Ozzies in US
 

We are very much looking forward to seeing john_j ( and wife) in Santa Fe next week. John was one of the generous ozzies who made our trip down under so wonderful and we are looking forward to reciprocating.

Hope to house Neil Cammack in the Bay Area and meet him up here inn Victoria BC in September.

Not that he's ever done anything for us, eh

AndrewDavid

Not a bloody thing, A/D, which just goes to show you're a bloody saint, mate. PS, does anyone have any experience of US Customs' attitude to Tim Tams? Will I be strip-searched at SFO by large aggressive ladies in comfortable shoes?

US Customs has never confiscated Tim Tams on my return from your delicious ... um .. I mean, wonderful country. They only worry about fruit, I believe. I always claim the Tim Tams, too, but I write "cookies" in case the customs officer knows what Tim Tams are and is as depressed as I am that we can't find them here.

Neil,

it strikes me that you seem to be a bit over-anxious about being strip searched by large aggressive ladies at SFO...almost as if you're looking FOWARD to it.

Please let us know if this is a not so secret fantasy of yours and we'll do our best to make it come true! :)

Melodie
Bay Area Welcoming committee

Cost Plus World Market has managed to sneak Tim Tams into the US, cleverly disguised as Arnott's Biscuits. I was delighted to score some a couple of weeks ago.

At least, they fit the description of Tim Tams - chocolate biscuit, chocolate filling, covered in chocolate...

Lee Ann

It's San Francisco. Those large aggressive ladies might not be what they appear to be.

poor Neil, in trouble regardless of which way he turns. Luckily he'll have Robin to protect him,eh

AndrewDavid

Well I too am hoping to see Neil and his lovely Robyn when they arrive in SF! I just have wondered if I should warn the City Fathers of their arrival.
Well in thinking it over EVEN if Neil gets his jollies by being stripsearched by large aggressive ladies in SFO..and I agree with Gardyloo..no telling what those "ladies" will actually be, I don't think that SFO or SF will be shocked. It is SF after all!

Don't forget, you're talking to a former resident of Sydney, another Pacific Rim city where not everybody is what they seem to be.

wish they'd bring some bundaberg rum for me! I'm going through withdrawls! Welcome to the USA john j!

You never know your luck, moneygirl - where do you live? (Mind you, there must be substances that will help you through those withdrawal symptoms.)

Melodie, the committee's kindness and generosity is truly appreciated, but I do hope the BAWC will treat our arrival as a low-key event. Being typical Australians we're very self-effacing people, we blush, stammer and fidget easily. So while I'm a fan of Sousa marches, I'd like you to keep the band small, eh*.

Seriously, thanks all! I wish some of the friends I actually know on a face-to-face basis were so generous. (Hm - maybe there's a message for me there?)

* I need to practice for my own arrival in Canada.

Golly, Neil sounds more Canadian than I do and I've only lived here 6 months. We'll have to fit him up with runners, a toque and a puffy jacket when he sails into Victoria,eh

A/D

What! Tim Tams at Cost Plus! This needs to be broadcast more widely if it is true.

Tim Tams have shown up at World Market here in Memphis too.

Which does make it a little easier than it used to be - there's an Australian-only products shop in Little Rock. A good 2 hrs each way to get my wife some things from home.

Before that, it was even further back to Oz!

Hope you all have fun...

Neil, I rarely take less than 30 packets of tim tams when I travel to the US and Canada. I've never had a problem with them, no-one takes any notice of them and they happily make their way to their respective recipients. Thank god I'm not fussed on tim tams, every single packet makes its way over.

Cheers
Mac123

Just wanted to say the hospitality received in the bay area and santa fe was excellent...far exceeding that extended here in sydney.An important part of a great trip.Should be more of these "exchanges" between fodorites.

Neil...you better brush up those provincial,canberran sensibilities because the accommodation is classy and stylish.

Ar, jeez, John - not one of them flash places with an indoor dunny? Maybe me and the missus need a couple of weeks in the big smoke to get used to them fancy city ways. If we turn up in Sydney don't worry about putting us up, though, mate, we'll stay at the local pub. Meant to say, I've got a couple of relatives in Sydney, you probably know them.

Do I detect that Johnj has been having a bad day or just been sucking on lemons of late?
Provincial Canberran sensibilities? What is that supposed to mean? Does it mean that people in large, smelly, noisy sprawling cities with little lifestyle that is not polluted with some type of deathly fallout are the only people who can make a statement on anything or have an opinion that perhaps may differ from the mass media's " feed the chooks" bull...t?

Liz, I'm sure John had his tongue firmly planted in his cheek (as is mine when I hotly deny that Sydneysiders can be parochial...)

Anyway, we're not a province, we're the national capital. New South Wales is a province.

But there's always hope - a recent poll indicated that a plurality of Australians would like to see the states abolished in favour of two levels of government, national and regional (i.e. expanded, more efficient local governments). Very sensible, and I'm pleased to say that Canberra has pioneered the way with by far the lowest ratio of politicians to electors in the country. We know a bit about these things, see.

Jeez! Is this the Oz-touring time - and I missed out!

I'll be on the road this time next year - so watch out!

Sounds like you all had a lovely time! I waved toward Santa Fe, but couldn't say anything because my home computer won't let me post here. Fodor's seems to think my computer won't accept its cookie.

Lee Ann

Lee Ann, maybe your privacy settings are too high? In Internet Explorer go to Tools, Internet Options, then click on the Privacy tab. (Apologies if I'm stating the bleeding obvious.)

LeeAnn, I am not sure I would even understand computers if I read "Computers for Dummies"..you don't want to know how dense I am regarding computers. My saving grace is my son-in-law and my two grandsons.

But in any case, I just read what Neil advised you. Out of curiosity I went to Tools etc. Here is what I found on my Privacy. It is set for Medium. So do follow through on the easy instructions that our Neil gave you and if the Privacy is not set for Medium do change it to that. Other than that..don't ask me, LOL. Best wishes.

Cost Plus? World Market? Where are these stores located? Are they chains? The thought of actually being able to get Tim Tams has me all excited!
But I'm in Canada, but could always cross the border to do a Tim Tam run.

I hope you Ozzies have a great time in USA and Canada.. enjoy..

LoveItaly, thanks for supplementing my post, I should have made the same point - yes, mine is set to "Medium" too.

kodi, thanks for the thought. I must admit that I'm not myself a big Tim Tams fan (I'm more a chocolate mint slice sort of person), so I've never quite understood their popularity with North Americans. You'd think that in a market that size someone somewhere would be making an equivalent - how hard would that be?

Neil, now you've mentioned Mint Slices and that's got me going too! We loved them too, as well as the Orange Slices. And did they come in Lemon? Not sure now.

Anyway besides the fact that the Slices and the Tim Tam's are delicious, I think it's the old story of wanting what we can't have.

As for making them here, they woulnd't be the same.
I've done 'taste tests' with Kit Kat bars made in USA, Canada, Britain and NZ. They don't taste the same. I've heard it's the cows.

SO please try to bring a suitcase full of Tim Tam's and Slices. YOU could sell them and pay for your trip!!!!

Kodi & Neil, it is true that oils aint oils. If you go to the USA and buy a Cadbury Chocolate anything it does not taste anything like the Cadbury Chocolate that you get in Australia which I think is made in Tassie, ditto the UK. So it would be a bit like expecting Swiss cheese to taste the same if it were made in Australia. Must say I prefer our Cadbury chocolates to anywhere else.

I have also scored a package of TimTams cleverly disguised as Arnott's Original Chocolate Biscuits at Cost Plus World Markets.!

They are a chain that started in San Francisco and are now in most of the US, but not the Northeast or New England. Check www.worldmarket.com.

This week's flyer has a 40% off coupon that brings the net cost to $2.10 per package.

Just in time for my BDAY!

New Mexico Computer Weirdness Update: I can post here again, but only by signing on to Mr. Pickle's desktop screen and getting online from there. I still can't post from my own desktop.

As long as something works, I won't complain! :-)

Lee Ann

Welcome back Lee Ann. Sorry you are having a problem.

SOme things are just not fair... like I don't have a Worldmarket anywhere near me! Not even a day's drive! So still no Tim Tam's for me.

Lee Ann, so you tried winding back your security setting a la LoveItaly's advice without success? And you're nowhere near Roswell? And you haven't heard any funny clicks on the phone line suggesting a federal wiretap? I give up.

>>Lee Ann, so you tried winding back your security setting a la LoveItaly's advice without success?<<

Yes, Neil; I'd tried that already and also set both my browsers to specifically allow Fodor's cookies. I still can't get on from my desktop screen.

>>And you're nowhere near Roswell?<<

:-D No, I'm closer to AndrewDavid's old stomping grounds.

>>And you haven't heard any funny clicks on the phone line suggesting a federal wiretap?<<

As a fairly conservative Republican, I think I'm pretty low on the threat radar... ;-)

I'm sorry you aren't coming back to New Mexico on this trip, but what you have planned sounds great!

Lee Ann

Gentle readers:

johnj greatly understates the level of hospitality we received from him when we were in Sydney: 6:30Am airport pick up ( he was unnecessarily concerned we'd end up in Woop Woop) followed by early morning tour and breakfast. Additional tour to Palm Beach and the unique island family estate complete w/ transport by tinny. Transport to and half day tour of Blue Mountains. Needless to say there would have been even more hospitality extended our way if we hadn't filled our dance card w/ rendzvous with Alan and Margo

I'm only sorry I couldn't have spent more time w/ John and spouse in Santa Fe.

cheers
AndrewDavid