How are things where YOU are? (in relation to the Corona Virus)

[Rassa]

59 minutes ago, getting older slowly said:

 

Yes there is a park within 5km.... but full of joggers and cyclists without masks.... people with dogs and loads of kids without masks.........   ( if fact a bit terrifying   trying to social distance )

 

 

The joggers frighten me.   Just imagine all their droplets leaving their mouths and catapulted onto others.   We walk along the beach now, which is harder on the feet, but much safer and easier to keep away from everyone.

 

Hope all the Melbournians are holding up in our second lockdown.  It's pretty hard and only into week two and four to go.   The mind is lost planning getaways to anywhere for when and if!!!!!!

[MMDown Under]

3 hours ago, aussielozzie18 said:

Today we were due to fly out to Vancouver for our Alaska cruise and land tour.  Sad it didnt happen but thankful we have our health.

Talking to my 84yo Dad who lives alone and is coping surprisingly well during this period (he kayaks several mornings a week and tends to a large vegie patch to keep him busy) He says that what is happening now reminds him of the end of the war in the UK.

How sad, so many disappointed cruisers at this time of year.  Where were you going on a land tour?  We have wonderful memories of visiting Alaska in August/Sept. - cruising, car hire, truck camper.  

I love stories like your Dads at 84, who lives alone and is active kayaking and vegie gardening.

He is an inspiration.  

I did a quiz about future cruising and got knocked out on the first question (are you over 65?).

[aussielozzie18]

Your trip sounds wonderful.   Our trip was to be -one way cruise from Vancouver to Seward.  Several days in Seward, travel to Denali, 3 days in Denali, train to Anchorage and onward within US.  We have now decided to do a land trip only in Alaska as there is so much to see in that area. Hopefully in 2 years time...i would plan August/Sept again.  Same time you went.

 

Drs have told dad thar his health is so good because he has always worked outdoors, eats extremely well courtesy of his veggie patch and a neighbour who is a keen fisherman and because he is physically and socially active (before Covid). 

 

I would fail that quiz too😀

[NSWP]

16 minutes ago, aussielozzie18 said:

Your trip sounds wonderful.   Our trip was to be -one way cruise from Vancouver to Seward.  Several days in Seward, travel to Denali, 3 days in Denali, train to Anchorage and onward within US.  We have now decided to do a land trip only in Alaska as there is so much to see in that area. Hopefully in 2 years time...i would plan August/Sept again.  Same time you went.

 

Drs have told dad thar his health is so good because he has always worked outdoors, eats extremely well courtesy of his veggie patch and a neighbour who is a keen fisherman and because he is physically and socially active (before Covid). 

 

I would fail that quiz too😀

I think I should adopt your Dad's lifestyle, he would play me off a break and he is 12 years older.  Does he partake in daily adult beverages? That is my downfall.🍷

[Aus Traveller]

13 minutes ago, aussielozzie18 said:

Your trip sounds wonderful.   Our trip was to be -one way cruise from Vancouver to Seward.  Several days in Seward, travel to Denali, 3 days in Denali, train to Anchorage and onward within US.  We have now decided to do a land trip only in Alaska as there is so much to see in that area. Hopefully in 2 years time...i would plan August/Sept again.  Same time you went.

 

Drs have told dad thar his health is so good because he has always worked outdoors, eats extremely well courtesy of his veggie patch and a neighbour who is a keen fisherman and because he is physically and socially active (before Covid). 

 

I would fail that quiz too😀

At that time of the year (Aug/Sept) you might see the aurora. The ideal factors you need are:

1. A year that has "solar maximum" has more auroral activity than other years.

2. Not mid summer when it doesn't get properly dark at night.

3. Plan your time in Alaska for when the moon isn't in the sky at night, or when it is only a crescent either early evening or early morning.

4. The prime place to see the aurora is a circular band around the North Pole. This band passes directly over Fairbanks. It isn't a matter of "the further north the better".

5. No street lights. We were travelling in a motorhome and camped at night in State Parks where there were no streetlights to interfere with our vision.

 

We saw the aurora in all its glory on a few successive nights. It was fantastic.

[aussielozzie18]

8 minutes ago, NSWP said:

I think I should adopt your Dad's lifestyle, he would play me off a break and he is 12 years older.  Does he partake in daily adult beverages? That is my downfall.🍷

Not a daily drinker no, he loves a daily coffee though.  Has a coffee bean tree in his garden and has donated a bag of coffee beans to his local cafe. He likes a shandy or German beer in summer.

[NSWP]

1 minute ago, aussielozzie18 said:

Not a daily drinker no, he loves a daily coffee though.  Has a coffee bean tree in his garden and has donated a bag of coffee beans to his local cafe. He likes a shandy or German beer in summer.

Good on him, I wish him well.

[aussielozzie18]

10 minutes ago, Aus Traveller said:

At that time of the year (Aug/Sept) you might see the aurora. The ideal factors you need are:

1. A year that has "solar maximum" has more auroral activity than other years.

2. Not mid summer when it doesn't get properly dark at night.

3. Plan your time in Alaska for when the moon isn't in the sky at night, or when it is only a crescent either early evening or early morning.

4. The prime place to see the aurora is a circular band around the North Pole. This band passes directly over Fairbanks. It isn't a matter of "the further north the better".

5. No street lights. We were travelling in a motorhome and camped at night in State Parks where there were no streetlights to interfere with our vision.

 

We saw the aurora in all its glory on a few successive nights. It was fantastic.

That would be amazing   i was rapt when i discovered we would be in Denali in Sept and there was a possibility we would see them.  My daughter flew London to Iceland a couple of years ago and on approach the pilot pointed out the Northern lights to the passengers to view.  Watched Jane McDonald tv show recently where she cruised around Iceland in its entirety and they saw the Northen Lights from the ship one eve.  Stunning.

[MMDown Under]

56 minutes ago, aussielozzie18 said:

That would be amazing   i was rapt when i discovered we would be in Denali in Sept and there was a possibility we would see them.  My daughter flew London to Iceland a couple of years ago and on approach the pilot pointed out the Northern lights to the passengers to view.  Watched Jane McDonald tv show recently where she cruised around Iceland in its entirety and they saw the Northen Lights from the ship one eve.  Stunning.

When my daughter flew from Japan to Chicago one January, the air hostess kindly woke her to see the Northern Lights.  

[MicCanberra]

4 hours ago, aussielozzie18 said:

That would be amazing   i was rapt when i discovered we would be in Denali in Sept and there was a possibility we would see them.  My daughter flew London to Iceland a couple of years ago and on approach the pilot pointed out the Northern lights to the passengers to view.  Watched Jane McDonald tv show recently where she cruised around Iceland in its entirety and they saw the Northen Lights from the ship one eve.  Stunning.

We saw the northern lights when cruising around Iceland (2016) as well, 3 nights running. Marvelous

[MMDown Under]

11 hours ago, MicCanberra said:

We saw the northern lights when cruising around Iceland (2016) as well, 3 nights running. Marvelous

I saw them from a ship also, but they were mainly one colour. not like the spectacular colourful  photos I'd seen.  However watching the lights dance across the sky was enjoyable.

[Aus Traveller]

1 hour ago, MMDown Under said:

I saw them from a ship also, but they were mainly one colour. not like the spectacular colourful  photos I'd seen.  However watching the lights dance across the sky was enjoyable.

The reason there are more colours in photos of the aurora than people see, is that the colour receptove (cones) in the eye need more light than is available in the aurora. A way to demonstrate what I mean is to think about a garden at night where coloured flowers appear grey. Camera are more receptive to the colours of the aurora.

 

Depending on where you are and how extensive the auroral display is, you might see the 'curtains' in just the northern part of the sky, or they might cover the whole sky. That is what we saw in Alaska. There were shimmering and waving curtains of light over the whole sky, even directly above us. Incredible, but even so we couldn't see much in the way of colours. Our photos do have colour.

[mr walker]

On 8/17/2020 at 10:15 AM, aussielozzie18 said:

Today we were due to fly out to Vancouver for our Alaska cruise and land tour.  Sad it didnt happen but thankful we have our health.

 

Your post reminded me that it is 6 years almost to the day we left Sydney for Vancouver/Calgary for the start of our great adventure - self drive thru Canadian Rockies (10N), and then cruising to Alaska from Seattle, Vancouver to Honolulu & home to Sydney (32N onboard). Very glad we did it when we did. DW just mentioned again the other day that it was good we have done many of our to-do-list as the world is very different now.

Hope you do get to do it someday.

[Aus Traveller]

9 minutes ago, mr walker said:

 

Your post reminded me that it is 6 years almost to the day we left Sydney for Vancouver/Calgary for the start of our great adventure - self drive thru Canadian Rockies (10N), and then cruising to Alaska from Seattle, Vancouver to Honolulu & home to Sydney (32N onboard). Very glad we did it when we did. DW just mentioned again the other day that it was good we have done many of our to-do-list as the world is very different now.

Hope you do get to do it someday.

Were you on the Sea Princess circumnavigation of South America, Sydney to Sydney a few years ago?

Edited August 18, 2020 by Aus Traveller
typo

[aussielozzie18]

1 hour ago, mr walker said:

 

Your post reminded me that it is 6 years almost to the day we left Sydney for Vancouver/Calgary for the start of our great adventure - self drive thru Canadian Rockies (10N), and then cruising to Alaska from Seattle, Vancouver to Honolulu & home to Sydney (32N onboard). Very glad we did it when we did. DW just mentioned again the other day that it was good we have done many of our to-do-list as the world is very different now.

Hope you do get to do it 

That trip sounds absolutely wonderful.  

[MMDown Under]

1 hour ago, mr walker said:

 

Your post reminded me that it is 6 years almost to the day we left Sydney for Vancouver/Calgary for the start of our great adventure - self drive thru Canadian Rockies (10N), and then cruising to Alaska from Seattle, Vancouver to Honolulu & home to Sydney (32N onboard). Very glad we did it when we did. DW just mentioned again the other day that it was good we have done many of our to-do-list as the world is very different now.

Hope you do get to do it someday.

Sounds like a wonderful trip.  I love the way Aussies make the most of every travel opportunity overseas.  When we were a young family, amongst older neighbours, they used to say we were smart travelling when we were young.  They used to love living our adventures through us.  They were thinking of ill health, when you are older possibly affecting travel plans.  They couldn't have dreamt of Covid19 changing everyone's travel plans. 

My daughter sends me memories on fb - the latest 7 years ago was a photo of me eating a hotdog from a popular small kiosk in Iceland.

[mr walker]

5 hours ago, Aus Traveller said:

Were you on the Sea Princess circumnavigation of South America, Sydney to Sydney a few years ago?

No, not me. Must have been someone better looking than me 🙂

 

[Aus Traveller]

2 minutes ago, mr walker said:

No, not me. Must have been someone better looking than me 🙂

 

I thought it was your lovely wife who I recognised. 🙂

[NSWP]

2 hours ago, Aus Traveller said:

I thought it was your lovely wife who I recognised. 🙂

So young I thought it was Mr Walkers child bride! With  all due respect.

Edited August 18, 2020 by NSWP

[Host Bonjour]

On 7/29/2020 at 8:57 PM, OzKiwiJJ said:

Ditto except I prefer the Mocha Frappuccino.

 

 

😍 I feel like walking across the street for one now... except...just realized, they close awfully early. 😪 (Its's the small things these days)

[getting older slowly]

33 minutes ago, Host Bonjour said:

 

😍 I feel like walking across the street for one now... except...just realized, they close awfully early. 😪 (Its's the small things these days)

 

I agree the little things... here with lockdown the best outing it going to get Takeaway from the local fish and Chip shop every week and bit ( it is a break as i do all the cooking ).....

 

Otherwise it is one of us going out every 3-4 days to buy Food... which is like going to play in a mine field       trying to avoid people...

 

Cheers Don...... looking at photos on the wall from some of our cruises.

[mr walker]

18 hours ago, Aus Traveller said:

I thought it was your lovely wife who I recognised. 🙂

 

16 hours ago, NSWP said:

So young I thought it was Mr Walkers child bride! With  all due respect.

 

Well she is younger than me & much better looking.

[NSWP]

12 minutes ago, mr walker said:

 

 

Well she is younger than me & much better looking.

Well done, some blokes have all the luck.😍

[mr walker]

5 hours ago, NSWP said:

Well done, some blokes have all the luck.😍

Well I certainly count myself lucky - been together since 1979 & we will celebrate our 40th anniversary in April, but not on a cruise. I think she thinks she's pretty lucky also 😮

 

[GUT2407]

9 minutes ago, mr walker said:

Well I certainly count myself lucky - been together since 1979 & we will celebrate our 40th anniversary in April, but not on a cruise. I think she thinks she's pretty lucky also 😮

 

About 6 months behind you, just celebrated 39 years of marriage been together 40 this weekend. I know I won lottery, not sure about her but.