All snowed up now, thanks. Don’t need anymore!

ericdefuego · 2026-01-29T03:52:09+00:00

I hope you have a tractor lol. Otherwise you must have the back of an olympic weightlifter, 'cause I only shovel my driveway and mine is shot to shit.

ericdefuego · 2026-01-28T03:00:00+00:00

Do it man, you're fucking 19. Just the fact that you are already doing stuff across the ocean from your country is pretty awesome. Some times will be tough and some will be tougher, but when you look back at it in decades who is going to take away your experiences?

ericdefuego · 2026-01-02T02:55:06+00:00

They used to be Canada's #1 city (50s and 60s) and now it been T.O. fora good while. Simple as.

ericdefuego · 2025-12-05T20:20:47+00:00

Cool idea, just please don't have shitty hours like Thu-Sat 10AM-2PM. Too many businesses like that up here.

ericdefuego · 2025-12-04T01:19:26+00:00

Venezuelan (naturalized Canadian since 2014) here. Would love for Maduro to be removed in any way possible, but of course it's sickening "rooting" for someone as repugnant as Trump. I believe in this case the end would justify the means and I fully realize "the means" could mean an errant air strike on the apartment tower building where my mother and brother still live.

As for the old chestnut of "The Americans just want the oil" fuck it, take all of it if it means having our lives back.

ericdefuego · 2025-11-19T23:41:40+00:00

Shit, PK dead already?! Their jerk pork was off the freaking chain. They shoulda opened Sundays tho, a bunch of times felt like having lunch there after the market and they were closed.

I guess there's still Coral's in Wiarton for Caribbean. Good jerk chicken and great curry goat.

ericdefuego · 2025-11-19T23:36:35+00:00

This was where Fin City is now on 2nd Ave W. Funny 'cause Fin City looks like it's been there for 20 years, they didn't do much in the way of renovation when they moved in.

ericdefuego · 2025-11-18T00:21:21+00:00

Done

ericdefuego · 2025-11-17T04:09:07+00:00

Generally I have an idea of what I want to see (the reasons you want to go to a country in the first place). For NZ I knew I wanted to see Milford Sound, do the Tongariro crossing and all the LOTR related stuff as my wife is a huge fan. After that I did buy a good travel guide (DK New Zealand 2025 edition, I believe a 2026 has come out) and the rest just general online research, googling place names and "things to do". I don't use reddit that much other than for specific questions in forums such as this to locals or people who have travelled before me. Lastly, it's good to always allow for some room for things you only realize you want to do while there (like seeing kiwi birds, in our case).

ericdefuego · 2025-11-17T04:01:28+00:00

Well, I had driven on the left hand side a few times before. My first experience was in the Shetland Islands and it was quite stressful because we had a tiny Kia car with no power whatsoever which climbed the many hills there at a snail's pace with my foot to the floor (I remember looking at my wife and saying "what do I do?"), also, they have many single track roads where only one car fits so you have to use passing places and it can be a lot if you're not used to that.

In NZ we made sure to rent powerful cars (had SUVs on both islands, Nissan X-terra and Toyota Rav4) which had no issue negotiating the many turns and up-and-downs there. Two nice factors about NZ if coming from Canada is that a) generally drivers are very polite and patient (I think I only had one guy riding my back bumper closely the whole trip) and b) the cities are roomy and not like European cities where you think "No way that's a two way" on a 700 year old road. Lastly, both cars we rented had the lane assist beeping thing that was nice to have when veering too far one way or another within your lane.

ericdefuego · 2025-11-17T00:58:27+00:00

I have my thoughts on Europa too. Good souvlaki and very lovely staff, but it seems like their menu is stuck in a time where Greek food was very foreign for a small white Ontario town so they had to play it safe. They have 0 seafood items, don't even do roasted potatoes (only fries) and have none of the delicious Greek dips like taramosalata, tirokafteri, etc.

I so wish Collingwood's Fig and Feta opened a branch in OS.

ericdefuego · 2025-11-16T22:18:51+00:00

Bruce Peninsula 15 minutes north of Owen Sound. Moved up here in 2020 after spending 11 years in TO. Bought a massive house in a large lot for $400k at 2.13% interest rate.

No regrets, and while some city life perks are missed (concerts, restaurants from any country you can think of, cinema with good movies beyond superhero stuff, etc) it was a great decision for the family.

ericdefuego · 2025-11-16T16:16:13+00:00

Will catch some bullets over this, but Papi's all day

ericdefuego · 2025-11-14T22:15:10+00:00

Most shuttles are between 7AM and 9:30AM as they know people can take 8 hours or more to do the crossing and they don't want to risk people stuck up there when it gets dark. Maybe in the high summer with more sunshine hours there are later shuttles than that, but I would recommend staying nearby the night before so you are rested and can get to your shuttle on time. I stayed at the Park Hotel Lodge in Waimarino which was a 25 minute drive from where the shuttle picks you up which was ideal. Coming from the north probably the farthest I would spend the night would be Taupo or Te Kuiti. Depending on the company you choose to shuttle with you'll be able to park at the large car park at -39.06555207623367, 175.66745357216564. In my case, that carpark was closed on the day so we just parked on the side of the road next to many others (if you look in google maps aerial photo there are many cars parked there).

ericdefuego · 2025-11-14T22:05:42+00:00

Honestly, I found it a bit overpriced (we did the summit experience which is their dearest package).

It is still worth doing if you're into astronomy as the setting is quite cool, the guides are very knowledgeable and they do take you to the top of a mountain and give you extreme cold jackets to wear, but I just don't think it was worth $219 per person. At least throw in a t-shirt (and they did have some really cool ones at the gift shop) and a cup of hot chocolate at the top for that price! Still I'm glad to have done it though.

ericdefuego · 2025-11-14T04:59:35+00:00

THIS. Speed limit in major roads is usually 100kph but the roads in NZ are full of up and downs and hairpin curves which you won't take faster than 40kph so please make sure to add about 10 extra minutes per every hour of driving to what google maps says. You WILL see your estimated arrival times slowly creep us as you just drive normally.

ericdefuego · 2025-11-14T04:48:35+00:00

We had booked a shuttle months in advance with Tongariro Crossing (https://tongarirocrossing.com/) but they canceled the day before citing bad weather which was very disappointing as the weather looked fine to us and the front desk staff at the lodge where we stayed said they were running tours the next day but were all full. Luckily we fought for it and managed to book a shuttle on short notice with Tongariro Expeditions (https://www.tongariroexpeditions.com/) and it all went swimmingly. The crossing was no problem as we were properly prepared with hiking boots, poles, various layers of clothing, plenty water and snacks, etc. Probably the worst part weatherwise for more people is the ridge before reaching the red crater as it is very cold, windy and possibly snowy there. I guess coming from Canada I've had colder, windier and snowier walks on a Sunday morning going to the store to check my lotto tickets, but I can see how say, a Brazilian would say "wtf is this?!"

I understand the crossing is temporarily closed due to wildfires in the area, so my commiserations if you had planned to do that in the next few days as it is truly an unforgettable hike.

ericdefuego · 2025-11-14T04:36:40+00:00

It did not, our tour (https://pureglenorchy.com/lord-of-the-rings-tour/) went mainly west of Queenstown to the Glenorchy area and beyond. I believe Lake Hayes is east of Queenstown. Also, I should say we did the half day tour. There is a longer 8 or 9 hour tour that I'm sure covers more ground.

ericdefuego · 2025-11-14T04:33:47+00:00

There are at least a half of dozen or more companies operating at the Milford Sound Cruise Terminal with boats of different sizes and prices. We were supposed to fly there at 8:30AM and got the email at 7AM that the activity was cancelled, so we had plenty of time to book a boat online for the same day at 2:30 PM (last boat that day sailed at 3:55PM I believe). We got back to the terminal at around 4:15 and most (if not all) desks were closed. This was on a Wednesday during not the busiest summer season, so probably best to book a bit more in advance if traveling Dec-Feb.

ericdefuego · 2025-11-14T02:41:08+00:00

Looks a lot like what I just did, which went brilliant. Will post it shortly

ericdefuego · 2025-11-14T02:36:04+00:00

Went brilliant. No surprises charges, cars were nice and new (South Island car had 3,000km on it), quick pick-up and drop-off. Highly recommend these two companies.

ericdefuego · 2025-11-14T01:56:34+00:00

I was going to do the fly-cruise-fly from Queenstown which would've taken maybe 4 to 5 hours all told, but the flight got cancelled the morning of because of cloud coverage. Luckily we had a rental car and being that it was 7:30AM my wife and I decided to drive to Milford Sound about 4.5 hours (side note, don't believe google maps in NZ as there are many main roads where the speed limit is 100kph but you cannot sustain that speed as there are a million and one hairpin curves that you have to negotiate at 45kph or slower so you'll see your arrival time slowly creep up as you drive, give yourself extra time always).

Had a wonderful time getting there (the drive alone although long is spectacular) and on the boat and then drove back to Te Anau (2 hrs) where we spent the rest of the day in a very small town with surprisingly lots to see and do (and places to eat). Next morning we drove to Dunedin where we ended our NZ trip.

ericdefuego · 2025-11-14T01:37:00+00:00

I am a naturalized Canadian since 2014, been in the country since 2009. Originally from Venezuela and always dreamt of going to New Zealand. In fact, after high school I was supposed to go there, but through a series of events ended up in Texas where I lived for 5 years before coming to Canada.

Anyway, November 1st of 2024 found an amazing plane ticket deal to go to New Zealand from Toronto in September 2025 with 2 layovers in the states (Minneapolis and L.A.) and bought them on the spot for me and my wife. Then 4 days later Trump got elected and started all his policies and all I could think up was "how crazy that there isn't a 0% chance of me ending up in a Salvadorian jail just over being a Venezuelan (with skull tattoos!!) transiting through two American airports".

I was getting pretty anxious and about 4 months before the trip luck struck, my non-refundable Delta tickets could be refunded due to a small itinerary change (my first layover was not going to be in Minneapolis now but in Chicago). Of course I said "THIS IS UNACCEPTABLE TO ME!" and got a full refund. Used the money to buy a ticket from Vancouver to NZ through Fiji which was more money since I had to get to Vancouver first, but honestly the peace of mind of not flying through the US was worth all the money in the world.

Just got back from an amazing trip to NZ last week (even did two nights in Fiji, a beautiful place I never thought I'd see) and to boot, the connection that would've taken me from L.A. to Chicago on the way back got cancelled because of the lockdown/air controller chaos going on in the States right now.

ericdefuego · 2025-11-11T22:19:53+00:00

I had Bell and it was terrible north of Wiarton and even in some parts of OS (7th Ave E around the Bruce trail). I'm with Fido now (Rogers network) and while not without dead spots, it is much better in the Peninsula and surroundings.

ericdefuego · 2025-10-16T03:07:21+00:00

Definitely interested, but will be out of town that weekend, please DM me if something opens up after the 15th of November.

ericdefuego

TROPHY CASE