Short and Sweet Southampton

I once joked to my mother that she and my father were doing their best to spend my inheritance, given their penchant for cruises and their recent upgrade to Cunard Cruise Line’s Platinum membership… Her reply, “Yes darling, that’s exactly what we’re doing.”

Fair enough - they’ve been married for thirty-two years, raised and sent to private schools their three (intelligent, fashion-conscious) daughters – why shouldn’t they indulge in some seafaring fun?

Yesterday I managed to catch up with them for an ever-so-brief lunch down in Southampton: cue James Horner’s musical score from Titanic as my train pulled in to Southampton Central. That morning they had disembarked off Cunard’s newest liner, the Queen Victoria (having visited among other places Malaysia, India, Dubai, Egypt, the Suez Canal, Greece, Italy, Spain and Portugal!) and by 3.45pm they were to be onboard the Queen Mary, setting sail for New York.

Having last seen them back in Sydney over Christmas there were no tears, although embraces were firm and full of love – nothing beats a bear hug from your Mumma and Pappa. However, our time was to be shared with another couple they had met on a previous cruise three years ago, the five of us supping sauvignon blanc at a chic pub/restaurant overlooking the water.

Far too quickly our time was up and we scuttled across to the dock, ready for them to board. Mumma presented me with a bag of goodies and we took a final few photos to commemorate the occasion. It wasn’t until I was home and unpacking my bag of treats that I discovered the pièce de résistance, a box of individually wrapped Cunard chocolates (the kind they place on passenger’s pillows in the turndown service) – about 300 of them.

Thank you parents! I’ll indulge in one each night before I rest my head to make me think of you…