The Queen Mary 2, at first light.

The QM2 has visited Sydney before but was berthed at the naval facility at Garden Island on that occasion. This is the first time that she's been at the Overseas Passenger Terminal.

Arthur Phillip, first governor of the colony of New South Wales, once remarked that he had found "one of the finest harbours in the world, in which a thousand sail of the line might ride in perfect security". The problem is that cruise liners are apt to be a bit bigger than your average 18th century sail of the line. A lot of the ones that visit Sydney these days are too big to pass under the Harbour Bridge to reach the berths to the west of there, leaving only one berth, the Overseas Passenger Terminal, to accommodate the larger ships. That's also why Queen Mary previously berthed at Garden Island; one of her other large sisters was at the OPT at the time.

For this reason there's a proposal currently making the rounds to make Garden Island a permanently shared facility between the navy and passenger ships.

Oh, the title? That's how much the QM2 clears the bottom of the harbour by. (About 23.5" for those who still use the old scale.)

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