MMDown Under

Sounds delicious. I'm about to make butternut pumpkin soup. Not from my garden, but pumpkin only cost $1.

For what it is worth, wherever I stay in the world I always stay somewhere unique, somewhere I'd like to live, not a "cookie cutter" hotel chain the same throughout the world. If I'm going to have time to cook, I buy fresh food from markets, I love a kitchen. If I'm not going to have time, I stay near somewhere I can buy take away home cooking.

I've stayed there. A great hotel in good location.

This year I did a cruise on a small ship from Cairns to Darwin in late February/March, during the cyclone season. We had good weather, sunny skies and smooth seas all the way. However, had there been a Low or Cyclone, the seas could have been very rough. The cyclone season is until the end of April (or later). I don't get seasick, but I always take ginger and Bundaberg ginger cordial.

I used to get my passport renewal at the Passport Office in Brisbane on the same day. I guess you can no longer get your passport renewal at a Passport Office. Who thought of this idea of getting your passport from a Post Office? Would it be a Government which believes private enterprise is always better? It is not as if the Government doesn't make money from passports. My elder daughter was included on my first passport. Next renewal children had to have their own passport!! $$

Sounds delicious. Once the weather cools, I crave soup.

There is a deli at Rosalie in Brisbane where you can buy delicious cornish pasties. We go there when we go to movies. We also had proper Cornish pasties recently at Tewantin on the Sunshine Coast (a popular pie shop at the back of a garage). You can buy regular pasties everywhere.

Vancouver is a wonderful port for seeing a variety of cruise ships. I'm envious.

Where you stay depends how long you have in Brisbane prior to going to the Brisbane International Cruise Terminal. After spending time touring Italy, we originally planned to stay overnight at Madrid Airport prior to flying home to Australia. Fortunately, we decided that would be a wasted day so spent the time in the Madrid CBD. We had a fabulous time and walked all around downtown. One of us even went to the Opera. After that, I decided, unless time is short, don't waste time at an airport hotel. Make it part of your holiday.

Nice souvenir.

The delays in getting new passports are not just affecting Australians. Some foreign visitors are facing long delays getting visas to enter Australia.

My favourite place to stay in Sydney is Potts Point. I stay at the basic De Vere Motel, but there are a lot of choices of accommodation and restaurants. If you enjoy walking, you can walk to the city via the Botanical Gardens or walk to the Harbour. Buses run two routes to Central Station or to the City and theatres on the harbour.

Yes. You could stay at the airport or one of the motels in Ascot. There are good restaurants on Racecourse Road.

There are a number of local Italian Australians who run tours to out of the way small places in Italy. I cut them out as I think that would be a perfect way to tour Italy with an Italian speaker. However, it is still on my to do list.

Am I correct the double payment hasn't been reversed in two years? If so, I'd be on phone today!!

I'm not up to Apps., but i haven't done any recently because i let my passport lapse during covid.

Interesting. I thought they were sausages! That's what happens when one is short sighted but doesn't wear glasses to type!

what is roulade? Looks hearty.

Some travel insurance policies cover an amount which you have to pay if you make a claim on the car insurance. Car insurance through car rental agencies is expensive here.

How do the parking numbers compare with what is available in the vicinity of portside? You need under cover parking during the storm season.

Tried to find original plan, without success. However, I did find some interesting development publicity

We can buy delicious pasties in Queensland. In fact, Cornish pasties are my first choice, pie and peas under the lid my second.

We can finally buy fresher oranges and lemons. Must have been between orange seasons. My favourite oranges are from South Australia. We bought three kilos of oranges at a farm gate in Vic once only to discover we couldn't take them into SA. So we backed up, ate a few each, then hand squeezed the rest in to an empty ice cream container.

Sounds like a huge job before all was well. My friend in Boston, who lives in Florida during the winter, had a burst water pipe during their absence. They had to live in a hotel for months, whilst their house was fixed. Fortunately, the cost was covered by insurance. I recall on a driving holiday in the US, the owner of the caravan park said we were lucky to get accommodation that night, as they were turning off the water the next day. That is where I learnt of burst pipes during winter.