ilikeanswers

I still follow the local tipping customs no matter what is expected/hoped of foreign tourists and when I visited French Polynesia I did what the locals do which was not to tip and no one batted an eye. The prices are already high, they have covered all their costs and factored in profits, not to mention most of the tour companies are family run businesses or sole traders so they are practically owner operated. Tipping in countries where it is not the norm just jacks up prices and can cause discrimination against local patrons. There is really no reason to tip where tipping is not the norm.

My unusual/unpopular opinion: I, would be happy to sail on a no frills ship. I'm not attracted to the resort style amusements of mass market cruises and I'm not too keen on the luxury of small ship cruises. I'm strongly motivated by itinerary so I don't really care too much about ship features. Simple entertainment, usually enrichment activities are enough for me. As long as the cabin is comfortable enough to sleep in, the food edible and there is at least one deck for taking in the views I wouldn't really need anything else.

My first cruise technically was a 5 night yacht trip around the Whitsundays. First actual ship trip was 13 nights around the Marquesas.

On Aranui 3 they had whole deck for smokers, unfortunately for me it was also a deck with really good views 😆. Coincidentally I was just reading another thread where a lot of people were wishing smoking lounges on cruise ships were brought back.

Sweden doesn't seem to means test at all as I remember reading that the guy who created Ikea Ingvar Kamprad was able to collect the Swedish pension despite being a billionaire. Though after he died I also remember Swedes not being to happy about this when they learnt he spent his life avoiding paying Swedish taxes😂. It is debates like these that sometimes make me think maybe a universal basic income isn't such a crazy idea especially when compared to our already screwed up social services. If nothing else it would be a heck of a lot less bureaucratic 😵‍💫 .

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Now I feel a bit naive😳. I always just assumed I could EFT the money if I was in that situation

Last year we did a similar route, did you do the Paperbark walk in Agnes Water? I found it such a lovely surprise. This year we decided to do western QLD. Couldn't get to Birdsville thanks to flooding but did get as far west as Boulia via the Winton Boulia road which I thought lived up to it reputation as beautiful drive though according to the Middleton hotel owner the landscape was greener than he had experienced in years living there. La Nina takes and then gives😂.

Personally I like my viruses to have accurate names😂. If Monkeys are not the reservoir animal makes sense to change the name. Like Spanish Flu (rebranded the 1918 Influenza Pandemic) not being from Spain it is just giving people misinformation.

I wonder if the Aboriginals in the area made as much of a fuss when the name for Little/Fairy penguin was changed from whatever they named the cute aquatic birds? 😏

I think 7 replayed their telemovie about her and on Spotlight tonight they are doing a tribute to her along with 60 min.

If you like British detective shows you may want to check out Acorn TV, it's almost a dedicated streaming service to that genre😂.

To be fair the flight attendants might not have had any cleaning equipment and they are not responsible for supplying the plane with food. Read an interview with a Qantas pilot who said the process of getting all the equipment and supplies onto the planes has become chaotic and ad hoc and is the reason for many delays. One plane he was flying had to wait for 2.5hrs in tarmac because someone had forgotten to send a meal delivery to the plane. Most of the time the flight attendants are forced to make do with what they have.

And the Chinese they love their snails😆. Personally I prefer Chinese snail dishes over French style, really flavourful sauces they like pairing with snail. Lemongrass stuffed snails are also pretty nice.

Sea cucumbers have a bit more elasticity😆. When we were staying in Lanquin Guatemala they would cook chokos as a side to every dish. They knew how to cook chokos😋, they were buttery soft with a delicious spicey coating. Completely overturned my view on the choko.

My grandmother use to cook sea cucumbers. On their own they are pretty much tasteless, their job was just to give something for the delicious sauce to hold on to😆. Though on Masterchef they did have someone who made sea cucumber chips🤯. Deep fried the crap out of them and they become like bubbly crackling.

I have eaten conch (deep fried, sauted and ceviched) which is a giant sea snail😆, personally I would pair it with Chardonnay or Sauvignon Blanc Semilion😋

It sounds like a mole negro in a pie🤷‍♀️minus the chillis, though he did say it was peppery so perhaps they substituted the spice.

We have Fruit Fly Exclusion zones that work in the same way, any fruit from outside the zone has to be dumped or eaten. They usually have bins on the side of the road just before you enter the zone and sometimes you will see people trying to chow down on what they have left😂. I often wonder if they are as diligent about the food in their own fridges🤪.

Last weekend had pies and lamingtons😆. Tried something called a pana cotta lamington, it had a really nice creamy custardy sponge. For the pies we had chicken, cheese and onion plus two wagyus one was cottage pie style. It has been a long time since I had a cottage pie, tasted great, yummy potato😋.

Meat and poultry have a higher chance to pass on communicable diseases that could devastate the local industry. Fish products don't have that issue, that's why the discrepancy in rules. Processed packaged foods are mostly OK but try to avoid things with meat, eggs or dairy to be safe. And chocolate does not need to be declared, in fact Aussie customs wants travellers to stop declaring chocolate😆, it is considered the most over declared safe item.

Apparently Australia's best pie is a mushroom pie😂🍄: Australia's Best Pie

I did pretty much the same thing 😉. I kept reading how overrated it is and I just wanted to see how bad it was. At least it lived up to expectations 😂.

In Australia big kitschy things are all the rage😂. It is a gimmick that keeps being added to and it is pretty much obligatory that every road trip must include a visit to at least one "big thing"😜 A guide to 30 of Australia's iconic Big Things

That sounds like a WA tourism ad😂.