SharperDingaan Posted February 11 Posted February 11 12 minutes ago, investmd said: thank you so much @SharperDingaan If you spend a night in a Bedouin camp, ensure that you spend some time looking UP as well. The stars are spectacular, you are far enough inland for there to be no clouds, and the Bedouin will happily give you the Arab names to the constellations that you point to. Bring a fleece, as star gazing in the desert gets cold around midnight SD
SharperDingaan Posted February 15 Posted February 15 Vacationing in Madeira; spent last night at the Carnival. Full on samba music through until midnight, along with an endless flow of bikinis. What's not to love SD
investmd Posted February 22 Posted February 22 I'm going to be in Oxford Feb 26 to March 5 - if any COBF board members are in the area and would want to meet for coffee, pls dm me. I'll be travelling from Canada.
benchmark Posted February 24 Posted February 24 On 2/2/2026 at 12:56 AM, Gamecock-YT said: I wouldn't go out of my way to see the glaciers. But if you are including it with going through Arthur's and Haast Pass and driving to Wanaka/Queenstown I would rather go that way than driving direct, not to mention less traffic. I stayed in Hokitika and Haast to break up the trip. I did the boat tour of the sound. And a lot of your experience will be based on the weather. It rains a ton. So helos might even be grounded. But if you've been to all those places, you've seemingly also seen fjords before too? So YMMV. I stayed near downtown in Nelson, so I did the Grampians hike quite a few times. There is also a nice trail that goes past the Centre of New Zealand Monument that eventually puts you out near the Founders Heritage Park. You can either trek back or hop on the bus back to town. But if you have car access, the entire east/southeast side of Nelson is mountains with all the trails you can handle. Then if you make it to Picton you have the Queen Charlotte track available to you. The water taxi operators will pick up/drop off at different segments of the track if you just want to do day hikes, I did the Ship Cove to Endeavour Inlet leg. Also, the snout is another great hike that puts you out in the middle of the sound, you can access the trailhead for it from the center of town. Just came back from a 2-week trip, had a blast. Thanks for the recommendations, we did a couple of day hikes in Golden bay and Abel Tasman park. The star gazing in Lake Tapeko was amazing.
Gamecock-YT Posted February 24 Posted February 24 11 minutes ago, benchmark said: Just came back from a 2-week trip, had a blast. Thanks for the recommendations, we did a couple of day hikes in Golden bay and Abel Tasman park. The star gazing in Lake Tapeko was amazing. Cheers, was hoping that you avoided the storms that hit the country recently. Seem to get quite a few strong storms in that part of the world. When I was there, Wellington practically shut down for a day because of damaging winds.
benchmark Posted February 24 Posted February 24 12 hours ago, Gamecock-YT said: Cheers, was hoping that you avoided the storms that hit the country recently. Seem to get quite a few strong storms in that part of the world. When I was there, Wellington practically shut down for a day because of damaging winds. Yes, we were lucky, only had a few hours of rain/storm while driving to mount Cook.
Cod Liver Oil Posted March 22 Posted March 22 Has anyone been to Porto, Portugal? Was thinking about bring the kids there this summer to surf for a week.
Marco Van Basten Posted March 23 Posted March 23 3 hours ago, Cod Liver Oil said: Has anyone been to Porto, Portugal? Was thinking about bring the kids there this summer to surf for a week. Incredible place, was there in 2012. It is somewhat hilly, like Lisbon so prepare for quite a bit of walking, but a lovely town. Also, Coimbra, Evora, Batalha are all great.
UK Posted March 23 Posted March 23 4 hours ago, Marco Van Basten said: Incredible place, was there in 2012. It is somewhat hilly, like Lisbon so prepare for quite a bit of walking, but a lovely town. Also, Coimbra, Evora, Batalha are all great. +1
Charlie Posted March 23 Posted March 23 We are making easter holidays at Rovinj, Croatia. Great weather, great food, great landscapes. Fantastic family hotel!
John Hjorth Posted March 23 Posted March 23 On 3/22/2026 at 10:54 AM, UK said: Thinking about this route for Semana Santa plus a few days:) @UK, Can I deduct from that map, that the answer to the riddle you presented for me now quite some time ago, that you back then 'Now I'm west to you!' is the point 'A' in the map?! < John, always nosy! >
UK Posted March 23 Posted March 23 2 hours ago, John Hjorth said: @UK, Can I deduct from that map, that the answer to the riddle you presented for me now quite some time ago, that you back then 'Now I'm west to you!' is the point 'A' in the map?! < John, always nosy! > John, it is G:), but I think this still qualifies 'west to you' statement:)
SharperDingaan Posted March 23 Posted March 23 Highly suggest that you pass on Porto at the moment, as the flooding has been devastating. Tourist operators are asking that tourists temporarily stay away, and leave what's available to the rescue workers. Come back next year; there will be lots of deals and the population will really thank you for the business. Highly recommend a visit to the Imperial McDonalds; it truly has to be experienced! https://www.localporto.com/mcdonalds-imperial-porto-restaurant/ SD
hasilp89 Posted March 23 Posted March 23 My wife and i are going to Chile for our 10 year in May - Santiago for a few days and then the Atacama desert. We have not planned anything yet. Any rec's would be much appreciated!
John Hjorth Posted March 23 Posted March 23 3 hours ago, UK said: John, it is G:), but I think this still qualifies 'west to you' statement:) @UK, Thank you for sharing! Now that's actually cool! ! I hope that your family and you enjoy it!
mattone Posted April 22 Posted April 22 I have some friends (family with two early-teen boys) coming from northern Italy (lake region) to visit British Columbia mid-august for a week+. I dont know the area too well and was wondering if there are any recommendations for what to do that is somewhat unique vs lake region of northern italy. I was thinking a houseboat on a lake for 3days (pretty unique experience they dont have back home) + a few days on Vancouver Island. Cowichan Lake on VI has houseboats but it seems pretty small - one can explore the whole lake in less than a day. The other option is Shuswap Lake but that is inland so visiting VI would be hard (too much traveling). Any recommendations in general for the area (no need to mention cities since we'll be there for the nature) that is somewhat unique/interesting/fun?
Xerxes Posted April 30 Posted April 30 Arrived in Hong Kong. Looks like they took me over the Arctic and over the forbidden airspace of Russian Federation. I will be logging into CNBC on fine Saturday evening from a bar for the Greg Able’ event.
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