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New Cunard liner docks in Sydney Royal liners in Sydney rendezvous
(about 4 hours later)
The Queen Mary 2 has arrived in Sydney ahead of a reunion of the Cunard's royal liners. Thousands of people gathered at Sydney harbour to see a rare reunion between two renowned passengers liners, the Queen Mary 2 and the Queen Elizabeth 2.
Making her maiden voyage, she is the largest ship ever to visit Australia at 150,000 tonnes. The QM2 - the world's largest passenger liner - arrived at dawn accompanied by a fleet of small boats.
Her sister ship, the Queen Elizabeth 2 docks later on Tuesday - a rendezvous that will be marked by a firework display over Sydney harbour. When her sister ship sailed into Sydney some 12 hours later, the two vessels saluted each other with their horns.
The last time two Cunard Queens called at Sydney together was during World War II, when they were troop carriers. The event was being marked with a fireworks display before the QM2 departed for Hong Kong before midnight.
The Queen Mary steamed into Sydney harbour shortly after dawn, dwarfing the armada of yachts and motor launches which gathered on the water to greet her. Crowds of people got up at dawn to witness the arrival of the 23-storey, 150,000-tonne QM2, which is on its maiden world cruise.
In pictures: QM2 in Sydney I'm amazed at how huge the Queen Mary is Tourist Joanne Fowler In pictures: QM2 in Sydney
Later in the day, the two ships will meet off Sydney's Garden Island naval base and salute each other with their whistles. It docked at a naval base because it was too large for the harbour's international terminal.
That will be the signal for a spectacular firework display with the Harbour Bridge and Sydney Opera House as a backdrop. Traffic in the area ground to a halt as people stopped to look and police closed some areas ahead of the evening arrival of the QE2.
It is a far cry from the last time Cunard's royal liners - the original Queen Mary and Queen Elizabeth - made a dual visit to Sydney in 1942. It was also escorted in by a flotilla of yachts, kayaks and tugs.
Then, they were troop carriers dubbed the grey ghosts taking Australian soldiers to war, and their arrival was a closely guarded secret. "I'll never forget this as long as I live," said British tourist Joanne Fowler.
"I'm amazed at how huge the Queen Mary is - the QE2 is enormous, but she is dwarfed by her big sister," she said.
The last time Cunard's royal liners made a dual visit to Sydney was in 1941.
Then the original Queen Mary and Queen Elizabeth were troop carriers dubbed the grey ghosts taking Australian soldiers to war, and their arrival was a closely guarded secret.