Ok, not football at all, but it matters, eventually.

[ozleeds]

Good stuff OzW will keep everything crossed for you.

Sniffer - Melbourne is a quality city to visit if you get the chance and has some great cocktail bars, coffee cafes and great food - if that is your thing. Its also got more and more whisky distilleries popping up all over the place.

You sound more like REV than WTF hehe

[hopelesslyoptimistic]

You sound more like REV than WTF hehe

The first is a compliment the second would be an insult 🤣

[Monaco_Totty]

Like I said what's the point of a holiday to go sit by the sea. There is wonders everywhere but sniffer wants to stay in the cities otherwise like I said Tasmania has everything that australia has to offer and relatively safe from the rest of oz criminals and you can actually speak to true ozzies lol
Been negative is the same been called here when you tell it as it is. You think I want to say the things I have? And yes the rest of the modern world is the same that's where it all start we just catch on.

Oz.
I am told the trip from Sydney to Cairns taking in Brisbane is one that is truly unforgettable.

So maybe a great road trip experience for Sniffer to plan around spanning circa 2000 miles in total.
Defo a road trip of at least 10 days but you could easily stretch it out to a few weeks if you have the time says an Aussie colleague from Brisbane I work with who now is Manager of the local Water taxi & Hire car company the hotel uses for VIP guests.

Tells me it has great coastal itineraries to view with options of around 40/50 hours of additional 'driving-time' over 2 to 3 weeks to take in various differing places off route, unless you wanna hit the daily nightlife, booze & partying scenarios which obviously will interrupt driving schedules.

Blimey, my mates got me thinking about the drive from Sydney to Cairns following the Pacific Highway which has key stops in Port Stephens, Byron Bay, the Gold Coast & Airlie Beach. He reckons the direct route covers around 16500 miles & takes 30 to 35 hours of steady driving time, more time if you one goes off it 'tho.

It certainly appeals to me as a journey worth doing on my 'bucket-list' as it offers stunning coastal views, rainforests, national parks & charming beach towns apparently, with 3 different cities all in 1 trip.

As ever the costing scenarios against weather seasons, flights, trains, personal tastes & who you are with too I suppose all figure into decisions if driving the Aussie adventure from Sydney to Cairns as doing the main straight route takes around 30 hours, so diverting off this over 3 weeks one should be able to take alot in depending what digs the eye of the beholder.

Big place 'tho your Aussie gaff to see in 3 weeks but for Sydney to Cairns my Aussie colleague agreed its better doing loop roadtrips in the areas of most interest to you, then flying the rest of the way in his opinion as a 59 year old Water taxi& Hire car manager contracted to my hotel, not suprised he suggested that mode of transport as thats how he earns his daily wedge promoting the fly-hire biz in France.🤣

Dunno what the train trip is like as in scenic views, food on board & sleeper option etc.
Did you as an ex-freight train driver ever do that particular route, Oz ?

I like driving & lucky to live close to land locked borders including the Med only 700 miles away from my home which is stunning even travelling to get their too. Maybe Greece one day as myyounger sister has never been. 🤞

Hopefully more road life to continue once again after my current adventure into motherhood bears fruit, so cannot wait to get into my recently re-vamped van to explore again.

Each to their own but very interesting insights offered by you, OW & Cherry too for Sniffer to contemplate, thanks mates.👍

[Monaco_Totty]

No I'm doing fine. General health is okay otherwise. Just glad the kids are better educated with hats and wearing sunscreen these days. Played football for about 25 years, and can't recall ever using sunscreen before a game! Silly in our weather in hindsight. I cover up now, but damage already done. Mind you, some of my problems are sun caused, and other are mole related....through skin and hereditary reasons. So it doesn't have to be our hotter weather....wink, wink to all you Pommies!...haha.

Great to hear your positive news OW. 👍
Sun factor lotion 30 for me always on my skin daily & mid day spent in the shade too.
Good to hear your input again too, mate.👌

[Sniffer999]

Oz.
I am told the trip from Sydney to Cairns taking in Brisbane is one that is truly unforgettable.

So maybe a great road trip experience for Sniffer to plan around spanning circa 2000 miles in total.
Defo a road trip of at least 10 days but you could easily stretch it out to a few weeks if you have the time says an Aussie colleague from Brisbane I work with who now is Manager of the local Water taxi & Hire car company the hotel uses for VIP guests.

Tells me it has great coastal itineraries to view with options of around 40/50 hours of additional 'driving-time' over 2 to 3 weeks to take in various differing places off route, unless you wanna hit the daily nightlife, booze & partying scenarios which obviously will interrupt driving schedules.

Blimey, my mates got me thinking about the drive from Sydney to Cairns following the Pacific Highway which has key stops in Port Stephens, Byron Bay, the Gold Coast & Airlie Beach. He reckons the direct route covers around 16500 miles & takes 30 to 35 hours of steady driving time, more time if you one goes off it 'tho.

It certainly appeals to me as a journey worth doing on my 'bucket-list' as it offers stunning coastal views, rainforests, national parks & charming beach towns apparently, with 3 different cities all in 1 trip.

As ever the costing scenarios against weather seasons, flights, trains, personal tastes & who you are with too I suppose all figure into decisions if driving the Aussie adventure from Sydney to Cairns as doing the main straight route takes around 30 hours, so diverting off this over 3 weeks one should be able to take alot in depending what digs the eye of the beholder.

Big place 'tho your Aussie gaff to see in 3 weeks but for Sydney to Cairns my Aussie colleague agreed its better doing loop roadtrips in the areas of most interest to you, then flying the rest of the way in his opinion as a 59 year old Water taxi& Hire car manager contracted to my hotel, not suprised he suggested that mode of transport as thats how he earns his daily wedge promoting the fly-hire biz in France.🤣

Dunno what the train trip is like as in scenic views, food on board & sleeper option etc.
Did you as an ex-freight train driver ever do that particular route, Oz ?

I like driving & lucky to live close to land locked borders including the Med only 700 miles away from my home which is stunning even travelling to get their too. Maybe Greece one day as myyounger sister has never been. 🤞

Hopefully more road life to continue once again after my current adventure into motherhood bears fruit, so cannot wait to get into my recently re-vamped van to explore again.

Each to their own but very interesting insights offered by you, OW & Cherry too for Sniffer to contemplate, thanks mates.👍

This is a great post and most appreciated. Thank you.

[ozleeds]

Oz.
I am told the trip from Sydney to Cairns taking in Brisbane is one that is truly unforgettable.

So maybe a great road trip experience for Sniffer to plan around spanning circa 2000 miles in total.
Defo a road trip of at least 10 days but you could easily stretch it out to a few weeks if you have the time says an Aussie colleague from Brisbane I work with who now is Manager of the local Water taxi & Hire car company the hotel uses for VIP guests.

Tells me it has great coastal itineraries to view with options of around 40/50 hours of additional 'driving-time' over 2 to 3 weeks to take in various differing places off route, unless you wanna hit the daily nightlife, booze & partying scenarios which obviously will interrupt driving schedules.

Blimey, my mates got me thinking about the drive from Sydney to Cairns following the Pacific Highway which has key stops in Port Stephens, Byron Bay, the Gold Coast & Airlie Beach. He reckons the direct route covers around 16500 miles & takes 30 to 35 hours of steady driving time, more time if you one goes off it 'tho.

It certainly appeals to me as a journey worth doing on my 'bucket-list' as it offers stunning coastal views, rainforests, national parks & charming beach towns apparently, with 3 different cities all in 1 trip.

As ever the costing scenarios against weather seasons, flights, trains, personal tastes & who you are with too I suppose all figure into decisions if driving the Aussie adventure from Sydney to Cairns as doing the main straight route takes around 30 hours, so diverting off this over 3 weeks one should be able to take alot in depending what digs the eye of the beholder.

Big place 'tho your Aussie gaff to see in 3 weeks but for Sydney to Cairns my Aussie colleague agreed its better doing loop roadtrips in the areas of most interest to you, then flying the rest of the way in his opinion as a 59 year old Water taxi& Hire car manager contracted to my hotel, not suprised he suggested that mode of transport as thats how he earns his daily wedge promoting the fly-hire biz in France.��

Dunno what the train trip is like as in scenic views, food on board & sleeper option etc.
Did you as an ex-freight train driver ever do that particular route, Oz ?

I like driving & lucky to live close to land locked borders including the Med only 700 miles away from my home which is stunning even travelling to get their too. Maybe Greece one day as myyounger sister has never been. ��

Hopefully more road life to continue once again after my current adventure into motherhood bears fruit, so cannot wait to get into my recently re-vamped van to explore again.

Each to their own but very interesting insights offered by you, OW & Cherry too for Sniffer to contemplate, thanks mates.��

No totty unfortunately each state has it's own rail and others have different rails smaller then us. We can only travel in our own states. Freight trains aren't as fast as passenger and a lot of the time we sit on the side waiting for them to pass. For instance Melbourne to Albury which is the border with NSW it takes passenger train 3 hours where it takes 7 for freight. We even have to rest there for 8 hours before we are allowed to drive back.

[Monaco_Totty]

No totty unfortunately each state has it's own rail and others have different rails smaller then us. We can only travel in our own states. Freight trains aren't as fast as passenger and a lot of the time we sit on the side waiting for them to pass. For instance Melbourne to Albury which is the border with NSW it takes passenger train 3 hours where it takes 7 for freight. We even have to rest there for 8 hours before we are allowed to drive back.

Jeez, long shifts to work then Oz.

Must be some decent kit fitted into the engines driven to pull freight wagon & quite technical to operate with a constant eye on safety to contend with, for sure.

Do you miss driving 'em ?

[spaldy]

Some incredible stuff in Australia. In some ways seems like the wild west of the US 150 years ago. In other ways it's more totalitarian that the USSR was. A fascinating contrast.

I do struggle with the concept that the entire country is surrounded by Beaches. Just incredible when you think of it.

[ozleeds]

Jeez, long shifts to work then Oz.

Must be some decent kit fitted into the engines driven to pull freight wagon & quite technical to operate with a constant eye on safety to contend with, for sure.

Do you miss driving 'em ?

I miss driving them but don't miss the killing of human life in them. Shifts were usually just 8 hours. I used to be a relief driver in the countryside well paid and seen the whole state. Relief driver is one when country drivers go on holidays I would cover for them. Was well paid double the normal wages.
Not Many drivers lived past retirement some earlier from the diesel fumes. I got out early when i bought our business little did i know it wouldn't make any difference to my health.
Australia back in the 70s had only 14 million people so we didn't have huge freight like in your photo but yeah those engines could pull some weights. You can understand why moving around in them is slow as if you were doing passenger trains speeds you would never be able to pull them up.Top speed was 60 miles an hour or our lingo 100km. You also needed to have a high iq as you had to memorise all the tracks as at night you could not see much ahead and you had to know all the down uphills and stations so on.
I know Tichi would say but your IQ is low but it was good back then lol

[ozleeds]

Some incredible stuff in Australia. In some ways seems like the wild west of the US 150 years ago. In other ways it's more totalitarian that the USSR was. A fascinating contrast.

I do struggle with the concept that the entire country is surrounded by Beaches. Just incredible when you think of it.

Be careful what you wish for as it's mainly ocean waters and very deadly if you don't know what to look for.
A lot of the smaller towns do look the old west still as the historic buildings a heritage listed and most of them still stand and look like when they were build. Victoria where i'm from is the greenest in Au as it's the smallest by far and in you travels there is always a town near by small or big.

[WTF11]

So, to return to the main thrust if the thread, I.e. the "suitability" or otherwise of the orange man-baby who is the current occupant of the Oval office.....

He (according the blonde mouthpiece who is his press secretary), supports a "plan" that would result in Russia acquiring by force of arms over 25% of Ukraine having illegally invaded that sovereign country and annexed Crimea iver a decade ago contrary to all international law. In addition Ukraine would be required to reduce its armed forces by 50% and no neutral peacekeepers would be deployed to Ukraine.

So POTUS, in his own narrow interests of "doing a deal" and having been led by the nose by Putin since taking office, is willing to sell Ukraine down the river.

Of course there was, still is, an alternative...

He could grow a pair and a spine and inform Putin that Ukraine will receive any and all support required from NATO to ensure it's victory on the battlefield and inviting him to withdraw his forces from Ukraine unconditionally.

Of course he won't do that. He has neither the integrity nor the moral courage to recognise that as the leader of the most powerful nation in the free world he has a DUTY to so. Duty...a word that doesn't exist in his vocabulary.

Americans, at least some, must be incredibly proud of their lying, corrupt, incoherent, self-serving, dishonest Chief of Staff. Well done.

[WTF11]

Piling disgusting accusations in the steaming mound of excrement that constitutes the man-baby view of Ukraines "gratitude" for US assistance, we now have the US Commander in Chief (sorry for the title wrong in previous post), suggesting that the Epstein crimes and those who were his victims is some kind of Democrat "hoax".

What a disgusting imbecile? Hope those who voted for him are proud (and if they are, they are equally imbecilic and disgusting).

[WTF11]

I suspect most will ignore this, especially those who reside in any of the (supposedly) United States of America. No matter.

Lived long enough to see the USA aspire to the most inspiring of human endeavour reaching to the outer reaches of known space, delve to the depths of despair in retreating from an unwanted and unjust war, watch as it's Presidents are assassinated for having integrity and forced from office for having none.

At no time have I (or anyone else who has attained the age of majority), witnessed the President of the United States being led by the nose by the leader of the country that for so long has been regarded by just about everyone in the western world, Russia.

Trump and his bag carriers are about to propose selling out Ukraine unconditionally border to earn a dollar or two. The citizens of the country that presents itself as the bulwark of freedom and democracy must be immensely proud of themselves.

[ozleeds]

In news from UK 2 afgan refuges raped another 15 year old girl.
Breaking news 2 muslim terrosrists kill 12 and injure 25 at bondi beach while gathering for the Hannika, a day of peace and faith. Well, that's out the window and the hamas loving prime minister and his sidekick Wong are rubbing it in to the Ozzies while they plot their next adventure overseas at the expense of the taxpayers.

Wonder where the other Muslim lovers are and is doing today!

[WTF11]

In news from UK 2 afgan refuges raped another 15 year old girl.
Breaking news 2 muslim terrosrists kill 12 and injure 25 at bondi beach while gathering for the Hannika, a day of peace and faith. Well, that's out the window and the hamas loving prime minister and his sidekick Wong are rubbing it in to the Ozzies while they plot their next adventure overseas at the expense of the taxpayers.

Wonder where the other Muslim lovers are and is doing today!

FWIW I abhor ALL religions. Religion and the behaviour of extremists of all stripes have led to the deaths of hundreds of millions as a result of wars fought in their name, as well as the "non-conventional" violence and terrorism we have seen over recent times.

Unfortunately the polarizing effect of the policies of the current US administration does nothing to help.