Updated December 27, 2017 14:56:48

Grandmother-of-three Patricia Joyce took a dream trip with her husband for his 80th birthday, and she died on the night they returned to England.

Now her family are desperately searching for the photos from two cameras misplaced on the trip, which they believe were lost in a taxi in Sydney.

"Having the photos back would mean everything to us as a family, because these are the last images we have of my nan," her granddaughter Charlotte Masters told the ABC.

A dream trip that was their last together

Mrs Joyce surprised Brian Joyce, her husband and partner of 63 years, with the tickets for his birthday.

The trip to visit Sydney for the first time and to see the Opera House was a "lifelong dream" for the Hampshire couple, her granddaughter said.

"She passed away the evening of their return to England and without us having the opportunity to talk to her about her trip," Ms Masters said.

"Whilst my grandad can describe the excitement she expressed from the moment they docked in Sydney Harbour, it would be lovely for us to share that memory with the photographs she took."

Ms Masters' plea on Facebook has already been shared more 12,000 times and she said she and her family would be forever "indebted" to the people from all over the world offering their sympathy and help.

"The response to the posts on Facebook have been phenomenal and my family and I have been overwhelmed by the messages of condolence, offers of help and prayers [with] one person in particular spending her Christmas Eve phoning taxi companies, restaurants and bars for us," she said.

Holiday details could provide camera clue

Photo: The Joyces might have left their cameras in a taxi after visiting Sydney Opera House in December. (ABC News: Siobhan Fogarty)

The Joyces travelled from Singapore to Sydney on the Ovation of the Seas cruise ship from November 21 to December 8.

They still had their cameras when they docked in Sydney some time between December 7 and 9. The cameras were:

• A black Panasonic Lumix FX33 — serial number: FJ7SA005329
• A silver Panasonic Lumix FX55 — serial number: FK7JA004534

Mr Joyce thinks they may have left their cameras in a black handbag on a trip between the Sydney Opera House and the Cambridge Hotel in the inner-city suburb of Surry Hills, but is unsure of which cab company they used.

The family are hoping that the memory cards can be found and returned to them and are not concerned about getting the cameras back.

They have asked anyone who finds the memory cards or cameras to contact them via Ms Masters' Facebook page.

Topics: community-and-society, death, photography, sydney-2000, surry-hills-2010, united-kingdom

First posted December 27, 2017 13:12:06