Australia and New Zealand

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Australia and New Zealand

Postby hennesse » Wed Dec 28, 2022 8:30 pm

I was recently contacted by an Elementary school (grades 1-8) classmate who now lives in Sydney, and invited classmates to get in touch if they ever visit Australia. (She'll be sorry.) Well, Australia and New Zealand have plants and animals that are found nowhere else in the world, and I'd like to see them! Particularly Victoria and Tasmania, and I don't know where in NZ. I just turned 70, so if I wanna do that, I'd better get a move on while I still can. So I am now working on it.

If you live in AU or NZ, and you wouldn't mind buying me a VB at lunch, or even offering a bed for the night, I might be appearing on your doorstep in the next year or two. Let me know where you are via e-mail or PM.

Conversely, if you're visiting the United States, and traveling through Virginia (near Washington DC), I've got plenty of beer - I brew my own - and have a guest bedroom available. But, like relatives and fish, you've gotta leave after three days.

I hope this gets something started.

Dave Hennessey
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Re: Australia and New Zealand

Postby JerrryR » Wed Dec 28, 2022 10:33 pm

Hi Dave,
Thank you for the gracious offer. Is Illinois far enough away to be considered as welcome company? Do you have something like a heated shed that one could stay in say for an extended stay. More than the 3-day smelly fish rule of thumb, say for several months? Are meals, alcohol and laundry service provided?
Your friend,
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Re: Australia and New Zealand

Postby dlxl66elxl » Thu Dec 29, 2022 12:34 am

Dave, When you get to a point where the trip becomes closer to a reality, the AMCA Chapter in Australia is very active and hospitable when it comes to welcoming antique bike enthusiasts. Their chief judge has a very large Indian collection and I have virtually judged several Sportsters, XLCR's and XR-1000's down under, mate.
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Re: Australia and New Zealand

Postby Ferrous_Head » Thu Dec 29, 2022 1:46 am

In another month I will have fully moved to Tarbuck Bay, MSW. About 3 hours north of Sydney. On The Great Lakes, My house is about a mile from Smiths Lake. Beer fridge is in the workshop (where it belongs). I'm down to 5 bikes, all Ironheads. Some things I just can't bear to part with. Nabiac Motorcycle Museum about 40 minutes away. (Home of the Battle Wagon, worth seeing).

You would love Tassie. Roads built for motorcycles. Just be careful of the wildlife.

PM me when you get close to our shores.
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Re: Australia and New Zealand

Postby hennesse » Thu Dec 29, 2022 9:44 am

JerrryR wrote:Hi Dave,
Thank you for the gracious offer. Is Illinois far enough away to be considered as welcome company? Do you have something like a heated shed that one could stay in say for an extended stay. More than the 3-day smelly fish rule of thumb, say for several months? Are meals, alcohol and laundry service provided?
Your friend,
JerryR


Jerry,

Illinois certainly is a foreign country. You can bed down with my little girls in the quaint little house I built for them. The heat comes on at 20-degrees, so you'll be nice and warm. I've recently installed a heated water fountain, so when you wake up in the middle of the night, you can get yourself a drink of non-frozen water. Once awake, you can Jack and Jill up the hill to fetch a pail of beer. I usually have 4 different brews on tap, but this varies with the season. Meals are provided, and include 15% layer ration, with lots of yummy side dishes: coarse scratch, bread, and rice. The girls don't wear clothes, so I expect you won't want to either. Where else can you get such 5-star accommodations for a 0-star price?

When shall I expect your arrival?
Dave

DMH_016913-72-461x576.jpg
Oh, I forgot to mention the Security System
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Re: Australia and New Zealand

Postby hayleyl » Sun Jan 01, 2023 9:29 pm

Hello Dave - I will refuse sharing a VB with you, there are about a millionteen better beers here in Australia. I live on the Murray River at a place called Echuca (jump on the net and have a look at the tourism website), border of New South Wales and Victoria. Get in touch when your trip gets closer. Awesome Murray Cod fishing here, plenty of cold beer and good food and even somewhere to wash your onions for free. Will have a spare scooter or two so we can get your knees in the breeze while your over here. Cheers Hayley.
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Re: Australia and New Zealand

Postby Ferrous_Head » Sun Jan 01, 2023 10:22 pm

Timing could be everything for you.
Tassie and Victoria are pretty cold in the winter.

You might also consider what events might be happening at what times as well. If you took up the offer to go to Echuca you might aim for 1st week in November. That would allow you to pop down to the Southern Classic (about an 90 minute drive to Broadford), one of the biggest and best Historic Bike Races in the country. The Victorians are big on Class C racing but Indians seem to dominate.

Worth thinking about. I would never go to Tasmania in the winter. (Is it legal ?)
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Re: Australia and New Zealand

Postby hennesse » Mon Jan 02, 2023 11:22 pm

This is sounding more interesting all the time! I checked my passport, which is good until 2025. Your embassy website tells me that I can get an ETA electronic visitor visa in a day or two. So far, so good. The climate in my part of Virginia corresponds to that of Sydney/Gold Coast. You're right - Tassie and Victoria are not the places to be in the winter. Lots more research to do, but I'm getting enthusiastic!
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Re: Australia and New Zealand

Postby Ferrous_Head » Tue Jan 03, 2023 12:23 am

Dave, I grew up in West Virginia. Lived in Spokane, spent time in New Orleans.Did the tourist thing in Los Angeles and New York. Saw the Grand Canyon and went to a bike Rally In Bugscuffle Texas. America is a big place.
With a casual glance our two society's appear to be much the same. But there is a huge difference below the surface.
And we have probably the most unique wildlife in the world. And Australia is nearly as big as the USA - but with only 25 million people in it. Lots of open space. We don't have the kind of gang violence and drug problems that you have. We have racism but not on your scale. We don't have the political divide that leads to violence. People really don't care if you vote Liberal or Labor. Or if you vote at all.

This is not a country you can see on a 7 day tour. But if you stay longer it might be very hard to get on a lane and go home.
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Re: Australia and New Zealand

Postby hennesse » Tue Jan 03, 2023 10:44 am

Ferrous_Head wrote:This is not a country you can see on a 7 day tour. But if you stay longer it might be very hard to get on a [p]lane and go home.


Yes, and once I get there, you may be stuck with me! The US is a big country - with BIG problems, which are steadily getting worse, not better. When I was a kid in the 1950s/1960s, people had respect for each other, and played by the rules. I think the problems started with the Hippies and the 1967 "Summer of Love" in San Francisco. Then kids decided that rules were meant to be broken, and everything started to change.

When I visited Austria and neighbors back in the 1980s, I was amazed at how orderly their societies were. Dogs being walked down the street wore muzzles if they had any inclination to bark or bite. Dogs were allowed in restaurants, even 5-star ones, but they sat quietly under tables, and you didn't even know they were there. I couldn't figure out how to pay to ride the subway, or buses and trams - there were no payment machines, no turnstiles, no ticket collectors. Then I found out I was an OUTLAW. Everyone just bought a monthly pass at the beginning of each month, and there was no need for enforcement - because everyone played by the rules. So I went and bought a monthly ticket even though I was only going to be there for a short time.

I tried to imagine how these things would work out in an American city, and the answer was not very pretty. So I think I'll be quite impressed when I visit your country.
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