Day 8 on QM2 – Arrival into Southampton

 “To travel hopefully is a better thing than to arrive.”

Robert Louis Stevenson, El Dorado
 

Between Voyages: A Morning in Southampton

We felt the rhythm of the ship change ever so slightly around 4:00 AM, and wondered if we were pulling into the dock at Southampton.  By 4:30 AM, our curiosity got the better of us, and we hastily dressed and went up on deck to see what was going on outside. The ship had already passed the Isle of Wight, and was slipping silently up the glassy waters of the Solent towards Southampton under a sky streaked gold and red by the rising sun.


A few other passengers were already standing at the promenade rails of Cunard's Queen Mary 2, watching in silent wonder as the world unfolded around us.  Gone were the bracing sea breezes and chilly winds of the North Atlantic.  Instead, the smell of fish and sea salt hung in the warm, still, hazy morning air.  It almost felt strange to see land after so many days out at sea.



The shores of the inlet were lined with marshes and sandy beaches, and to our delight, they were rife with bird activity.  Flocks of Herring and Black-headed Gulls wheeled above the mirror-like surface of the water, while larger, more solitary Great Black-backed Gulls flew alongside the ship.  The long dark form of a Great Cormorant skimmed across the surface of the waterway so close we could clearly see the yellow on its bill and its light coloured cheeks.  Meanwhile, a large Gray Heron flapped slowly past overhead and several Carrion Crows gave their rasping calls from a long wooden pier.  A little too far ahead on the port side, a pair of large brown shorebirds with long curving bills skimmed the waterway - likely either Eurasian Curlews or Whimbrels.


Beyond the aerial displays put on by the birds, our attention was also captured by the harbour itself.  As the daylight strengthened and we edged closer to Southampton, we began to notice something we had not seen since departing New York - another ship. Then another.  We are no longer on our own.

 
Beyond the harbour pilot who had boarded during the night, we now found ourselves amid a succession of vessels. Southampton was clearly a busy working port, with fleets of fishing vessels, several large cargo ships being loaded with stacks of colourful containers, and miles of shipyards and industrial warehouses.  Soon, we realized that there were also three enormous cruise ships already docked ahead of us - P&O's Arvia, Royal Caribbean's Anthem of the Seas, and Norwegian Cruises' Prima. 


As we slid past these boxy, towering ships, we could hear the rhythmic beat of party music blaring across the still waters.  One was topped with a rock climbing wall, a go-kart track, and a water slide that extended over the edge of the top deck and halfway down the ship.  Another sported a large yellow giraffe wearing a pink inner tube on its top deck and a club with pulsing disco lights.  


Slipping quietly past these towering amusement parks, the Queen Mary 2's stately, elegant outline and comparatively small size were reflected in the glass balconies that appeared to be only meters away.  



Interestingly, as we slowly made our way to the Mayflower Dock, entirely unassisted by tug boats or anything else, passengers from the larger ships gathered on their balconies to wave and say hello in passing.
 
Even among these modern giants, Queen Mary 2 is clearly the spectacle in port – the last of her kind.
 

Docking in Southampton

 
The ship docked around 6:30 AM, and we watched in fascination as the lines were cast and the ship was moored in place by ropes.  


All of a sudden the dock below became a hive of activity, with the gangway being extended to meet the ship, two ambulances arriving to collect passengers who had become ill during the crossing, and a small army of fork lifts doing a choreographed dance in preparation for unloading the luggage, laundry, and garbage and then loading all the new supplies and luggage onto the ship.

Breakfast in Britannia


Reluctantly, we pulled ourselves away from the activity and went inside for a final breakfast in the Britannia dining room.  Most of the tables were already full, conversation was lively, and the servers were flying around even faster than usual.  Not everyone was bidding the beautiful ship farewell this morning.  Some passengers were staying aboard, while others were disembarking for a day excursion to Windsor Castle in London before returning to the ship as she continued her voyage to Hamburg and Le Havre before returning to New York. 
 
Passengers moved through the dining room – some taking the space in one last time, others sat for their morning meal with their carry-on bags at their feet. Conversations were almost universally focused on taxis, trains, hotels and flights. 


Enjoying our coffee, fresh-squeezed orange juice, omlettes and toast was a bittersweet experience.  While I'm sure our hikes across England and up into Scotland will be wonderful, it was sad to leave the charm and camaraderie of the Queen Mary 2 and those who sailed in her behind.  We saw many familiar faces around us, and much like ending a Camino, we said our final goodbyes to the people we'd shared the journey with.
 
We thanked Jane, our repeated table steward throughout this voyage – she had taken amazing care of us throughout the journey. 


By 7:30 AM, we returned to our cabin one final time, where Rex, our cabin steward, was already preparing the room for the next passengers.  We picked up our backpacks, thanked him and said our goodbyes.

Although we finished breakfast and had our gear, our designated disembarkation time wasn't until 9:40 AM, so we headed back up to the deck to watch the activity below.  Walking through the ship in hiking clothes rather than smart casual or formal attire.   

 
As we walked along the promenade, the last of the luggage was being transported off the ship in metal cages, passed across the gap between the ship and shore by forklifts.  Soon, huge laundry bags were being taken off, the passengers requiring ambulance transport were wheeled down the gangplank. We also noticed crew members, as well as the singers and dancers from the Broadway shows, leaving.


Remarkably quickly, the gears shifted, and huge palettes of mysterious-looking goods were being loaded onto the ship, some arriving in wooden crates just as they might have done a hundred years ago.


The activity below wasn't the only entertainment.  On the corrugated metal roof of the cruise terminal opposite, a line of Herring Gull nests were evenly spaced out.  The 'nests' were mostly messy heaps of dried seaweed or debris, but a few had sprouted large tufts of bright green grass around them, as if they had been landscaped with manicured lawns.   


Many of the nests were occupied by females who were incubating mottled brownish eggs, but there was a lot of coming and going.
 

Disembarking Queen Mary 2

 
We spent much of our time up on deck in the warm sun watching the activity on land.  When the time to disembark arrived, we both picked up our hiking backpacks and made our way to the Royal Court Theatre in Deck 2 (not where we had boarded).  After a short wait in line, we scanned our onboard ID cards and made our way down the gangplank onto solid ground once again.  With nothing to declare, we didn't have to clear customs, but instead proceeded straight to the baggage claim area in the terminal.  A few minutes later, we had located our rolling luggage bags and were heading out.


The kind staff at the terminal explained how we could walk out of the port area and find our hotel, which was a short 15-minute walk away.  To our surprise, we joined a line of other passengers from all three cruise ships who were making their way towards the town on foot. 


Standing on land again felt very strange – after days of subtle motion, the feel of the ship’s engines, and the movement of the sea, everything was suddenly very still. The absence of motion was disconcerting.
 
Suddenly, we heard a friendly voice commenting on the Bruce Trail patches on our backpacks and asking if we were doing more hiking while in England.  During a short chat, we learned that another couple travelling on board the QM2 had walked the Bruce Trail as well.  To prove the point, the luggage tags on their MEC bags even had the BTC logo on them.  Not only that, but they were heading to the same hotel.  What a small world!
 
As we continued talking, the conversation took an unexpected turn. They paused for a moment, looked at us more closely, and then asked,  somewhat cautiously, if we were the couple who were walking across Canada. They recognized us from a news story about the Trans Canada Trail when we had completed the 14,000 km section from the Atlantic to the Pacific.
  
For a moment, we stood there slightly stunned. After a week at sea - anonymous among hundreds of passengers - it felt strange to have that chapter of our lives surface so suddenly on the shoreline of Southampton, England.


It was not long before we reached our hotel.  Here we were lucky to be allowed to drop off our luggage early as we had a few errands to run today, and so were soon making our way through Southampton.

Back on Land

 
"Land was created to provide a place for boats to visit."
 
Brooks Atkinson
 
Like Liverpool, Southampton, which is the home port of Cunard, has deep historic ties to the Atlantic and Transatlantic voyages.  Also, the home port for its formal rival, the White Star Line, these docks have seen generations of ocean liners set out across the North Atlantic, carrying migrants, mail, royalty, and everyday travellers between Britain and the wider world.

 
It was from Southampton’s Berth 44 that RMS Titanic departed on her ill-fated maiden voyage in 1912, and later from these same quays that Cunard’s great liners - including Queen Mary, Queen Elizabeth, QE2, and now Queen Mary 2 – have begun their own crossings.   
 
Navigating the city and its busy roadways, we eventually found the West Quay Shopping Center, where we hoped to get a pre-paid SIM card for the phone and purchase some supplies for our upcoming hikes.


 We initially arrived around 10:30 AM, about half an hour before any of its shops opened on a Sunday morning.  We hadn't expected the disembarkation process to be nearly so fast!  With time to spare, we walked up the main street in search of a cold coffee and stumbled across Trespass, an outdoor store.  To our delight, we discovered they sold fuel for our camping stove!  A Google search had suggested the nearest shop where we would be able to find any was about an hour's walk away.  This was an unexpected treat!


Having made our fortuitous purchase, we visited a coffee shop, and soon discovered that it is very difficult for us to understand the English dialect that is spoken in Southampton.  We hadn't expected that at all! When we returned to the Vodafone store to pick up a SIM card, we had the same trouble, and it persisted during our grocery run in the Lidl supermarket.  It certainly is strange to realize that we are the ones with the accents on this side of the ocean.
 

Exploring Southampton, QM2 Departs

 
With our chores mostly complete, we still had about 3 hours left before we could check into the hotel.  It was a hot, sunny day, and despite the crowds of tourists from the cruise ships, we decided to wander.
Southampton presented a strange mix of new and old.  Medieval stone city walls still stood in places, sheltering modern apartment buildings and council flats.  The main promenade, which was an old cobblestone street, led up to a futuristic glass and metal shopping center and sports arena.  Historic plaques were set into the walls and sidewalks, pointing out key locations and memorials around the city.   

By 3 PM, we were finally allowed to check into our hotel room.  We set our packs down for the first time since disembarking and took long, relaxing showers to freshen up.  Later, we went back out to find dinner, eventually deciding to have a simple Subway sandwich rather than navigating a restaurant.


Then, sometime between five and six in the evening, we walked back to the waterfront.  As we strolled along the shoreline, we were stunned to see Queen Mary 2 in front of us…departing. We stood among a small gathered crowd along the quay as a familiar horn – deep and resonant sounded, echoing across the harbour as she sounded her departure. 
 
It was strangely difficult to watch.  Only hours earlier, she had been our home – our dining room, our promenade, our lounges and familiar spots. Now she was easing back out to sea, carrying new passengers who would soon fall into the same rhythms and routines that we had just left behind.  New passengers, new memories, new adventures. 
 
We stayed until she cleared the harbour and turned toward open water. 
 

Reorientation and What's Next

 
There is something comforting about the clean edges of a completed voyage. A journey, when it ends, is over. You step off the ship. You collect your luggage. You move on.
 
Stories and memories, however, are not so simple.
 
“Stories are altogether more complicated.  They don’t exist in isolation, they’re part of other stories.  They’re like strands of a rope which are wove into other strands which themselves are woven into bigger strands until one fragment becomes so much a part of the whole that you can’t say where it begins or ends.”
 
Steve Haywood, One Man and a Narrowboat
 

Tonight we went to bed early.  It felt good to stop and rest, even if it was only a brief break.  Tomorrow we will set off on what will be nearly 50 days of walking across England and Scotland along some of the UK’s National Trails:
 
Pennine Way
 
One journey had ended, another was already waiting.


See you on board!

Nautical Term of the Day – The Cut of One’s Jib - Different nations shaped their jibs distinctively, allowing quick identification of friend or foe. The phrase evolved to mean someone’s style or character.

Location: New York, NY, USA
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