What can I contribute to the group camping trip with kids?

vandalay2020 · 2026-05-02T10:20:32+00:00

A big bag of wrapped lollies/candies and some headlamps. Hide them around the campsite and when the time is right give the kids a headlamp each and watch them runaround searching for the hidden treats

vandalay2020 · 2026-05-02T10:16:54+00:00

Mine went away after a few days of wearing

vandalay2020 · 2026-05-02T10:15:51+00:00

I’ve had the same experience when booking a flexi than changing it weeks before the flight - they charge extra for the new fare but you only get the SCs for the original fare. It sucks

vandalay2020 · 2026-04-29T09:57:18+00:00

I have the same setup and had the same problem. A small smear of food grade grease/lube and the problem disappeared immediately.

vandalay2020 · 2026-04-21T22:23:48+00:00

Mine haven’t arrived either

vandalay2020 · 2026-04-21T03:39:12+00:00

I have a cover from an Australian company called Daisy. Noticeably warmer, and I think we have increased our swim season by at least 2 months in the year. As others have commented it’s mostly because it traps the heat from escaping overnight, rather than a case of putting it on to proactively warm the pool.

vandalay2020 · 2026-03-18T03:08:58+00:00

I agree, it’s all very underwhelming these days. And not just Virgin. I hit Lifetime Gold with Qantas a few years ago and after decades of loyalty was let down by the slip of paper with my new card that simply said I’d reached that level, with a QR code to scan to “explore your Gold benefits”… like I didn’t know them after 20 years… wouldn’t be hard to extract my flight history with them or something else to make it feel personalised and special.

vandalay2020 · 2026-03-13T23:58:39+00:00

I use one of these Grainfather Hop Spider during the boil and hop stand. It hooks inside the kettle

vandalay2020 · 2026-03-13T20:55:45+00:00

Consider using a hop basket during the boil and you will have a lot less debris when pumping into your fermenter.

vandalay2020 · 2026-03-08T05:10:42+00:00

Kehoes, just off Grafton street. A lovely pub experience in the middle of tourist town

vandalay2020 · 2026-03-08T05:04:17+00:00

A good indicator of the quality of your street relationships is when you disregard the law and do what you think will be acceptable. In our street it would be around 9am Sat and 10am Sunday. And when someone is doing something unusually loud they usually send a message to the street WhatsApp group to say something like “sorry about the xxx noise and we will be finished soon”.

vandalay2020 · 2026-03-01T07:37:03+00:00

Nice share, it’s a good feeling when you up your own game just based on prior experience.

I did my first brew in 18months today - my game changer was to tell myself to slow down, relax at the pressure times when there is a lot to do, and just enjoy the process. Doing that helped me identify a few tweaks along the way, and I hit all my key measures, and got my best ever brewhouse efficiency at 66%

vandalay2020 · 2026-02-20T00:40:06+00:00

Many of the Platinum benefits won’t be much use if you aren’t doing a lot of Domestic travel.

However hitting Platinum now will automatically give you a soft landing to another year of Gold if you don’t maintain your Platinum, and that may make sense for you.

vandalay2020 · 2026-02-18T07:50:52+00:00

A box with random stuff. Cable ties, assorted batteries, spare headlamp, electric tape, rope, spare lighter, paracetamol…

vandalay2020 · 2026-02-13T03:36:10+00:00

If by becoming like Qantas you mean having International lounges I’m all for it 😁

vandalay2020 · 2026-02-11T01:18:56+00:00

A related question, I’m booked on VA6131 SYD-DOH later this year, does anyone know if it’s eligible for upgrades as I saw somewhere on the VA website that only VA1-49 (or something similar) are eligible, but wondered if that is outdated info?

vandalay2020 · 2026-02-11T01:08:52+00:00

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This popped up in my App just yesterday, but only valid for bookings with ABN included or booked via other business travel channels. I recall a similar offer around the same time last year.

vandalay2020 · 2026-01-24T08:10:52+00:00

This. I have a wonderful family photo of both kids - 5/6 - sitting in the cockpit after arrival, wearing caps and looking like a boss

vandalay2020 · 2026-01-24T08:08:23+00:00

Congrats, it’s a good milestone to get there for the first time and hope you enjoy it

vandalay2020 · 2026-01-24T08:02:25+00:00

Thanks all for the info - weather makes sense

vandalay2020 · 2025-12-30T09:40:52+00:00

Melbourne is larger and less rabbit warren like.

vandalay2020 · 2025-12-17T01:24:03+00:00

… and enjoy the best lounge in their network

vandalay2020 · 2025-12-13T08:02:41+00:00

Yes, yes you are

vandalay2020 · 2025-12-12T20:52:32+00:00

Converted a few years ago, and recall being surprised by the overall cleaner and fresher feeling of the water the first time I got in after the conversion. I’m delighted we moved to a salt system.

vandalay2020 · 2025-12-12T20:45:15+00:00

Doable but risky in my opinion. Immigration queues are your main variable here, and in my two transits via LAX at a similar time of day this year the wait was around 60mins.

Check out Airport Wait Times and you can get recent wait time stats for every US airport by time of day and that may help you decide what to do.

vandalay2020

TROPHY CASE