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When I studied in London I went straight to warm Sevilla for each of our breaks. You know your way around there! Although I know it is more expensive than it was when I could get a room for less than a dollar a day. Those were the days.

 

Paulette

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8 hours ago, John Mitchell said:

 

Now, after decades in balmy Vancouver, I'm a wimp, and only visit Montreal in September or October when the weather is usually ideal. 

LOL!

Yes, criteria change fast. One thing that IS bad in Van is higher humidity; so say -5 occasionally feels more like -15 or so

 

I spent December in Nepal and after deep freeze on elevations 5000m+  in Annapurnas heading to Thailand for +30 C or so weather. Speaking of contrasts. Hope pics will be interesting though

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15 hours ago, John Mitchell said:

 

I was born in a tropical climate (the West Indies) but was brought up mainly in Quebec, in and around Montreal. When I was a kid, I didn't mind the frigid winters at all. Now, after decades in balmy Vancouver, I'm a wimp, and only visit Montreal in September or October when the weather is usually ideal. Mexico at this time of year sounds like the wise way to go. ¡Buen viaje!

 

 

Gracias, amigo...    

 

i did spend one winter in Vancouver, i agree it was an easy winter, compared to rest of country....  

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5 hours ago, meanderingemu said:

 

 

Gracias, amigo...    

 

i did spend one winter in Vancouver, i agree it was an easy winter, compared to rest of country....  

 

Part of me misses those crisp, sunny days with fresh snow on the ground. Vancouver gets gloomy in the winter, but spring comes early. It's also a lot easier shoveling rain than all that white stuff, pretty as it can be.

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Back a couple of hours ago and thanks Betty and all for your concern- we were indeed safe in Ōtaki waiting for a granddaughter to arrive. White Island was dreadful news there (I typed "here" at first- we got quite at home), it's a small country and things like this affect it greatly. Everywhere is next door. The flags were at half-mast straightaway in Wellington and I'll try to post a suitable image  soon if instant QC is still on (yes, I have 5 stars now)- the computer is still chewing through my images.

We did visit a volcano but Ruapehu is much more civilised and not a killer. I don't do mobile internet so wasn't going to be about for the duration.

 

Edit: my, that was fast.

Flag at half-mast on Basil Spence's 1969 "Beehive" Government building, alongside the 1912 Parliament building, December 11th.

2AHJ2AW.jpg

Kiwi comestibles to follow, Ed.

Edited by spacecadet
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2 hours ago, spacecadet said:

 

We did visit a volcano but Ruapehu is much more civilised and not a killer. 

 

 

 

Ruapehu is a very dangerous, active stratovolcano which has had numerous highly explosive and far ranging eruptions as well as lahars (volcanic mudflows). It is in the inhabited Taupo Volcanic Zone and has potential to kill far greater numbers of people than White Island. The recent White Island eruption was only dangerous because tourists were standing in the crater. 

 

Lake Taupo is renowned as having had one of the biggest explosive eruptions in the recent (Holocene) volcanic record. It looks like an innocuous lake but is actually a huge and active volcanic caldera. The last major explosive eruption was huge and would have devasted a vast area of New Zealand. Key point - New Zealand is situated in a highly volcanically active part of the world and the type of volcanism is particularly dangerous as it is explosive and can be far-reaching.

 

Living on the passive margin of the Eurasian continent as we do, we can be completely oblivious to the fact that there are some very dangerous places on this Earth and that volcanoes and earthquakes are part of the whole process of existing on a living planet. Those living on the west coast of North America should be well aware of the dangers. 

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Mark, next time you are in an area near danger, you must report in quickly to let us know you’re safe.  I don’t appreciate my new grey hairs, thankyouverymuch. 😊

Betty

edited to add: Just saw where you said you don’t do mobile Internet. Learn how! 😂🤣😄(for special circumstances)

Edited by Betty LaRue
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25 minutes ago, Betty LaRue said:

Mark, next time you are in an area near danger, you must report in quickly to let us know you’re safe.  I don’t appreciate my new grey hairs, thankyouverymuch. 😊

Betty

edited to add: Just saw where you said you don’t do mobile Internet. Learn how! 😂🤣😄(for special circumstances)

I wasn't near-300 miles and an expensive boat trip- I'm afraid it didn't occur to me. I don't have the equipment and don't want to take on subscriptions. I was given an old Nokia last year and  wifi is pretty prevalent (and free) in NZ, but it doesn't cope well with a lot of modern sites.

Anyway, pro tem, no tours-

https://www.whiteisland.co.nz/emergency.html

 

We did do one night in a fancy hotel near Ruapehu- lovely chateaubriand, (sorry Ed, too lazy to take pix and we just scoffed it- nice one of some pudding though).  I haven't seen snow out of a hotel window since Tahoe.

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Very interesting post showing the island/volcano. Thanks for posting that. Imagining what it looks like is usually far away from reality. I see now how small the island is, and how, unless one is actually there, all else should be safe. The island actually is the volcano.

 

The eruption of Mount St. Helens in 1980 was massive and the damage was seen for many miles. We were there the next year and I was blown away about how far the damage stretched. I guess I was thinking that the White Island eruption could have stretched to where you might be. Possibly the eruption was minor compared to the worst. But then I don’t know how many miles it is from the island to NZ.

Betty

Pardon me for treating/chastising you as if you are my kid! 😁 We all were worried, though. Some of us more than others.

Edited by Betty LaRue
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3 hours ago, Betty LaRue said:

Very interesting post showing the island/volcano. Thanks for posting that. Imagining what it looks like is usually far away from reality. I see now how small the island is, and how, unless one is actually there, all else should be safe. The island actually is the volcano.

 

The eruption of Mount St. Helens in 1980 was massive and the damage was seen for many miles. We were there the next year and I was blown away about how far the damage stretched. I guess I was thinking that the White Island eruption could have stretched to where you might be. Possibly the eruption was minor compared to the worst. But then I don’t know how many miles it is from the island to NZ.

Betty

Pardon me for treating/chastising you as if you are my kid! 😁 We all were worried, though. Some of us more than others.

 

We heard Mount St. Helens blow her top in Vancouver, almost 300 miles away. I remember it well.

Edited by John Mitchell
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11 hours ago, Betty LaRue said:

Pardon me for treating/chastising you as if you are my kid! 😁 We all were worried, though. Some of us more than others.

Not at all. Nice to be thought of when far away. Although As I said it didn't feel far away at all. Must be the British heritage, although long ago diverged.

And probably the new granddaughter.

I remember flying over Mount St. Helens on the Seattle leg of SFR-LHR and the pilot making sure we all got a good look. You could see the hole where mountain used to be.

11 hours ago, John Morrison said:

 

Ouch! Right, I'm off to Chernobyl for a fortnight...

I watched the HBO box set on the flight back. Chilling. One place I probably wouldn't think of going.

BTW it's 0342. Whoever said you could ignore jetlag, especially 13 hours of it?

Edited by spacecadet
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20 hours ago, MDM said:

volcanoes and earthquakes are part of the whole process of existing on a living planet.

 

Maybe that was what Mars was like a long time ago and the occupants (Martians) could not live with it so killed the planet to be safe. Look what happens when you kill a planet, It kills off all living things on it.😨

 

I know Mick. I know nothing about the subject so will shut up now.😀

 

Allan

 

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On 31/12/2019 at 11:34, Allan Bell said:

 

Maybe that was what Mars was like a long time ago and the occupants (Martians) could not live with it so killed the planet to be safe. Look what happens when you kill a planet, It kills off all living things on it.😨

 

I know Mick. I know nothing about the subject so will shut up now.😀

 

Allan

 

 It's complicated. I'll explain it over lunch in Ely. It might be a long lunch though. 😀

 

On 30/12/2019 at 17:41, John Mitchell said:

 

We heard Mount St. Helens blow her top in Vancouver, almost 300 miles away. I remember it well.

 

Mount St. Helens 1980 was a very unusual eruption as part of the side of the volcano collapsed catastrophically - the analogy that has been used is rapidly removing the lid of a hugely over-pressured pressure cooker, hence the massive explosion. Eruptions like these are among the most dangerous natural events. 

Edited by MDM
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21 hours ago, MDM said:

 It's complicated. I'll explain it over lunch in Ely. It might be a long lunch though. 😀

 

That's OK. I'm a slow eater.🤣

 

Allan

 

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Miles and miles away from Mt. St. Helens, trees all lay one way. Like an atomic bomb went off.  Everything was gray and dead. Ash Colored trees and dried ash/mud flows. It truly was the most catastrophic thing I’ve ever seen.

I’ve been through a tornado, and there were blocks of homes leveled. Autos sitting under houses, straw driven through wooden light poles. The roof taken off our house. I would imagine hurricane damage would be more widespread.

None of that compares with that volcano eruption. Once seen, never forgotten.

Edited by Betty LaRue
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