Blackduck59

We cancelled that booking.

Thanks Leigh, I know I won't get anywhere near the track but I will be able to see it from there. Hopefully there will be some vendors where I can buy some F1 swag. Is this close by you so we can get together for Lunch? We would love to meet up with you and Rob and anyone else in the area who would like to join us. If you would like please get in touch at lyledotduckatshawdotcom we can plan something.

Oops too late Mic. I just wanted to get something secured and it looks pretty good for the price.

It is the Tyrian Albert Park Lake, 14 Queens Road, Albert Park, 3004 Melbourne. It looked a nice place and there is no deposit and we pay when we get there. Also there is free cancellation up until the week before we arrive.

Thanks Lyndon, what a fascinating piece of craftsmanship. I'll pass thanks, I don't think I have 37 years left in me. I also don't have the attention span for that. If I end up with a home shop after we move anything I do in it, will need to be small and only take a short time from start to finish. I have been doing jobs that take a long time and don't look like much for the $20,000.00 price tag. I want to make cool stuff that looks good and may be useful to someone. Maybe interesting and uncommon cutting boards, or knife blocks. I could probably use scrap wood from my former employer.

Thanks Leigh, I booked a holiday apartment at Albert Park, we have a view of the race course, of course we will be long gone before the race but I can at least see the track and maybe get some swag. So near yet so far. I think it is good to get this booked now because I'm sure there will be zero availability very soon as race fans realize they need a place to stay.

So now we have a new wrinkle, we have plans to be in Melbourne for a few days before we fly out to Auckland on the 13th of March 2025. Well here we are looking at the calendar and of course the F1 race is at that time. I love F1 but they are messing with my plan and I couldn't afford the to go to the race anyway. This will be the second time I've been so close to a race and unable to go. Getting a room anywhere near Melbourne will be impossible at that time. Perhaps we will need to reassess our Melbourne timing and maybe plan to move our Philip Island stop to that time and drive to the airport from there on the 13th.

That is unfortunate, do you have any correspondence from anyone to verify the original deal? I guess some TAs really are hacks.

Just take the bill loop out of the slot and put them there. And if you were to get rid of pennies there is that space available. Funny thing, if you don't have a choice you adapt. When we transitioned to the "Loonie" there was no choice, the mint wasn't going to print $1.00 bills anymore, same thing with the "Twonie" no more $2.00 bills were produced (and $2.00 bills were common currency in Canada) so that's what happened. I already commented about pennies. So everyone who had a big jar of pennies just had to get on with it and roll them up and take them to the bank.

We got rid of pennies and we still have intolerable sales taxes. If it is a debit or credit card purchase the exact amount is charged. If cash the amount is rounded up or down to the nearest 5 cents. (sometimes you get lucky and sometimes you don't) I don't think many Canadians miss the penny, it cost more than a penny to make.

We usually have lunch ashore so that can be as little as $30,00 or over $100.00 in the case of King Crab in Alaska. We always buy a fridge magnet in every port and is we see an artisan crafted item we may spend upwards of $100.00 for that. We are planning a rather long down under adventure next year and there are some major purchases planned, A new Akubra hat for me and Ugg boots for my wife. Those purchases are technically "pre-cruise". We will be looking for interesting things during our 43 day New Zealand and Trans-Pacific crossing cruise, we'll see if we bring anything home. We will be having some meals ashore though.

@kwhear435 I read your post and see that you are working with a TA. I would call the TA, it's their job to sort this for you. I dearly hope you get it resolved. Our TA sends us an invoice that has the cabin number, what perks you have and the cost of the cruise. It also shows the penalty dates and final payment dates.

@arxcards Thank you very much. I will have to look at a map (if I can find one) and see if we can fit an actual factory visit in. I suspect we will be going to Airds of Lochnavier, apparently fairly close to Lyndon's place.

We let it slide back and then drag it back to the front. We do miss the input from Mr. Gut (RIP) but many of us remember him when we post on this thread. Of course this is now research again as the OP was doing when they started it. Of course they have long since abandoned ship. So far we have identified some locations from trusted sources and looking for more input. I did notice mention of National pies from Hobart in Taz, do they have an actual vendor that serves them fresh in Hobart? Our cruise stops there.

Looking at the 2 pictures above the top picture is the Atlantic (Americans like to call "Maine") lobster. The bottom photo is Spiny (Rock) Lobster, note the large white spot on the shell. I don't think the bottom lobster has been anywhere near a broiler.

So scanning back many months @NSWP Uncle Les mentioned Robertson Pie Shop and Hayden's Pies. I'm thinking if Uncle Les drives 45 minutes to get some Hayden's pies they must be good.

It took a long time to find this thread again. We are starting to put together the great down under meet and greet tour. Most discussion of that will be on the different thread. That being said we will be checking out pies along the way. @lyndarra has already filled in the Harry's stop (we shall raise a pie to Mr. Gut). I will read back to see some other places mentioned in this thread. I know there is one that gets mentioned often, that seems to be along our route. Looking for suggestions, Unfortunately time constraints will limit this tour to NSW and Victoria.

Each to their own but what some people may think of as a novelty that will get them noticed is just a pain in the a** for the person they are trying to impress. Remember your tip has no keepsake value for the recipient, to them it is just part of their pay packet. Tipping with "Uncommon" US bills to get "noticed" would be like me tipping with a $2.00 Canadian coin, it will get me noticed but perhaps not in a good way. If you want to give a cash gratuity, over and above those you already paid, that's all well and good. Just make it easy to spend.

That depends on where you are.

Veranda cabins are getting scarce on that cruise. We had booked the 14 day segment previously and just added the 29 day last week. With a little bit of luck and some good work from our TA we were able to get the same cabin throughout, in a good location. Book now if you want any chance of a preferred cabin location.

I think Lynn said she paid $2.99 per 100 grams for the sockeye we had tonight. We call ocean run trout "Steelhead" and they are a prized catch for anglers. Steelhead has a more orange flesh than sockeye which is quite red. Of course many people pay a premium for "Chinook" often called spring salmon or king salmon. Around here the really big Chinooks (more than 30 pounds) Tyee salmon. Many people really like Chinook (and of course the local "southern resident" Orcas are rather picky eaters and pretty much only eat Chinook). We prefer sockeye and coho. Another species are pink salmon which are very oily and to me and many others only suitable for smoking. We never buy farmed salmon.

Much of our commercially available fish is actually frozen at sea. The only way to be sure the fish is fresh is if it has the head on and gills intact. When I see that, I will check the eyes and gills and if the eyes are clear and the gills nice and red then I'll buy the whole fish and process it at home.

An excellent service from your fish monger. We have only one actual fish market here and a couple grocery chains that have good fish/seafood sections (including live tanks for crab, lobster, clams and muscles. I don't think any of them would scrape the scales for me. If I'm expect guests I will buy whole fish and scrape and filet it myself.

Then I would have to scrape the scales off (a loathsome task) Of course I would do it if a I had a guest who enjoyed the skin 😉

Thanks Linda, Sockeye is our go to salmon, It has a nice colour and pleasant flavour. Put us on the cooked fully list of salmon lovers, we don't really like the skin, so I start the fish presentation side down and then flip it over, if the skin sticks to the pan that's okay you just run the flipper between the skin and the fish, leaving the skin in the pan.