Award-winning international garden designer, author and TV personality, Jamie Durie, will join nine other high profile gardening stars on Cunard’s inaugural Australia’s Gardening Voyage when Queen Elizabeth departs from Sydney on 1 March 2021.
Along with fellow experts including Graham Ross, Angus Stewart and Indira Naidoo, previously announced for the ‘green fingers’ voyage, Jamie will share his passion and knowledge of environmentally sensitive gardening and garden design.
“My passion for gardening and commitment to the environment spans more than 25 years so when Cunard approached me to be a part of its Inaugural Australian Gardening Voyage it was a no-brainer to say yes,” Jamie said. “I look forward to sharing my thoughts and ideas on landscape design and take a look into future trends and ways to make small changes so that guests can make their gardens more sustainable.”
In a career spanning more than 20 years, Jamie has received 38 national and international awards including the Medal of the Order of Australia for services to Australian design and the environment. He has also written 12 books, won seven Logie Awards for television excellence and hosted 50 primetime TV shows in more than 30 countries.
Cunard Commercial Director Katrina McAlpine said Australia’s Gardening Voyage will immerse guests in all aspects of gardening and horticulture. “We are thrilled to have Jamie join our line-up of experts to inspire our guests as they share their gardening knowledge,” Ms McAlpine said.
Guests can learn the latest in gardening trends including balcony gardening, organic pest control, lawn maintenance, composting, rose gardening, beekeeping and growing native plants. The gardening theme even extends to the entertainment program as guests participate in gardening trivia, special craft classes and lessons in cooking from their home gardens.
Fares for Australia’s Gardening Voyage start from $1,499* per person twin share. The voyage features an overnight call to Hobart as well as a day in Melbourne, with bespoke gardening themed shore tours available. The cruise is part of Queen Elizabeth’s record 118-day Australian cruise season from November 2020 to March 2021.
At 90,900 tonnes, Queen Elizabeth is the second largest ship ever to sail in Cunard’s fleet. Launched in 2010, she is also the youngest in the luxury cruise line’s current trio of Queens with more than 10 restaurants and cafés, a two-storey library, a ballroom and the three-deck Royal Court Theatre seating 800 guests and offering private boxes.
Australia’s Gardening Voyage Presenter Bios
Jamie Durie – Jamie is an award-winning international designer, an author of 12 books, an internationally recognised TV presenter with more than 20 years of design experience, and a lifetime of environmental empathy. Jamie has received more than 38 national and international awards including the Medal of the Order of Australia for services to Australian design and the environment. As one of the country’s best-known television personalities, he also received a Centenary Medal for services to Australian television and the community. A seven-time Logie Award winner, Jamie has hosted more than 50 prime time global TV shows airing in more than 30 countries. He is currently a judge on the Seven Network’s House Rules and hosts Network Ten’s Australia by Design.
Graham Ross – One of Australia’s best-known gardeners, Graham has hosted a weekly radio gardening show for almost 40 years and has presented more than 1000 episodes of the popular Better Homes & Garden television show over the past 25 years. Graham is Australia’s most acclaimed horticulturalist with his many awards including the prestigious London’s Royal Horticultural Society’s Veitch Memorial Medal (VMM) in recognition of his contribution to gardening and horticulture in Australia. He is the only Australian to have been appointed a Life Fellow of the prestigious Royal Botanic Gardens Kew Guild, London.
Angus Stewart – With a First-Class Honours Degree in Agricultural Science and Environmental Horticulture, Angus is renowned in the horticultural world for his work in breeding new varieties of Australian native plants to make them more gardener friendly. Angus has vast experience in the nursery and cut flower industries and is well-known to Australians as a regular presenter over the last 20 years on a range of popular radio and television gardening shows including ABC TV’s Gardening Australia. He has also written six books including the award winning ‘The Australian Native Garden’.
Indira Naidoo – Indira has written two gardening books and is a contributor to the Logie-award winning ‘Gardening Australia’ on ABC TV. As an ambassador for Sydney’s homeless crisis centre, the Wayside Chapel, she has helped establish the centre’s award winning rooftop vegetable garden and conducts regular garden and cooking classes for the centre’s homeless visitors. Indira’s garden company also helps community groups build their own food gardens. In 2018, Indira was invited to speak about edible gardens at the influential Parabere Forum in Sweden with Rene Redzepi who is the owner, gardener, and chef at the world’s most famous restaurant NOMA.
For more information and bookings for Cunard’s ‘Australia’s Gardening Voyage’, see a travel agent, call 132441 or visit https://www.cunard.com/en-au/cruise-types/event-cruises/gardening-journey
*subject to availability, conditions apply,
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