A contingent of GSQ members joined around 250 keen genealogists and family historians at Portside Wharf on 19 March to board the P&O cruise ship Pacific Dawn for the inaugural Unlock the Past cruise, joining over 2000 other passengers. While a sizeable number for family historians came from Queensland, each state was represented, as well as New Zealand.

The Genealogy and Family History conference program was rich and diverse in its offerings. Attendees were fortunate in the quality of the presenters, who included Shauna Hicks, Jeremy Palmer, Cora Num and others. As with most conferences, some sessions were more informative than others.

It would have been useful to badge sessions according to their level, i.e. beginners, intermediate, advanced. It would also have been useful for the presenters to have shared with each other what they intended to say, as there was an amount of overlap in content.

The main presentations were supplemented with small group talks, discussions over lunch and dinner, as well as repeats of popular sessions

A second cruise around New Zealand is planned for November 2011, focussing on Scottish and Irish research. More details are available on the Unlock the Past website.