OzKiwiJJ

I haven't played crib in years but I used to enjoy playing it.

We didn't win the Powerball! 😪

Yes, that does seem a little strange. I do know that although markets on some of the smaller Pacific island will accept AUD they are so grateful when you offer to pay in the local currency. It can be hard for them to get currencies changed and it costs them quite a bit. One guy on one of the PNG island was pleading to people passing by to change a AUD $5 to Kina. We had a bit of extra cash so I changed it for him. He was so thankful.

Cruise lines just pass the port charges onto the passengers so I doubt that is the reason. I recall reading something somewhere a month or so ago about upgrades to the cruise terminal being delayed. I don't think there were details about what the upgrades entailed but if they were significant it may mean the port couldn't be used for embarkations and disembarkations due to the amount of space needed for those, but day visits would still be possible as long as passengers could get off Station Pier safely.

The table is beautiful but the crib board is just stunning. I wish my late father could have seen it. He loved playing crib.

There is a Japanese restaurant at Macquarie Centre in Sydney, Umaya, that has this amazing scallop and salmon ceviche dish in a wonderful citrusy dressing. We go the for lunch sometimes and always order this. Next time you're in Sydney take a wander across the harbour bridge and try it.

Now that's a good idea - double crispy skin! Rolf doesn't like the skin either. I must try your technique. 😁

When I cook salmon at home I cook it very rare but also enjoy it cooked through.

The person asking about this is only bringing credit cards which immediately charge interest on cash withdrawals. They aren't bringing debit cards so ATM withdrawals aren't recommended. They were asking about banks, presumably where they could exchange currency. That's why I suggested the ForEx place. We used it to get some Yen and USD for our Japan trip.

That guy is so high energy, he makes me feel exhausted just watching him. 🤣 He puts on a great show though.

In Sydney there is a foreign exchange place in George St, near Wynyard Station - City Forex. You should be able to get both AUD and NZD there.

I think only Elites could book dining before final payment in the past.

Ditto. I miss our cat who passed away in 2022 but it has made travel easier.

I think sometimes they get short supplied by the laundry on embarkation day, or just forget to put them out in the rush to turn the cabins over. I vaguely recall noticing they were missing on one cruise but our steward brought us some very quickly. I think it's only happened once in 15 or so Princess cruises.

We managed three days in Melbourne with just our carry-ons once, and it was winter, although we wore our heaviest clothes on the plane. It was a squeeze! Actually it sometimes surprises me what I can fit in my carry-on but certainly not enough of the type of clothes I prefer for longer than a couple of days.

They are all cheap chocolate. The red ones are thicker so fool you into thinking they're better. To me all of them tasted faintly of peppermint and I hate peppermint chocolates, partly because peppermint gives me hay fever.

We knew we were going to do some bushwalking there, plus we stayed a night with friends on a farm, so we decided to go prepared. It was a very small one but had nice stiff bristles so good for cleaning sneaker soles.

Just screenshot it. It's much easier to just open a screenshot than to try to get the idiotic Princess app to co-operate.

Seeds also get stuck in the grooves in the soles that even a scrubbing brush misses. My trusty nail file sorted those ones out!

I'm not sure how it's handled these days but I recall having very strict checks after we came back from a South Island trip years ago. I'd had the foresight to take a small scrubbing brush with me and our sneaker soles got a thorough scrubbing on our last night. The biosecurity guy who checked them was most impressed!

Really neither but if I have to pick one I'd pick the tote bag. The chocolates aren't the greatest and usually we never ate them.

Yeah, that would be as bad as just taking a carry-on on an overseas trip of any length.

We'll also have carry-ons. Not sure about backpacks yet. We have a couple of super-light ones that permanently live in our main spinner bags. They are good for excursions with a lot of bus travel where we just want to take water bottles and light stuff but they aren't so good for any tours involving a fair bit of walking so I suspect one of our better backpacks will come along with us. I do like the idea of dropping all but carry-ons down to the OPT early. That's very feasible for us. I was getting a bit worried about how we would get them all down there. We'd need a maxi-Uber for us and the bags otherwise.

A lot depends on what type of clothes you wear, what size you are and a couple of other factors. I get annoyed with people who smugly post they can do two months in Europe with only a carry on. They are inevitably: - small and slim people (I'm a plus size) - who are happy to wear mostly black clothing (I get too hot wearing black during the day) - who wear synthetic fabrics (I prefer linen, cotton, or fabrics made from processed natural fibres like bamboo or rayon) - who are happy to hand wash their outfits every.single.day or (even worse) don't wash them often enough. - who never get tired of wearing the same thing.

How did that work???? Your lasagne has inspired me to make a grilled vege salad to go with meatballs. Not homemade meatballs though. Our greengrocer has these amazing frozen meatballs in sauce which are even better than my home made ones. I discovered them after we returned home from our Japan trip feeling exhausted and not wanting to cook. Now I keep a pack in the feezer. The brand is "To Be Frank".