Not familar with Aussie gardens ,but spent last January touring gardens in New Zealand.. They have awesome gardens in almost every little town.. Christchurch is known as the garden city and every where you look are wonderful personal gardens and the botanical garden is lush and filled with all kinds of different types of gardens and the ost magnifcent trees I have ever seen..I feel in love with a New Zealand breed rose called Dublin Bay and as we had spent some time at Dublin Bay on lake Wanaka I had to have tis rose... I now have 2 of them growing in my rose courtyard and no blooms yet,but eagerly awaiting the big velvety roses..

GW, I think it might be different if flying with someone who appears not to be a parent of the child. We've been flying to/from San Fran-DC for 14 years with our kids (dh is from San Fran) and have never used IDs. Our kids don't have them. When in doubt though, it can't hurt to have something, though we have never been asked.

Well, I have to answer this one! Due to the quirks of my childhood, my parents' willingness to allow me to travel alone from age 12 on, and the fact that I have severe idiopathic vertigo and, for the past 30 years have been unable to fly - I have crisscrossed the USA by train, by coach and sleeper car. I've also traveled by train in Canada, England, Israel and Mexico, but those trips were all fairly short. I love Amtrak! Some comments about the linked article. FIrst, he misses the main experience of dining on a train. You meet the most fantastic people! Seating in the dining car is done by filling up each 4-place table, and unless there are three of you, you will sit with strangers. Everyone has a story and almost everyone wants to hear yours. I have dined with people from around the world. Foreign tourists are especially interesting, because they want to have a real American experience and are curious about everything. But our countrymen/women are also fascinating. I could write a book about those I've met on the train. The food is forgettable, except for the salmon and roast chicken, which are delicious. For breakfast I always have the "healthy choice" - fresh fruit, yogurt, and a muffin or croissant, plus orange juice and coffee. The snack bar is a snack bar, but does have fresh fruit. The writer of the article discusses train travel when going by coach. I always traveled by coach when I was a lot younger and didn't require sleep and could tolerate anything. Not that there's anything wrong with coach - it's fine for a 10-15 hour trip, and many people travel that way for a lot longer time. But now that I am older and have aches and pains, I like a really good chair for curling up and reading, and a bed at night. So if it's a longer trip (to see the children and DGS) I take a roomette. Yes, it's expensive - $700 for a round trip between Salinas CA and Eugene OR. I know. But for that you have your own tiny room with two cushy seats that fold into a bed, plus various kinds of lights, electrical outlets, a fan, and good space for hanging up clothes and storing carry-ons. All meals are included, plus all the coffee and fruit juice that one could drink. And the sleeping car attendant, who will do his/her best to make you comfortable, including making up your bed, bringing extra pillows and blankets and sundries you might need, plus bringing you your meal from the dining car if you're not feeling friendly. Attendants also have their own stories to tell, if you just ask! They are unionized and have good lives. For sleeping I take a trazedone, a non-addictive sleeping pill. I turn off the lights, leave the curtains open, and if I wake up, just enjoy the passing scene, homes and farms and ranches with a light on, and the stars and moon in the sky. Very romantic! Yes, to enjoy train travel you have to be flexible and not a germophobe. Trains don't always run on time, and someone may get sick in a public bathroom. I always bring plenty of reading matter, wash my hands frequently and never go barefoot. But I also never worry. Two of the most beautiful trips are the Coast Starlight, from L.A. to Seattle, right out over the ocean north of Santa Barbara, and through the Cascade Mts. in Oregon. We've met many people going between L.A. and Portland or Seattle who fly one way and, just for the experience, Amtrak home. Also there is the Zepher, which rides through the Sierra Nevadas and later, Utah and southern Colorado. The Empire Builder, through Idaho and the northern Rockies, is on our list. He is right about Union Station in Chicago. I remember the old Union Station (as in The Untouchables) from my childhood, a wonderful place. Now it's been remodeled and it is not fun, nor elegant. And good luck finding someone to help with luggage. You are on your own, schlepping everything behind you. Train travel is our one true luxury, and for us, well worth it. We talk it up with our friends but still, nearly everyone prefers to fly. I know this was long, but at least it wasn't as long as the linked "memoir"!

My father was a WW2 veteran, could have gone to college on the GI Bill, but didn't like studying, so he went to work for Sylvania Electric as a draftsman, a white collar job, working for engineers who designed electronics(radios,TVs) and machine parts. He made enough money to support a family of 6 (himself, wife and 4 kids)for 30 years, and buy a nice house in the "suburbs". The Sylvania name is still around but the factories are now in China. Surprise, surprise. Dad had a terrific work ethic, never took a sick day except for several hospitalizations (ulcer and gall bladder operations). He was "laid off" in the 60's when the local plant closed. Through a relative, he found work as a janitor, later went to a trade school and learned "stationary engineering", meaning he learned how to fix and maintain heating and cooling systems. He loved this job-he worked for many years, for a while in a big concert hall, also at a Catholic school. He always said he liked this job, he was treated well, allowed to work on his own without supervision. I've since met several stationary engineers who said the same thing. I'm retired after 31 years for the federal government, but I know govt is not hiring these days. So I don't recommend anyone do what I did. But my father found a good path.