Australia and New Zealand

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Pictures from Hobbiton.

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Sam's Door.

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I have a few more but they are larger files so I will try to make them a little smaller so I can post them. Will try tonight since you will be leaving soon.
 
if not for free, then i'll pay for it. ship it.

also i have a slightly used one i'll wash and ship asap, i quit coffee a few weeks ago on some stupid workplace wellness drink lots of water eat fruits and veggies run on my elliptical bullcrap completion and i'm losing the bet bigtime, let me know, you'll get a mug one way or the other. more pics!

Stoplight said:
Hey Tom ! If you send me a totally undeserved TSP Mug, I'll post some travel pix with it !!! :D

...already got my Florida Gator flag packed...can't share the pix from Manchu Picchu because I don't want the Peruvian Secret Police knocking on my door... :D


Stoplight...
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I'm also sorry to hear about your niece. Is she the one who taught in Peru?

I would recommend going to see her, if at all possible.

Stoplight said:
Thank you SO MUCH, EA !!! Prayers much appreciated !!! Yeah, we were banking on this treatment in Gainesville...she was one of only a couple in the State that was accepted into this experimental program...started out very good...but like I said....don't know why she was dropped....but that CAN'T be good...

Honestly ? I'm afraid to call her or my Brother....I don't WANT to know !!! Struggling with the "issue" of if I should make a quick "hit-and-run" down to Clearwater, to see her....before we leave on our trip.... What to do ; what to do...


Stoplight...
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Stoplight said:
AWESOME !!! We'd love to see any of your pix....

Yeah, the insurance just became pretty critical for us...the Niece with the aggressive brain tumor has been dropped from the experimental treatment program in Gainesville...back on Avistan... :worried: Brother didn't say much about her status ; just that he knew our trip was coming up, and he didn't want to "worry us" :eek: All y'all keep her and Family in your prayers...

On the cruise, doing a "Journey to Middle Earth"...goes to see the "New Zealand Alps", where the beautiful mountain scenes were filmed...also doing a Mohaka River Rafting trip out of Napier ! We LOVED the white water raft trips we took on the Youghiogheny River in PA !!!

Little over a week until we leave !!! WOO HOO !!!


Stoplight...
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Sorry to hear about your niece. Added to our prayer list.
 
Leaving in little over a week, huh? Have you triple checked everything?



Here are some more pic's from our trip.

Sunrise over the Pacific between LAX and Sydney.

It looked like the clouds were on fire.

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sunrise 2.jpg
 
On the cruise ship leaving Sydney harbor.

You can just see the Sydney Harbor Bridge center right of the picture.


Sunset Sydney 2.jpg


Sydney at sunset.

Sunset Sydney.jpg
 
Last set of pictures. I promise.

Two more pictures of Sydney at night.

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Looking back at downtown Sydney.

Sydney at night 2.jpg

These two pictures and the other two evening pictures of the bridge and opera house where taken from the area called "The Rocks". Lots of shops and restaurants in this area. Great place during the day and at night.

Stoplight, You do have Australian and New Zealand dollars I hope. The exchange kiosks are expensive.
You probably have already notified your credit card companies that you will be in Australia and New Zealand. Did you mention that you will be on a cruise ship? I have watch people trying to pay their ship balance and attempting to get in touch with their credit card company to get the OK. Very embarrassing. Just a reminder. :D Have you talked to your cell phone carrier about international phone calls or texting so you can stay in touch with family? I have ATT and used the texting feature while we where gone.
Again if you have any questions ask. I'll try to answer them.

Enjoy!!
 
weatherweenie said:
I'm also sorry to hear about your niece. Is she the one who taught in Peru?

I would recommend going to see her, if at all possible.
Click to expand...


Weather,

Thanks so much for asking, and for even remembering !!! No doubt you and Wife have memories of YOUR Peru trip, too !!! :smile: Our "Peru Guide", with the steely eyes (per Burro !), was our Grand-Niece ! She's happily adapting to married life, and a real job in Nashville !!! :D

This crisis is my straight-up Niece...Brother's Daughter...texted her the other day, but no response... <sigh>


Stoplight...
 
burrocrat said:
if not for free, then i'll pay for it. ship it.

also i have a slightly used one i'll wash and ship asap, i quit coffee a few weeks ago on some stupid workplace wellness drink lots of water eat fruits and veggies run on my elliptical bullcrap completion and i'm losing the bet bigtime, let me know, you'll get a mug one way or the other. more pics!
Click to expand...


Burro ? You're a "piece of work" !!! :D Appreciate the offer...but I doubt a shipment from wherever the heck you live in the Northern Plains would even MAKE it to the "Sunshine State" in time !!! :D Too much snow on the ground up there !!!


Stoplight...
 
Nasa,

FANTASTIC pix !!! THANKS for sharing those with all of us !!! :D

In Sydney, we're taking a "play it by ear" approach, until we see how we survive the flights...booked one tour in advance...Blue Mountains, and a river cruise back to Sydney !

Our next leg is to Uluru/Ayer's Rock...I suspect Burro will be happy with your Uluru pix ! From there, we go to Darwin, and booked-in tours of Lichfield Falls, Kakadu, and Katherine Gorge...then down to Adelaide for a night, before hitting the opal mines in Coober Pedy...back to Adelaide, and Kangaroo Island !

Back to Sydney, and a tour of an Aussie sheep farm, and some wine tasting ! :smile:

New Zealand shore excursions we've booked sound awesome ! New Zealand scenery and wildlife ; wine and whiskey ; Lord of the Rings ; river rafting...what's NOT to love ??? :D


Stoplight...
 
Nasa,

Thanks for the "head's up" re: dollar exchange ! What WE do on international travel is just use an ATM that takes Visa or Mastercard...you can pull money out, in the local currency, and the exchange rate is pretty close to what the international rate is...unless your bank screws you !!! :D USAA has always been good to us...takes a small percentage, but not like the money changer kiosks !!!

When we went to Peru, it was hilarious !!! Those young US Women watched the exchange rate every day !!! The Grand-Niece said..."Okay, let's go get some soles today ! It's a good rate !!!" We'd pull money out of the ATM in US dollars (that was an option !), and then walk down to the street, where "unofficial" money traders would congregate...giving you a better rate for your US dollars !!! Thank God we had the Grand-Niece ! She would approach each one, and ask (in Spanish !) what they'd pay for US dollars ! If they bull-crapped her, she'd say "Psssshhhhh...." and walk away !!! Being dissed by a tall, blonde Viking woman usually made them reconsider !!! :D TOO funny !!!

RE: cell phones....I've done research there, too...we have a "pay as you go" plan (Net 10), so using a major carrier's international service is not an option ! In Peru, we used wi-fi, available almost everywhere, and "What's App" to stay in touch with folks back home...the catch was, the recipients also had to be "What's App" users...

For THIS trip, I'm seriously considering getting a local SIM card for my phone when we get there, with some data...just to allow us to hook up, by phone, with the hotels, transfers, and tour operators...it's pretty cheap !!!

We'll see what happens...


Stoplight...
 
Uluru: Tourists return stones to 'cursed' Ayers Rock - Telegraph

Hundreds of visitors who casually pocketed chunks of the sacred landmark and took them home found they brought nothing but bad luck, including illness, marriage break-ups and even death.

“What a load of crap! I've had my little piece of Ayers Rock for 14 years and I'm the most contented bugger on Earth,” one reader wrote on the newspaper’s website.
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there seems to be varying opinions about "souvenirs".

well, i have great respect for native culture, having lived on reservations, having a navajo foster brother for a while, having married a (part) nez perce gal - boy could she fight - my son carries the blood, having spent time twice at the bottom of the grand canyon with the havasupai, witnessing hopi kachina dances, and other events i won't mention. i am convinced there are mystical things in this world we don't really understand but are not necessarily contradictory to christianity.

so i have over time in my life collected some 'markers'. not really actual pieces of something sacred, rather something from the vicinity, it is not the origin of the piece but the location, the coordinates which it came from. that uluru is a giant cosmic vortex and i'm building a series of waypoints, to help find the ways in case i get lost in that in-between gauzy world again.

i am not so worried about the first things mentioned in that article: i am familiar with bad luck - and good, i've know sickness - and health, been through a marriage breakup and child custody that made hell seem like a vacation - although it was heaven sometimes, and been close enough to death more than a few times that i'm pretty sure some of them i was on the other side or at least in the transition zone. so that is why it helps to keep markers, to orient yourself, to find your way back, to call in your guide (guardian angels of a sort).

so if you find yourself in a location near uluru where it doesn't violate your moral code to acquire a chip of red sandstone, i would sure enjoy having it. we can work out a deal later.

as to the coffee cup to take tsptalk mugshots... i can get you a used one in three days by monday afternoon if you let me know tomorrow morning... when do you leave? i'll get it to you for free, pm me with address if interested, free will offering.
 
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burrocrat said:
Uluru: Tourists return stones to 'cursed' Ayers Rock - Telegraph

there seems to be varying opinions about "souvenirs".

well, i have great respect for native culture, having lived on reservations, having a navajo foster brother for a while, having married a (part) nez perce gal - boy could she fight - my son carries the blood, having spent time twice at the bottom of the grand canyon with the havasupai, witnessing hopi kachina dances, and other events i won't mention. i am convinced there are mystical things in this world we don't really understand but are not necessarily contradictory to christianity.

so i have over time in my life collected some 'markers'. not really actual pieces of something sacred, rather something from the vicinity, it is not the origin of the piece but the location, the coordinates which it came from. that uluru is a giant cosmic vortex and i'm building a series of waypoints, to help find the ways in case i get lost in that in-between gauzy world again.

i am not so worried about the first things mentioned in that article: i am familiar with bad luck - and good, i've know sickness - and health, been through a marriage breakup and child custody that made hell seem like a vacation - although it was heaven sometimes, and been close enough to death more than a few times that i'm pretty sure some of them i was on the other side or at least in the transition zone. so that is why it helps to keep markers, to orient yourself, to find your way back, to call in your guide (guardian angels of a sort).

so if you find yourself in a location near uluru where it doesn't violate your moral code to acquire a chip of red sandstone, i would sure enjoy having it. we can work out a deal later.

as to the coffee cup to take tsptalk mugshots... i can get you a used one in three days by monday afternoon if you let me know tomorrow morning... when do you leave? i'll get it to you for free, pm me with address if interested, free will offering.
Click to expand...

Burro,

Hmmmm....you assume I have a "moral code" ! :D Well, I do...I'm not comfortable with climbing the rock, like many do, in violation of the "request" by the Native Peoples...

IF I can pick a sliver of rock, from somewhere around the base area for you, we'll do it...my Brother, the Rock Hound, already has his request in for raw opals and other rocks on our tour to Coober Pedy...if we can put rocks in our bags for HIM, I guess we can do it for you, too !!! :smile:

Too late to get your nasty used TSP Talk mug....we leave Thursday morning ! No worries...glad to help you find your path !!!! :smile:

IF we make it happen, will be in touch when we get back...


Stoplight...
 
Stoplight,

Did I mention that you need a head net at Uluru? We purchased one each at the Alice Springs airport for $10 AUD apiece. They came in handy.

Good luck and enjoy Australia and New Zealand.
 
Australia is AWESOME !!! On the 3rd leg now, in Darwin...

Nasa...no joke about the flies...head net a worthy purchase !!! Thanks for the tip !

Burro...if it makes it back to the States, got something you'll like, too !

Stoplight...
 
Nice to here from you Stoplight.

Glad you're having an Awesome time. :D

Drop a line once in awhile if you can.
 
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