lockers. So the three of us sat abreast with all our flight bags on our laps or around our feet.

Not very much room, but a comfortable flight of one hour forty minutes. It was odd being able to see the shipping and the waves so clearly as we flew across the Channel at a fairly low altitude. We managed to have a pleasant meal and a couple of drinks, but poor Matt suffered with his ear problem when we came into Southampton, as he had coming in to Amsterdam, as he was clogged up with his cold. The Southampton airport was very small and we cleared Customs and Immigration with ease but then – no taxis!

We finally tracked down a man who was alleged to be a taxi driver (although Rab has her doubts and theories about that) who told us that the hotel that Mitchell Cotts had booked us into was about 18 miles and £30 out of town! We got him to bring us into the city for £4.50 and we found a room in the (externally) rather splendid Polygon Hotel. It was a bit more pricey than we had been paying at £46 bed only but it is very comfortable although it does show its age and a degree of lack of maintenance.

We are hoping we will only be here for one night but there have been some problems reported regarding the QE2 following her recent refit and she was one day late for her shakedown cruise, so here’s holding thumbs. After we had checked in, we had a stroll downtown to the local Burger King for the Philistines to have a bite to eat and on the way back we saw a ship all lit up down at the docks. Rab was sure it was the QE2 although the funnel looked the wrong colours to me. We went up to three young policemen who were off on an urgent mission, so they said, and asked them if it was the QE2. “Oh no’, they said “That’s the Canberra.”

And so to bed after a rather full and frantic day.

1983 - Snow and the QE2 - a Friday 13 day

Tuesday 13 December 1983 – Zurich

It should have been Friday 13^th today for all that went wrong!! For a start Rab started her cold in earnest poor thing with a bout of sneezing and coughing at abou 01.30. she was coughing for most of the rest of the night after that so none of us slept too well.

There must have been a low pressure zone over Austria because when I got up I felt as if the sky was going to fall on my head; Rab wasn’t well and even Matt said he didn’t feel one hundred percent. “Well,” I said, “after the delicious breakfast we get here you will all feel a deal better.”

Some hope! No cutlery on the tables, stale bread and cheese, three or four slices of suspect cold meat and a shrewish little waitress who sullenly slammed down some lukewarm coffee with no sugar, no cream and then pushed off. To make matters worse, I broke the glass sugar pourer (which was almost empty) when tapping it on the table in an effort to shake loose the last of the caked sugar in it. And cut my finger too!

Having vented our feelings on the receptionist – and obtained a discount of 10%, we moved on. I left Rab at a department store looking at fabrics (what a surprise!) while Matt and I went to SwissAir to collect our tickets. More bad news there. Our original booking had included a flight to Munich and then on to Amsterdam. In Bern I had asked if I could change this to a Salzburg/Zurich/Amsterdam route. No problem the SwissAir man had said, but we didn’t have time to change the ticket there and then. Now in Innsbruck I was told the tickets could not be changed. And if they could be changed the cost would be $110 each.

So now we had a bit of a dilemma. We could drive on to Salzburg as originally planned, catch the flight to Munich and thence to Amsterdam, BUT…one of our suitcases was in Zurich waiting for us there. The SwissAir bloke offered to arrange for this case to be forwarded to Amsterdam to meet us, but I scathingly told him that in the light of the problems SwissAir had already caused I didn’t think I could rely on that.

It seemed better to return to Zurich today rather than press on. Rab wasn’t feeling at all well and none of us fancied another seven hour train trip from Salzburg. Having decided on this point we were making our way up to the station (eating roast chestnuts to comfort ourselves) when we came across a travel agent. We popped in there and found that the Zurich Schnellzug was leaving in an hour and a half at 12.30 and that we could book and buy tickets at the travel agent. Well, provided you had a fair bit of patience. They took over ten minutes to issue the three tickets.

Having finally got the tickets we headed back to the hotel via a toy shop which Matt had spotted while he was lost between SwissAir and the department store – I forgot to mention that earlier. (None of us can recall this incident – presumably I sent him on to tell his mother we were held up at SwissAir?) we also popped into a deli where we stocked up with padkos.

No problems back at the hotel or with getting a taxi – another sullen driver he was, as so many taxi drivers seem to be. Makes you wonder why they bother with the public at all and indeed if it was a taxi driver who sprayed the graffiti slogan we saw in Luzern “F*^* The Tourists.”

We were very early at the station and found our way to Platform 3 on Platform 7, which changed into Platform 5(b). We waited in the chill for about 30 minutes only to find, when the train did pull in that the second class carriages were all up the other end of the platform where Platform 5(b) ended and became Platform 3 again. With all our baggage the air was blue!

Anyway, we found a nice compartment, threw ourselves into it and were undisturbed until we arrived back in Zurich – well, apart from some rude Austrian Immigration officials. Austria may be cheaper than Switzerland, but we had our fill of the blighters today. Back we came to the du Theatre and Matt and I nipped off to Frans Carl Weber to look at their toys, returning via Burgerland with some sustenance for the sick Rab.

1983 - Snow and the QE2 - Innsbruck revisited

Monday 12 December 1983 – Innsbruck

We all had a good night’s sleep, apart from being woken in the early hours by another guest stumbling off to bed. As there was no breakfast at the hotel, we decided to eat at the railway station and catch the 08.07 train through to Innsbruck.

It was not all that far from the station, but my back has been playing up a bit and we felt we should rufen ein taxi. The first problem was there was no phone apparent in the hotel to make our call. No problem, I thought. I’ll just go down to the station and find a taxi there. No taxis at the station, but there was a phone, so I called, but no one replied. Fortunately one turned up as I wondered what more I could do.

We had a brief breakfast of coffee and cheese rolls and then I nipped off to the bank while Rab bought the tickets. The train was a little late and it was very cold waiting on the platform but we were soon on our way. Once again the scenery was beautiful with very thick snow most of the way. It was most interesting to see all the animal tracks in the snow alongside the line. I have noticed this wherever we have been and would love to know what animals make them. Some look like rabbit and some look like deer; Albin Reichmuth says there is still a deal of wildlife around, although there is no sign of life as we go by.

It was a lovely clear day and the sun was shining when we arrived at about 12.05. Matt fell into the trap of seeing the sun and having spent three hours in a warm compartment felt he wouldn’t need his warm clothes. Wrong! It is minus 2°C! (We all were caught at one time or another by the fact that although back home sunshine equalled heat, so stay in the shade, the same rule does not apply to the warmth of the sun in Northern winters.) we booked into the Weizes Kreuze again and were amazed how cheap it was – 842 schillings or about Z$39 for the three of us for bed and breakfast. Only a couple of dollars more than last night at the Bären but much better accommodation as well as the food.

We all had a shower after checking in, having missed out on a wash last night and then set off to have a look around. There is a Christmas Market in the square with lots of interesting stalls. We grabbed what the locals called a Bostoner – not sure why, since that consisted of two local sausages with onion on a roll sprinkled with curry powder! With chips it made a good lunch. We then set off up Marionstrasse to find SwissAir, a toy shop and Avis. Although diverted by a coffee shop and some excellent pastries we managed to find all three in the end. Business done, we headed back to the Old Town to wander around and re-discover the shops we had visited before.

It was strange to find the town so empty compared to our previous visit and of course it started getting dark about 16.30. We found the same bottle store with its incredible selection of liqueurs and also a toy shop which had the catalogues Matt had been hankering after. We visited the toy shop between tasting session at the bottle store which resulted in my buying a good selection of their products. Rab went off to a material shop, unwisely leaving me and Matt unguarded. So I finally got my Tyrolean hat – and very smart it looks I think.

Matt and I drifted through the square to meet up with Rab. Things were livening up with an old soak giving his version of “Silent Night”; the huge Christmas tree was all lit up; a pony carriage jingled through the streets; hot chestnuts were roasting on open fires; an itinerant artist flogging his (rather awful) works; Great Stuff!! After Rab had gone through the entire stock of the material shop (without buying anything, surprisingly enough) we set off in search of a beer or two.

Pub after pub failed to meet the strict criteria set by my two companions and finally, in desperation we went into a rather posh looking restaurant, where we were looked at askance  by the proprietor, and quenched our thirst there. Having done that we decided to eat back at the hotel and had a very good meal including a bottle of wine for about $30. Rab and I had a final turn around the square while Matt got ready for bed. The stalls had closed up and everybody had gone except for a lone busker playing Dylan  on his guitar. I wanted to give him a couple of schillings but Rab opposed this on the grounds that he should be earning a living instead of sitting on his backside on the cold pavement. No soul that Rab!