Bubbeh

Assuming we're given 30 minutes to evacuate, our Plan includes packing 3 days clothes and a jacket each, a weeks worth of medication, grabbing our phones and banking cards, the insurance documents and the hard drive with the family photos. My job; phones, credit/debit cards, clothes and insurance documents. Grumpy; medication and hard drive. Everything else we leave and cross our fingers.

Ugh! Sorry.

My late father had it on his face, coming down from his hairline over one eye and extending to the base on one nostril. He was an old man at the time (90+) and was in such pain, it made me weep. The only good thing was that he had dementia and as the pain waves would pass he'd forget about them.

Don't let me put you off, just do it.

Can-what? 😉

Thank you for that comment. Our daughter, son-in-law and grandies live in Tapping one of the areas issued with an Evacuation Order. We've had a few worrying days but they said today that the worst seems to have passed them by and while they're still on a Watch and Act, they feel much safer today than yesterday. Terribly for others though that have lost their homes. It's not something you would normally expect in the area, Tapping, Ashby, Banksia Grove etc are all suburbs not bushland lifestyle areas. We've always had an evacuation plan but I think sometimes its easy to become complacent about things like that when you live in a suburban area.

Clearly this was written, assessed and awarded by someone who'd never been to Mandurah!

Clearly this was written, assessed and awarded by someone who'd never been to Mandurah!

Apropos of absolutely nothing, I had my first shingles vaccine yesterday - hurt like hell and I wasn't expecting it to. I thought it would be like any other injection; turn your head, think of something else and it's over before you know it. Not this little vax, I was so shocked that the nurse cracked up laughing at my reaction. Almost jumped off the bed and nearly said the mega 'F' word. Today, I'm pretty sore and my arm feels heavy but worst of all is knowing I have to have it again in 6 months! Having said this, I am feeling grateful for living in a country where I can get this vaccine for free along with mammograms, bowel cancer screening and all those other joyous experiences.

Yes, it's a bit like the Zombie Apocalypse, we're taking over. 😉

Just a tad late to the party but while I have no input in terms of meat pies, being a vego, I can vouch for the great lentil or cauliflower pie from the frozen section of Coles. Not the least bit helpful but worth mentioning. Real reason for responding is first to say that I can't believe how long this thread has been active but also to say that I just love the Amora on Jamison. This is our go to when in Sydney for a few days prior to a cruise. Usually, if staying a for a while after a cruise, I tend to book somewhere cheaper with a kitchenette so I can do a bit of self catering - gotta start shedding that cruise ship weight at some point.

A very smart and organised young woman. Me, I'd take my two suitcases and carry on to NY and still buy an extra suitcase to bring home stuff. Don't get me started on my luggage to really cold countries, just about got to hire my own plane! It's a joke with family and friends and I've have many offers of help to pack 'only necessities' and even a gift of packing cubes from a well meaning friend. The thing is, I do only pack necessities, and just in case necessities and maybe on the off chance necessities. I'm often perplexed at why this is an issue to others, if I can pay for the extra baggage and I can either lug or pay for the porterage of my extra luggage, what's the problem?

I am in awe of people who can do this. I'm a two suitcases and carry on for a week in Bali type of girl. Packing light, I just don't get it.🤷‍♀️

We were going to book a Cunard cruise a few years back but were advised by friends that it would not suit us at all. These friends are casual people like ourselves and said that when they did the World Cruise they felt a degree of elitism amongst the other passengers and even the crew. As we prefer Princess or RC, where I can go to dinner in a frock but not actually frock up, we decided to stick with those lines and give Cunard the big raspberry. Other friends love Cunard but they are people who like to get their glad rags on.

The thing is that the this TA which by all accounts was the most popular in the area was only closed fairly recently, not during COVID! Whenever I went past it always seemed to be busy with us oldies asking questions or booking trips. Such a shame, the manager did a wonderful job and the staff were knowledgeable and helpful. I now book directly with the company but I do have concerns about losing the middle person who had my best interests (and continued custom) at heart. 😨

That's provided that the large parent company has not decided to close your local travel agency. Thanks heaps RAC!

Diddums!

My late parents used to love to holiday in Hawaii. With no direct flights from this side of the country they'd fly to Sydney for a couple of days en-route. As part of their experience they always got the ferry to Manly and ate fish and chips on the grass by the beach. To this day whenever we find ourselves in Sydney, in order to honour their memory, we do the same. We sit on a table on the grass (sometimes has to be a bench as all the tables are taken, usually by seagull poo) with take away fish and chips and a beer and toast Mum and Dad.

ROTFLMAO!!!!! Even Grumpy cracked a smile. Thanks for brightening my Sunday.

I was in Brissie for a conference a few years ago and took a free Brisbane Greeters walking tour. It was fantastic and I would recommend to anyone else. Check out the link below, I believe most of the tours are free, being undertaken by enthusiastic locals they don't even ask for donation afterwards. https://www.queensland.com/au/en/things-to-do/tours/p-56b26484d5f1565045da7d6a-brisbane-greeters

My thoughts exactly!

In 2015 we did an MSC cruise from Freo to Rome and it was awful. Front line (Reception etc) were arrogant and dismissive and even to the point of being offensive. I stood in a line waiting for assistance at Reception while a fellow traveller was asking for help with something very reasonable. The young woman she was talking to turned away from her and said something in another language (possibly Russian) to her colleague. They both laughed and it was very clear that she was talking about this woman. However, full kudos to the lady, she pulled herself up to her full height (probably 158 cms) and said, 'I may be old and I may even be ugly but, I am not stupid and I know what you've just done'. She then asked to speak to the Manager of the section and got no assistance there either. The laundry lost so many articles of clothing (no guest laundry available) that they shut down the service. This was announced in the common areas, not in the cabins and was not advised in the Cruise Program. We had pre-payed 5 laundry bags and were left with 3 unused. MSC refused to give us a refund. Look these are just a couple of many bad experiences of the MSC Orchestra. I vowed and declared when we left the ship in Rome that I would never cruise with that line again and I haven't. Furthermore, if I won a cruise on an MSC I would find someone I really disliked and give it to them. My experience and opinion for what it's worth.

Not sure if I can use actual company names on this forum so I'll try to get my point across using euphemisms. For years I used the local automobile club travel agent here in Mandurah. I'd developed wonderful realtionships with the section manager and other agents, they'd let me know when cruises I'd be interested in were coming up and went out of their way to offer excellent customer service. Then fairly recently the powers that be decided to close the TA section of the shop down here. Shock horror! Seemed to make no sense to me as the place was always busy and almost every self funded retiree I spoke with said they used this particular agent and all had glowing experiences. I've heard many poor reports of the other big player in the market usually located in shopping centres. So now this little black duck is going it alone and I book direct with the cruise line.

I used to purchase travel insurance separate to my CC complimentary insurance. Then one day and when we only had a fairly short cruise booked (11 days from Freo to Bali and back at Xmas), I decided to actually read the PDS for the CC insurance. Having read, I crossed my fingers spat in the air turned 3 times in a circle while chanting jibberish and decided to trust my fate to the CC insurance gods. From that day to this, I've never purchased travel insurance again. I've made maybe 5 claims all of while have been successful, fuss free and settled quickly. I'm a total advocate of this perk, all praise to Allianz and ANZ Insurances.

In a word, 'don't'.