mr walker

Thanks to all for your kind thoughts. I have spoken with my sister this morning & they have accepted an offer from the company and the trip is re-scheduled to Oct 2023. Hopefully that will all work out for them. With that trip added in to their '23 schedule, the will be away for most of 2023 🙂

If it's not one thing it's another. My sister & BIL retired a little while back and had a whole series of travels arranged (land & sea) in Nth America & Europe which were all impacted by COVID. They got some money refunded, some as credits and some they will likely never see. Move on and arrange a month in Europe from next week, the main feature being river cruise. Part of their trip was already changed due to situation in Ukraine. My sister has already started packing, and they get a call from TA - due to the low river levels the river cruise cannot go ahead, so they can still do the trip by bus! Not what they were wanting, so trip is off again!!!

A little motion on the ocean as they say 🙂

on our visit to Hobart in 2017, we had some very nice fish & chips for lunch just near to the dock. Yes I know we could have had free lunch on the ship just be walking a few hundred metres, but we just wanted some fresh fish & chips. I think it was called Flippers take away (they had tables and chairs to eat at), & I don' t think it was dolphin 🙂

from memory. Uncle Les' son is involved in that

Hang in there mate - many of us would miss you too much. I have blocked a few on here over the years, and also just let some posts just go thru to the keeper - life's too short. Most of the posters and the information gained and shared make a few annoyances worth the price. Take care mate - I look forward to "talking" with you on here and again in real life at some point. Cheers

Plenty of comedians on here 😄

Medium well- no condiments

Just a note to say that yesterday I retired from full time work, after 46 years. Original plan was to fully retire, but I’ve hedged my bets by going to a part- time consultant role with my employer. More free time & still some income maybe is a better option before relying on super. anyway we look forward to a simpler life 😁

Tomorrow night is Rugby League State of Origin game #2 in Perth. GO THE BLUES!! Here at home in Sydney we will have a small family get together to watch the game with ‘footy food’ - cocktail franks, pizza slices, and party pies & sausage rolls (4&20) & maybe a beer or two. It’s a family tradition - you can’t have footy without a pie 😁

Ah, the old operational reasons - I can't even count how many flights I had cancelled/delayed/combined for just this "reason" 🙂

Yes, I hope everything is OK with him - I miss his sense of humour.

on day 8 of a 10N cruise, a lovely 'mature age' lady asked me where some venue was. I said it's all the way at the front & 2 decks down. She asked me which direction is the front of the ship. I pointed her in the right direction, and watched her progress & she was headed in the right direction, and I hoped she got to where she was going.

Sorry to hear that Julie. Losing pets is always a sad time.

Similar for us Les. Whilst having pets is a source of joy, the sadness of losing them is terrible. When we lost our inherited sulphur-crested cockatoo ( hand reared from a hatchling by Tracey's Dad & passed at almost 50 years) we decided no more pets - just so much distress. Also, no pets allows a lot more freedom for us to travel.

Cruiselines are spending up big on media advertising and freebies, so no real surprise on the media position at this time. If the tide was to turn, the media would quickly adjust their position.

I can’t recall meeting anyone happy to pay tolls, young or old. Not sure what age has to do with it. We all make choices about discretionary expenditure. The idea that governments can provide everything for all at no cost for the user is not realistic.

Our parents could say no to us, and in turn we could also say no to our kids … can’t see why that needs to change. That said, we may be softies towards our grandkids if we had any 😄

Depends on the individual human I expect. I am very much a believer in User Pays. I'd prefer that the cruisefare/resort cost covered the minimum (room + a certain level of food/drink etc) and then you could choose what you paid for via your personnel preference. I always find it strange when people complain about paying road tolls, when it is a choice to use the road or not. Go the long way, stop at all the lights and use more petrol - it's up to you.

Hope you had a good trip mate - a bit chilly?? 😁 Tracey & I are off to Central Coast next week to visit Tracey’s sister. Pies definitely on the menu up there enjoy you dinner at Raymond’s !!

Stay safe & we trust you both have a rapid recovery.

I join with others expressing our support. We too were a bit concerned that you hadn't been around here lately, so it's good to get an update mate. Yes a lot of memories there all in close timing. Glad you have decided to take another cruise - it sounds like a good one. Keep in touch. I gave notice last week that I will retire on 1-July, so time will be freer for us, and I hope we can catch up with you again soon. Take care. After all Dan Murpy's needs your business 🙂 And there's a lot of pies, big breakfasts & steaks to eat, as well as some good Chinese from Raymonds!!!! We are all here to support you. Please keep in touch thru CC. Cheers

Someones getting spoilt!

Mums first cruise & we kept it a secret all the way to the OPT. Grahams carpet made her feel extra special. She’s 87 now & still going well

photo of Mum on Grahams special red carpet back in 2015.