Looking On he Bright Side of Covid-19

[MMDown Under]

On 4/13/2020 at 7:35 PM, gbenjo said:

All good here, well past the fourteen days since our last shift at the OPT and still “ healthy” so, happy about that. Getting pretty good at doing jigsaw puzzles etc but like most people realise it’s for our own good and hoping for some normality somewhere down the line. At least we have got a free cruise with Princess and a trip to China to look forward to but maybe the China  trip has lost a tad of  its appeal .

I trust you and Mrs Gut are both well, how is your back going?

You might have trouble giving away your trip to China.

[MicCanberra]

China will still be a place to visit for us in the future, more so for lay overs and such, as there is not too many more places for us to see in china.

[MMDown Under]

12 hours ago, MicCanberra said:

China will still be a place to visit for us in the future, more so for lay overs and such, as there is not too many more places for us to see in china.

I swapped a house once with a family that worked all over the world.  The two places they said we must visit were China and the Nile!  We have visited neither, as I felt we had left it too late.  

[MicCanberra]

We were supposed to be going to Egypt in 2022, that too may be put back now as we will need to use all the FCCs we will be getting.

[gbenjo]

20 hours ago, MMDown Under said:

You might have trouble giving away your trip to China.

It was just a Trip A Deal package and they have given us a credit  with them ( or so they say)that we can use  for anywhere. the good thing is they are so cheap if we loose the money we have not lost  that much.

[Aus Traveller]

5 hours ago, MMDown Under said:

I swapped a house once with a family that worked all over the world.  The two places they said we must visit were China and the Nile!  We have visited neither, as I felt we had left it too late.  

We have travelled most parts if the world - except Iceland and Greenland that were in my trip this year. ☹️ We have been to China a few times, once on a fairly extensive tour. We have also been on a Nile cruise. I wouldn't put either near the top of my list, but different places/ and things appeal to different people.

 

It's a tough choice but my favourite top ten would be:

cities - Venice, Rome and London.

other man-made attractions - Panama Canal, Machu Picchu, Petra

natural attractions/wildlife - Antarctica, South Georgia.

other landscapes - Southern Germany (can I squeeze in an extra one - Bora Bora and maybe Moorea in French Polynesia)

 

What would other people's top ten be?

[lyndarra]

3 hours ago, Aus Traveller said:

We have travelled most parts if the world - except Iceland and Greenland that were in my trip this year. ☹️ We have been to China a few times, once on a fairly extensive tour. We have also been on a Nile cruise. I wouldn't put either near the top of my list, but different places/ and things appeal to different people.

 

It's a tough choice but my favourite top ten would be:

cities - Venice, Rome and London.

other man-made attractions - Panama Canal, Machu Picchu, Petra

natural attractions/wildlife - Antarctica, South Georgia.

other landscapes - Southern Germany (can I squeeze in an extra one - Bora Bora and maybe Moorea in French Polynesia)

 

What would other people's top ten be?

This could be a good topic to start a new thread, maybe?

[ilikeanswers]

2 hours ago, Aus Traveller said:

We have travelled most parts if the world - except Iceland and Greenland that were in my trip this year. ☹️ We have been to China a few times, once on a fairly extensive tour. We have also been on a Nile cruise. I wouldn't put either near the top of my list, but different places/ and things appeal to different people.

 

It's a tough choice but my favourite top ten would be:

cities - Venice, Rome and London.

other man-made attractions - Panama Canal, Machu Picchu, Petra

natural attractions/wildlife - Antarctica, South Georgia.

other landscapes - Southern Germany (can I squeeze in an extra one - Bora Bora and maybe Moorea in French Polynesia)

 

What would other people's top ten be?

 

Narrowing it down to ten is hard😂. For cities I would say I was impressed with Sarajevo, Prague, Riga, Campeche, Puebla, Granada, Seville, Sintra, Helsinki

Man-made attractions, Tikal, Teotihuacan, El Tajin, Segovia Aquaduct, Milau Viaduct, Rappa Nui Moai, Gordon Dam, Lake Argyle, St George Church at Oplenac, Alta Petroglyphs, Shin-Hotaka Ropeway, Pena Palace, Øresund Bridge

Natural Attractions that is really hard to narrow down, Iceland, the Marquesas, Maupiti Lagoon, Tahiti Nui mountains, the Pyrennes, Ben Lomond NP, The Kimberley, Kings Canyon, Great Australian Bight, Plitvice Lakes, Semuc Champey, Rio Dulce, Monteverde Cloud Forest, Mauna Kea, Waimea Canyon, Hawaii Volcano NP, Sumidero Canyon, Mt Fuji, Montenegro, Taroko Gorge, Morskie Oko, Yushan NP, Lishan Scenic Area, Inland Sea Qatar...

I could go on, narrowing it to ten is just too hard, I think I am too easily impressed😜.

[bon-traveler]

We did a Paul Gaugin cruise in 2019 to French Polynesia - We visited Tahaa, Huahine, Moorea the highlight of our trip was Moorea where we spent time visiting the mountain side.  We did two nights in Bora Bora, jet ski tour around the island and a full day photo tour with https://www.boraboraphotovideo.com - We were newlyweds and the photo tour was absolutely fantastic!  We are planning another cruise with the Paul Gaugin, a longer cruise this time so we can visit the Tuamotus and perhaps include a hotel stay in Bora Bora.  We were on a few short cruises before but this was by far the best destination we have been to.

[lyndarra]

Here's a "bright side" thought.

Pensioners can reset their days o/s back to zero.

[NSWP]

On 7/31/2020 at 7:53 AM, bon-traveler said:

We did a Paul Gaugin cruise in 2019 to French Polynesia - We visited Tahaa, Huahine, Moorea the highlight of our trip was Moorea where we spent time visiting the mountain side.  We did two nights in Bora Bora, jet ski tour around the island and a full day photo tour with https://www.boraboraphotovideo.com - We were newlyweds and the photo tour was absolutely fantastic!  We are planning another cruise with the Paul Gaugin, a longer cruise this time so we can visit the Tuamotus and perhaps include a hotel stay in Bora Bora.  We were on a few short cruises before but this was by far the best destination we have been to.

1 post 5 months ago and never returned, perhaps they spent too much time with the sharks.

[LC1950]

If you can be bothered to click the included link in their post Uncle Les I think you will find a blatant ad for their company. 😏

[getting older slowly]

13 minutes ago, LC1950 said:

If you can be bothered to click the included link in their post Uncle Les I think you will find a blatant ad for their company. 😏

 

I like the  point  no age limit to jump in...lol  ( can i wear a jacket jacket )

 

Did they have flake and chips for dinner ??

 

Generally don't click on links.....   but I did   what next ??? 

what about wedding photos in space suits on the moon

 

Don

[NSWP]

16 minutes ago, LC1950 said:

If you can be bothered to click the included link in their post Uncle Les I think you will find a blatant ad for their company. 😏

One  could say it is  SPAM, admin should get rid of it. Thanks.

[LC1950]

4 minutes ago, getting older slowly said:

 

I like the  point  no age limit to jump in...lol  ( can i wear a jacket jacket )

 

Did they have flake and chips for dinner ??

 

Generally don't click on links.....   but I did   what next ??? 

what about wedding photos in space suits on the moon

 

Don

Don, I can vaguely remember my wedding dress way back in a previous millenium, and it weighed a ton!  I certainly would NOT go swimming in it, especially with bloomin' sharks!

 

Isn't it weird how so many weddings these days are blown out of all proportion?  And let's not mention the cost of them.  The sad thing is - all that money spent when so many marriages are ending in divorce.

[NSWP]

8 minutes ago, LC1950 said:

Don, I can vaguely remember my wedding dress way back in a previous millenium, and it weighed a ton!  I certainly would NOT go swimming in it, especially with bloomin' sharks!

 

Isn't it weird how so many weddings these days are blown out of all proportion?  And let's not mention the cost of them.  The sad thing is - all that money spent when so many marriages are ending in divorce.

My daughters first marriage was in 1996, 100 guests @ $100 each, cost me10 grand. All over 10 years later, i got no refund. God only knows what cost is  these days, triple that.

Edited January 5, 2021 by NSWP

[GUT2407]

16 minutes ago, NSWP said:

My daughters first marriage was in 1996, 100 guests @ $100 each, cost me10 grand. All over 10 years later, i got no refund. God only knows what cost is  these days, triple that.

When daughter was planning to get married, pre Covid, we were looking at a resort on the lake, 60 head about $5,000. So similar pricing. She ended up getting married during lockdown cost zero, zip and bugger all. Winner winner. Though I did cry that she didn’t get some of the fancy stuff, but the worst of all was that she and daddy were always going to stop at Maccas for an Ice Cream on the way, since she was about 5 that was the plan.

[Aus Traveller]

44 minutes ago, NSWP said:

My daughters first marriage was in 1996, 100 guests @ $100 each, cost me10 grand. All over 10 years later, i got no refund. God only knows what cost is  these days, triple that.

A young woman I know had a very expensive wedding with all the trimmings. The marriage lasted three months. It fell apart when she confessed that she had been having an affair with one of their friends. The groom was devastated. The bride's mother then insisted she re-pay her parents the cost of the wedding. 🙂

 

When our daughter was planning her wedding, we gave her a budget of $10,000 for the reception. It was lovely.

[ilikeanswers]

About two years ago I heard someone on the radio saying their wedding was $90 000😱. The horror from the radio presenters was hilarious especially when she said she was taking the money she had saved for a house deposit to pay for the wedding😂. 

[cruisine21]

My parents paid for my brother’s wedding. I have no idea how much it cost.

[possum52]

When our daughter was married 16 years ago, the cost was about $100 per head. Daughter and son in law said they were paying for the reception but we contributed money for alcohol, paid for her wedding dress and all the flowers, invitations etc. Our son and daughter in law decided they didn't want a big wedding, so were married at a bayside suburb band rotunda. After the ceremony, there were a couple of speeches, the wedding cake was cut and champagne and orange juice served to toast the bride and groom. The immediate families were then taken to dinner at their favourite restaurant at Southbank. 

 

Leigh

[By The Bay]

Our daughter had a tradition wedding in mind, but with COVID she has gone with what is called a micro wedding. Just the immediate family for a few days at a Airbnb in the Blue Mountains. The money saved goes to their home deposit.🤑

[MicCanberra]

The best plan for a wedding reception is to go to a club and not a designated wedding place and then just say it is a party.

We did that back in 1988 and it cost us $42 pp as opposed to my sister's wedding which was $120 pp in 1986. They had 80 guests - so $9,600 paid for by my parents, while we had 120 guests - $5040 paid by ourselves.

We paid for our son's wedding in 2013, 100 people at $150pp, a the Royal Canberra Golf club, shopping around can make a difference.

[ilikeanswers]

1 hour ago, MicCanberra said:

The best plan for a wedding reception is to go to a club and not a designated wedding place and then just say it is a party.

We did that back in 1988 and it cost us $42 pp as opposed to my sister's wedding which was $120 pp in 1986. They had 80 guests - so $9,600 paid for by my parents, while we had 120 guests - $5040 paid by ourselves.

We paid for our son's wedding in 2013, 100 people at $150pp, a the Royal Canberra Golf club, shopping around can make a difference.

 

They actually call that the wedding tax 😂

[NSWP]

17 minutes ago, ilikeanswers said:

 

They actually call that the wedding tax 😂

I paid for my own, paid twice for my daughters and paid half of my sons wedding. No wonder I am not wealtthy.🤐

Thinking about selling my house, buying an apartment down here and putting 300k in my future cruise account. SKI time again perhaps.
 

Edited January 6, 2021 by NSWP