Bubbeh

22 minutes ago, Blackduck59 said:

I will however want an automatic in Oz, driving on the wrong side of the road and shifting with the wrong hand (for me) would probably be stressful and maybe a little dangerous

Actually, we drive on the correct side of the road.  😁

10 hours ago, Asawi said:

And how much to pay for the hotel when arriving the day before embarking? 😄 

 

(Me? I fly coach and try not to pay more than $100 for a room. Try...)

 

If only I could find a decent hotel room for $100!  My limit is probably around the $300-$350 mark.

11 hours ago, slidemaster5 said:

Can we now talk about whether to fly coach, premium or first class to the port? lol.

My rule of thumb is to fly economy domestically and up to 5 hours internationally.  Anything over 5 hours and I'm a business class passenger.  

On 5/18/2024 at 1:45 PM, Mycruiseobsession said:

Correct.

 

"Indigenous"

 

As with any colonised country that has been treated as a 2nd class citizen, well lower (actual slavery) on their own land would feel. 

What white people lording it over black people?  Bringing with them their cultures, customs, laws and illnesses.  Fancy that!

On 5/16/2024 at 11:11 AM, MicCanberra said:

Britain didn't volunteer in every case, (US, SA, Ireland to name some) but again mostly via negotiation rather than war.

IRA?  Pretty sure that was a war of attrition at best.

On 5/16/2024 at 6:58 AM, arxcards said:

The Kanaks want to limit the number of new foreign voting (read French nationals). That colonial constitution change is designed to keep their indigenous population in the minority. Until they get a majority, they can never gain independence by peaceful means.

Colonialism has its drawbacks. 

2 hours ago, JJK2008 said:

What's the worst thing that can happen in Oz, we get a bad meat pie???

Hmmm.... maybe you've not heard all there is to hear (hope this link works)-

https://www.google.com/search?q=scared+weird+little+guys+come+to+australia&oq=scared+we&gs_lcrp=EgZjaHJvbWUqDwgAEAAYFBiHAhjjAhiABDIPCAAQABgUGIcCGOMCGIAEMgwIARAuGBQYhwIYgAQyBwgCEC4YgAQyDAgDEAAYFBiHAhiABDIGCAQQRRg5MgcIBRAuGIAEMgcIBhAuGIAEMgcIBxAuGIAEMgcICBAAGIAEMgcICRAuGIAE0gEIMzUxN2owajeoAgCwAgA&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8#fpstate=ive&vld=cid:4d9beed8,vid:eNEeq5qGh8I,st:0

45 minutes ago, possum52 said:

I bought a MG 3 earlier this year, smaller than your ZS but suitable for the driving I do. We have had a few longish trips down the south west coast and it has driven very well. My previous car was also nine years old and we only had to replace the battery and tyres on it. It was still running really well but was manual and with a crook left shoulder I need to drive an auto. My husband traded in his ute, no need for it now and bought a Renault Clio, another small car. I am very happy with my MG3. 

I didn't get my license until I was 27 and the driving instructor advised me to get an Automatic License.  Before Grumpy was grumpy, I asked his advice and he couldn't see a time when we would ever buy a manual car so I got my auto license in just a few lessons.  I've never driven a manual, or needed to.  

Just out of interest, what was your previous car?

3 hours ago, Retired-N-Happy said:

Yes, seriously.  If an adult over 21 is caught giving a minor an alcoholic drink there could be major repercussions involved as a result.

The age on Carnival is 21, it doesn't matter if many of the port stops allow drinking at 18.

Sorry but I don't think that is completely accurate, see below:

3 hours ago, Purvis1231 said:

Wow, I hope there are not a lot of adults who are trying to get teenagers drunk. 

It was a joke and never meant to be given serious consideration.  

6 hours ago, Sparky74 said:

I’d take quality of life over quantity of years given the choice. In spite of living with a heart condition for many years Nanna was able to enjoy quite an active life (including many domestic and overseas trips through the years) up until her last 6 months. She slipped away the day after her 95th birthday. But that’s over 10 years ago now!

 

Anyway, that really doesn’t have anything to do with the price of passports. 🤷‍♂️

Yep, whatever we do we mustn't let the thread divert to another topic.  😁

7 hours ago, staceyglow said:

No they couldn't, unless someone over 21 bought them drinks without getting caught.

Seriously?  The age of majority in Australia is 18.  Irrespective, they could still get drunk and make a fool of themselves with someone else buying them a drink. 

Weighing in here.....Corinne I think you'll find that the vast majority of poster on this thread are decent people just voicing an option and sometimes that will be an alternate opinion,  I believe that nobody means to offend or hurt you.  Nevertheless, that is the outcome and you have my apologies if I'm in that group.  

10 hours ago, ilikeanswers said:

I have become pretty ambivalent towards car rental reviews.

I tend to think that people who were satisfied rarely write reviews.  Those who were either delighted or disgusted tend to be the ones who take the time to express their feelings and detail their experience.  This very much skews the review process. 

They could go to one of the bars, get drunk and make a fool of themselves?  Just a suggestion. 😉

I'm not trying to be a smart ar^e but this is the very reason to never fly in/out on the day of embarkation / disembarkation.  Given what you've probably paid for the trip, one night in a hotel surely wouldn't break the bank?

I'd be on the phone to QANTAS immediately to change that flight to the next day or even overnight.  I'm thinking that your travel insurance would most likely have an 'inconvenience clause'  where your expenses would be covered assuming you've expended more than the excess/deductible.  Also, given that QANTAS changed the flights and you're negatively impacted, they may well put you up in a hotel overnight.  It's worth investigating your options.

2 hours ago, MicCanberra said:

 

Sorry Mic this response is supposed to be for the OP.  I don't seem to be able to unrespond/delete a reply to you???

19 hours ago, Sparky74 said:

Well, my Nanna was still taking cruises and flying internationally in her 90s. 😱

When I'm in my 90s I plan to be living in the spare room at my daughter's house being spoon fed, wearing a nappy and dribbling uncontrollably.  Just like she used to do a long time ago.  Ah revenge, sweet revenge!!!

On 5/20/2024 at 2:25 AM, Windsurfboy said:

As for children then the primeval instinct  kicks in , I can't imagine many mothers not making their way straight to kids club.

Not me!  When my kids were young I would have thought now's my chance!  😁

20 hours ago, MicCanberra said:

If you go for the MG, get the larger model,  HS rather than ZS, a friend has just bought one.

We traded in our Ford Territory on an MG ZS and I can't speak highly enough of this little car.  Our Territory was a brilliant vehicle for us when we bought it travelling to Perth several times a month, driving interstate and just generally doing quite a few kms a year (+20 000).  In the 9 years we had it the only thing we ever replaced were tyres and a battery.  Fantastic!  However, she was getting long in the tooth and since buying our motorhome during the dreaded COVID years we were doing less than 2000 kms a year - time to trade.  The MG is basically a shopping trolley, it goes locally to the shops and back, to the Drs on occasion and that's about it.  The only time it will go further is when we travel overseas and leave it at the airport.  Still it was a magic price and with 7 years warranty and capped servicing, we're pretty damn happy.  Just sharing.....

At the risk of sounding unsympathetic, if you can't afford a passport you really can't afford to travel.  Our Govt takes great interest in knowing where it's citizens are in the world in order to assist them if needs be.  I see this as such a minor increase.  Having said that, my passport is valid unit 2030 and Grumpy's to 2031 when I'll be 72 and he'll be 78; I wonder how many more 10 year passports I'l require after that?

21 hours ago, Jean C said:

I saw a documentary once about a US family who somehow brought them home. They were so bad in the bedrooms, the family dragged their mattresses downstairs to get away from them. However, they insdvertently brought them downstairs with the mattresses and infected downstairs as well. They tried everything, without success. Eventually they got on to an outfit who wrapped the whole house and heat treated it to a temperature that got the better of the little blighters. It cost them an arm and a leg but they loved their house, and it fixed the problem.

What the???????

12 hours ago, buchhalm said:

Fly into Perth.

Take the Indian Pacific luxury train straight across the country to Sydney over 4-5 days (google that one), then cruise to NZL (and possibly back to SYD) over 10-14 nights. 

Now that's a wonderful suggestion.  Good thinking buchhalm.

Yew, yew, yew!  I'm itchy all over just reading that.  A million years ago my Dad brought back bed bugs from an army camp.  It was horrible and very expensive to replace mattresses, carpets, furniture etc etc etc.  Mum was so angry and upset, Dad was just lucky he didn't get replaced.

I'm coming to this for a bit of a different angle to most responders.  I would suggest doing a circumnavigation of the continent.  You could even extend with a B2B onto NZ.  Unfortunately, we tend to get a bit forgotten over this side of the country as does South Australia.  Others have said it and it's very true, she's a big country and you couldn't hope to get a feel for her in anything less than 2 - 3 weeks.  And, yes, I do think Australia identifies as female not male, non-binary or anything else.