I know this is rather quick on the tails of Mittens '04, but considering the higher cost of tickets to the antipodies it will pay to start earlier, so I'm starting this as to allow a canvasing of opinions, as it stands, the rough shape of the even looks like this.
Location is Australia. That is final.
Somewhere in the vicinity of Brisbane is preferable. As it stands Coffs or Byron Bay seem good options. I lean towards the latter. For those unfamiliar with the town, it's the most easterly point on the continent and is traditionally associated with hippies. A caravan park or camping site there would be consistent with the Mittens theme.
Now this is an important issue for discussion. Ticket prices to Australia will be cheaper if it occurs during winter. Australian winters of course are not very severe, and most importantly it will coincide with the Summer holidays for Northerners.
But if you want beach weather and as many chances as possible to show how freakishly skinny you are we can try to do it during summer, or Spring [Autumn seems a bit too soon but if you can handle it....].
As per 2004, no minors. No questions.
Now, I'm not really undertaking to organise this, at least not until I can have an idea of who [especially Northern fellahs] will undertake the journey and what time they would prefer it. If you make the effort to come down, you can largely determine these details.
I'd really like considered opinions and would rather not have statements about how you wish you could go but have no money.
I'll be 18 in May and i have exams may through to probably somewhen in July, so late July / August would be best for me. Australian winter is also absolutely fine by me, not too hot and nothing like our winters :)
edit: my new passport just came in the post, must be a sign :)
what does the "no minors" mean exactly, i meant till when is somebody minor?
anyways, i'll then be 20 and may attend (depending on uni)
I would think it's the same as this years mittens, 18.
I will be there!
I think it would be best when the weather is warm... but yeah. That may not be doable. Mind you, I hate Coffs Harbour / Byron Bay... so I think the location should be determined by me, and me alone. Hey, why not have it right up the top of Ayers Rock. That'd be fun. Okay, okay. Wherever.
The date should be, obviously, when most people can attend. Do holidays overseas coincide with ones here? I wouldn't know. Ah well, I guess I don't have anything useful to contribute to this thread afterall...
Though who else is from Vic? We can roadtrip up there! Whooo! As long as I can borrow someones car...
Well being from Australia I really should turn up hey. I live in Wollongong in NSW which is close to Sydney. I spose I might be able to manage a trip up north, seeing as I have a brother who lives at the Gold Coast. I don't know how it would seem to my family that I am going to go camping with a bunch of 'strangers'. I'll be 19 next year, but I still arn't all that independent. Maybe if I can get a job and get some money I would be able to. Personly I would vote to not have it in winter, as I don't like winter, but I guess it isn't as bad as other countries.
Well I guess I'm a maybe if it is decided we are having it here.
I'll hopefully go, but I probably won't have saved enough until July/August next year. I think it might be sensible to go at a non-peak time, otherwise the flight tickets are going to be pretty expensive.
FYI there will be another Brittens (the Mittens half way house) next year, for those who may not be able to afford Austrailia, or just want to go to both.
Well, near Brisbane is great for me, and if I'm still in Australia at that point, I'll definitely be there. I may be going to Japan around April but more likely, September so if it's before then, I'll most likely be able to attend.
I have to agree that Byron Bay is sorta... hmm. I've never been there, but I have no desire to, quite frankly. Hippies piss me off ^_^ I'm no expert on camping though, so if that's what everyone wants to do I can't offer any alternatives. How about we all get some nice hotel rooms on the Gold Coast, get drunk every night and act like 17 year olds? :P (Any Aussies will understand).
Money isn't an issue... I have tons in my bank account.
And next year I'll be 18, so age won't be an issue.
Who knows? Maybe you'll see me next year if I'm not busy, and maybe you won't. But there's definitely the possibility.
EDIT: I would be able to go anywhere from June 23th to September 1st.
Anytime between mid June and late September would be best for me, since I'm off uni thenabouts.
End of July should be okay to me unless those big guys in the army want me to be there more than six months, and if the flight tickets are not too expensive. I checked some flights for next year (February was the latest I could get right now) and they seem to be rather expensive, but if the tickets are cheaper during the Australian winter I just have to wait until I can get more accurate estimate of the needed amount of cash. Somewhere near Brisbane would probably be okay location for foreigners too, it shouldn't be too hard to get a flight there.
How warm it is usually during winter and summer in Australia? Like if it's something like 15 - 25 celsius during the winter, that's pretty much like Finnish summer...
I can't say more than that yet, but of course I'd love to go. However, if there will be smaller gathering in Europe (ie., Brittens or similar) you will more likely to see me there, depending on the dates of course.
I'll start saving up already. Unlike Dart's, my account is virtually empty after this costly summer.
And I expect to see every darn Australian ags:er when I come.
Also, now that Jess has proven that you can be female and still survive a mittens meeting, I hope that can encourage other female members to attend.
Byron was just an idea thrown in the hat. If Kinoko would give some more ideas using her northern knowledge it would be appreciated. Just somewhere around the border.
I think winter is almost definate now. Earlier is too soon for tickets, and we don't want to be on the North/Gold coast in october/novermber [although I'm sure alot of you would make great Toolies].
July is mid winter, so it'll be a range of 10-18 degrees c each day. Not beach weather, but not much to complain about.
But this will be determined largely by those who come overseas, since if you make that effort, you deserve to be accomodated.
Quote from: Andail on Tue 03/08/2004 21:00:28Also, now that Jess has proven that you can be female and still survive a mittens meeting, I hope that can encourage other female members to attend.
More ladies for the laddies? Sorry, that just popped into my head and I had to use it.
This one I'm definetly going to have to sit out. Australia would be a little (read: incredibly and unimaginably) out of range for my bank account to pay for.
Man, Australia is number one on my list of places I wanted to go to. Seriously.
I think it's because of the accent.
Can't resist... Australian... females...
The plane ticket would cost me a year of rent most likely, so there may be issues there.
If you can't make it down under then go to Brittens instead.
As good as brittens was, it doesn't compare to the awesomeness that is mittens
Note of interest: Right now, I'm watching a tv program showing an emu wandering around in thick snow. Seems so... odd.
Just ignore me and my hippy prejudice, Byron Bay's fine if that's suitable to everyone. I don't know much about the Eastern states still, even after living here for 4 years, so I can't really offer any alternatives.
Rodekill: You should definitely come ^_^ Aussie girls are BABES, man.
I would like to go to see the monsoon in north Australia... If Mittens could be timed to match this I'd come along! I may come along anyway, but I would REALLY love to see the monsoon. (I read about that it happened, and was almost as hooked as I am on the idea of visiting a mangrove swamp... do you get them in Australia as well? A Mangrove swamp in the monsoon, and I'd probably never leave!
Ok.
Timeframe.
I would say october is better only because you can really take advantages of the beautiful australian beaches. The daytime temperatures should reach 28-30 degrees celcius. If you decide that January would be great then expect 45 degree weather. Winter, I for one would not like to sleep in a tent as the temperatures go down to 7 degrees celcius.
Location.
My suggestions are as follows.
Noosa, sunshine coast, queensland, which has a nice big ass beach, camping grounds, a national forest (which has a most excellent walking track), lots of shops, lots of japanese tourists, and lastly a clothing optional beach. :p
Surfers Paradise, Gold coast, Queensland, is a big comercialised holiday spot with a great nightlife, fuckloads of shops, long ass beach, and scooter hire. Full of police. Casino. No nude beaches though.
Byron Bay, NSW. Yeah, hippies, but not as bad as nimbin. Indulge in the fine dope you could find quite easily here, dodge the KOMBI's. They hold an annual blues and roots music festival here each year. At least with hippies, they are generally very mellow people, and wont bother you. You could probably go for a bit of nuded up swimming here, as the hippies sure won't care.
Wagga Wagga. Love the name. Thats it. Never been there, so I don't know much more. :)
Babe factor.
Yeah, very nice specimens. except at Byron, the chicks there are hippies and are too doped up to be attractive.
Accomodation.
There is a youth hostel in every city, campsites in abundance and caravan parks. Don't go for a hotel.
That said, I recommend you don't spend all that money and not see the rest of australia. Take half a year off from uni or your jobs, get a working holiday visa (if you can) and see Australia!
After all, it's very expensive to get over here, It's a 25 hour flight as well.
Quote from: Privateer Puddin' on Wed 04/08/2004 14:17:15
As good as brittens was, it doesn't compare to the awesomeness that is mittens
If anything, I think I'll go to Brittens next year unless we hold something like Amerittens or something crazy like that. Next year, I'm graduating from college and I need to save up, unfortunately. I may either go to grad school (every day I think that is my destiny) or get a boring job to survive. Either way, I'm have to move out of this state... I think I'm a bit scared. But who knows, maybe I'll radomly get lots of money and be able to go!
It sucks that I'm not ready to go to Australia yet. And thanks to Jess, it looks like a lot of chicks are attending!!! OMG!!! !!1111 I'm missing it all!!1 :P
Quote
Aussie girls are BABES, man
*Andail's pointy ears get even more pointy
I think the best time to go would probably be in the winter. Although, it would be nice to be there during the warmer periods, it might not be financially feesible for a lot of AGSers over on this side of the world. It's also an issue of availability. I think a good amount of people attend a university, and it's not so easy to get time off in October or January, as some classes you're only allowed to miss 3 or 4 days.
If it's winter over there it'll be cheaper for us to get flights. I think the main issue is planning. Those of us outside of the country have to get flights as early as possible, and perhaps plan to all go one flight per country. I quickly looked on priceline to see how much a flight to Brisbane was and it was actually less than the cost to NY, this year. Of course, I didn't check to see if it was on a friday, and the ticket wasn't for a whole week, so I'm not sure how accurate that is.
I think we should probably plan on going to a place with a big international airport, b/c it probably will be cheaper, though I'm not 100% on this. And I'm sure Las will be able to tell us, considering he's studying business.
In any event, I can't wait for next year in Australia. Mittens is awesome, and I can't wai tto attend another one.
-MillsJROSS
I'm looking forward to going to my first Mittens next year. Living in Michigan, I thought it would cost less to just go to Brittens 2005. Assuming Brittens is in June and Mittens in July, going to Australia would actually cost a few hundred less for the flights I checked.
Quote from: Disco on Wed 04/08/2004 22:17:37
I'm looking forward to going to my first Mittens next year. Living in Michigan, I thought it would cost less to just go to Brittens 2005. Assuming Brittens is in June and Mittens in July, going to Australia would actually cost a few hundred less for the flights I checked.
Wow, where are you checking? I'm getting like 2 times the price from here to brisbane than from here to london... and I'm talking about $1000 for the london trip and $2000 for the brisbane trip. Yikes!
I resent that Mills, I study Economics, it's so much pure and scientific than those grubby business students...
I don't like the idea of October. Schoolies prices you see [since people come in early to avoid Schoolies prices and drive up the early prices]. I think July may easily be the best option.
I made a mistake netmonkey, I checked Expedia.com for a flight from Detroit to London in April 2005 (for some reason I thought Brittens was April instead of June) and it was between $1900-2100. Since April 2005 was the furthest I could check, I looked at July 2004 prices for Detroit to Brisbane and it was around $1100-1300. We won't know until probably October what the real prices will be, I was just doing a little recon.
I could have feasibly went to mittens this year for $300, but, while I'm an adventure game enthusiast, my experience with AGS is zero(well, except for that 2 room, 8 color background game with Roger as the main character). I though I should wait until I have something to show/talk about to attend Mittens, and I most definitely will by next summer.
I vote start saving now.
It's a lot of petrol!
Quote from: Captain Mostly on Wed 04/08/2004 15:15:21
I would like to go to see the monsoon in north Australia... If Mittens could be timed to match this I'd come along! I may come along anyway, but I would REALLY love to see the monsoon. (I read about that it happened, and was almost as hooked as I am on the idea of visiting a mangrove swamp... do you get them in Australia as well? A Mangrove swamp in the monsoon, and I'd probably never leave!
The areas that mittens might be are not really close to the monsoon area and it's probably from about November to May.
But there are definately mangrove swamps, there are mangroves pretty much around the whole of Australia.
The tropical mangrove swamps also contain creatures that you wouldn't want to run into
(http://img11.imageshack.us/img11/9978/daintreerivercroc.jpg)
This was in June this year in the Daintree Rainforest in Northern QLD, but it was in the dry season so no monsoonal rains.
As for mittens:
I'm not to fussed where it is, money won't be a problem, having time off work is probably possible, if not, if it goes over a weekend I could probably make a visit. but I hope it's not the Gold Coast.
Late June or Late September are best for me as I may have Holidays (although september cuts into my cricket season so maybe not) but Whenever it is I could probably fit it in.
If Kandy could host it in Townsville it would be warm in winter, but it would probably mean another plane from Brisbane. probably a bit confusing and more expensive
If nightlife is needed you'd probably have to crash at Layabout's place for a night out in Brissy, cause I have no idea what the nightlife is like in Byron Bay, (sit on the couch and smoke bongs all night or something) but I guess you have to go to Bris first to get elsewhere anyway.
Noosa sounds good too cause I've never been there, I'd Love to go to Broome too but that's closer to Singapore.
I'm a bit dissapointed no one else wants to see the monsoon. But it's an exciting picture of a mangrove beast! Is it some kind of giant snake with legs?
If that's what you like to call saltwater crocodiles, It's only a 2metre female croc, they get much bigger, and the males are larger. But this was the biggest one I saw on the river cruise & I only had a disposable camera.
I posted a thread about my holiday a while ago but it slipped off the first page before anybody noticed (or cared) but if anyone wants to look at some sights in QLD (where mittens wont be) you can have a look here http://www.agsforums.com/yabb/index.php?topic=14774.0
Wow! The places you went on holiday look excellent! Let's mitten there!
Amerittens?!? I think that's a neat idea. I would have liked to go to Mittens since it was here in teh US, but i work full time, and couldn't take a week off to get up to upstate ny...but i think it would be fun to meet AGSers that around this particular region (I live in DC).
sorry to distract from the thread...
Logan ::)
Everyone wants their own 'ittens' :P
do you blame them/us? perhaps it would get out of control though...it could balkanize the community, with Canadittens sprouting up...and Pakistanittens...and Serbittens...
or not.
It's just the next evolution of the GAC, DNA, and the Brits one. (the name escapes me right now) Though only the GAC seemed to ever actually do anything.
Crap! Mittens in the homeland and im only 15. Ass biscuits!
Man, looks like tickets would cost me at least $2000... raped. Doesn't seem like it's gonna happen.
Honestly, you people. You can make that kind of money from only a couple of days of good prostitution. I don't want to hear any more whinging!
Well, I asked the travel agent when the best time to go to Australia is, and she said that December is the most expensive month, whereas May and June are the cheapest.
From the UK, at least.