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Re: Seven Mile Beach, Tasmania

Posted: 19 January 10 3:09 pm
by caughtatwork
geospyder wrote:I wasn't aware that there was a separate set of caches for Australia. Whole new world out there. Now you're testing me to see if I want the caches for the scenery or for the numbers :oops:

Is there a way to merge the GCA finds with my GC finds so my GC stats reflect my actual finds?
Back to GC, regrettably no. GC don't have a way of importing finds from other sites to make a "combined" find count. You could always import your finds into GCA on a regular basis, but that doesn't seem to match what you would like long term.

You can always stick the GCA banner on your stats page that shows what GCA finds and hides you have.
http://geocaching.com.au/cacher/geospyder.png

Re: Seven Mile Beach, Tasmania

Posted: 19 January 10 3:15 pm
by geospyder
setsujoku wrote:Looks like you might need to pack an extra jacket according to this
The current weather here in the high desert of Nevada is 2 degrees with rain/snow. The low tonight is going to be -3 degrees. I have a feeling that I'll be shoveling snow tomorrow morning. Cold we don't mind. It is the rain we don't like.

Re: Seven Mile Beach, Tasmania

Posted: 02 February 10 11:44 am
by geospyder
We tend to use credit cards for everything - even a $2 item. First choice is American Express and then Visa. We pay them off each month. Are there any day to day items that you can think of where we will not be able to use a credit card? We're trying to figure out how much AU cash we should pull from the ATM when we arrive. We'll be in Tas ten days.

Re: Seven Mile Beach, Tasmania

Posted: 02 February 10 12:00 pm
by caughtatwork
Small Australian shops tend not to accept credit cards for items less than AUD$10.00.
e.g. Newsagents, sandwich shops, etc.
Technically that is against the merchant agreement, but you can't argue against a small shop, they simply refuse.

Amex will be a problem away from the larger cities I would expect. Amex is not well accepted in Australia, so be prepared for non-acceptance and have your VISA or cash ready.

Australian shops will all accept $10, $20, $50 and $100 notes, so you can carry any denomination note you like. Taxis and small cafes may not have change for a $100, so it's probably best to restrict yourself to $10, $20 and $50.

ATM's in Australia generally only dispense $20 and $50 notes. Rare ones will do $10's but don't bank on any of them still being around.

Australian notes are brightly coloured and made of polymer so there is almost no chance of mixing them up.

Re: Seven Mile Beach, Tasmania

Posted: 02 February 10 12:17 pm
by maccamob
caughtatwork wrote:Amex will be a problem away from the larger cities I would expect. Amex is not well accepted in Australia, so be prepared for non-acceptance and have your VISA or cash ready.
That situation is slowly changing. The Commonwealth Bank, one of our biggest, now issues Amex cards with a much better award points scheme than their Mastercard or Visa cards. It seems that they are pushing for wider Amex use. Visa is still your best bet though.

Re: Seven Mile Beach, Tasmania

Posted: 02 February 10 2:03 pm
by Damo.
maccamob wrote:
caughtatwork wrote:Amex will be a problem away from the larger cities I would expect. Amex is not well accepted in Australia, so be prepared for non-acceptance and have your VISA or cash ready.
That situation is slowly changing. The Commonwealth Bank, one of our biggest, now issues Amex cards with a much better award points scheme than their Mastercard or Visa cards. It seems that they are pushing for wider Amex use. Visa is still your best bet though.
Banks are offering Amex only because it's a good revenue stream for them, not because of customer demand. (Likewise the push of people to using Debit Mastercard/VISA instead of EFTPOS)
Many retailers would rather not take Amex due to the higher merchant fee. (They make less profit on the sale if you use Amex than if you use MC/VISA)

Re: Seven Mile Beach, Tasmania

Posted: 02 February 10 2:26 pm
by gd___
A lot of places now charge (especially service/gas stations) a percentage fee to use credit cards and it is often higher or only for Amex/Diners cards so you are best to just ask before deciding which one to use.

Re: Seven Mile Beach, Tasmania

Posted: 02 February 10 2:33 pm
by geospyder
Good info people. Thanks. Less than three weeks to go.

Re: Seven Mile Beach, Tasmania

Posted: 02 February 10 2:56 pm
by geospyder
How much is gas in Australia? What would the average fill up be? As far as that goes what are some average prices in Tas such as a container of milk, a pint of beer, a cup of coffee? Are we in for sticker shock?

Re: Seven Mile Beach, Tasmania

Posted: 02 February 10 3:31 pm
by Cheesy pigs
petrol in Tassie is about $1.20 a litre, milk is about $1.50 a litre, beer generally comes in 10 ounce glasses or stubbies about $4.00 and a cup of coffee ranges from about $3 to about $6 depending on size and quality

Re: Seven Mile Beach, Tasmania

Posted: 02 February 10 4:46 pm
by SamCarter
That's Australian dollars ...

Re: Seven Mile Beach, Tasmania

Posted: 02 February 10 4:57 pm
by caughtatwork
Is there anything else in Australia? Surely we've done away with GBP :-) Or are they that backward in Tassie? They're not still attached to the gold exchange are they? Or are they still at the stage of exchanging Flanian Pobble Beads?

Re: Seven Mile Beach, Tasmania

Posted: 02 February 10 5:08 pm
by Cheesy pigs
for your information caught at work, you can still get a hot meal in some country towns for three possum pelts and a bottle of elderberry wine :mrgreen:

Re: Seven Mile Beach, Tasmania

Posted: 02 February 10 5:24 pm
by geospyder
Guess I'll have to use Australian dollars since I don't think I'd be able to get the pelts and wine past customs :D

On the serious side, I tend to leave golden US dollar coins in caches when I travel if I make trades. It is surprising how many people in the US don't even know we have a dollar coin but it does make for good swag when travelling.

Image

Re: Seven Mile Beach, Tasmania

Posted: 02 February 10 5:41 pm
by caughtatwork
Wow. At the current exchange rate we could be millionaires as long as we follow you around to all your cache finds.