JohnSydney2000

Thanks again to all the organisers for another great Ozfest.
Always good to meet friends old and new from FT.
Safe journey home wishes to everyone. John.

Fredd

It's a strangely quiet evening at the Newcastle Crowne Plaza.

Thank you organizers! ^ It was great to catch up with old friends and to meet new ones at (for us) yet another terrific Oz Fest. An extra thanks to the photographers among us for some great pics on FT AND FB - and even a video. ^

Safe and happy travels everyone! We'll hope to meet up next year, if not sooner.

Brian and Kathy

Bundy Bear

Another Ozfest over so fast, I only got there for a part of it but it was still fun, I really enjoyed the chance to chat with many old friends; some who I only see once a year, pity we are all getting older.
Thanks to the organizers especially itsalongwaydown, I think he can organize next years as well where ever that might be.
Thanks for the photos posted here and on Facebook.

kpc

Another great Ozfest - my 12th! Many thanks to the organisers, and it was great catching up with old and meeting new friends. It seems the Sunshine Coast (Noosa) and Queenstown, NZ are the 2 main places suggested for next year, and whilst I did suggest the latter, the fact that tomorrow's temperature is 12-23 degrees C in one and 3-9 degrees C in the other, may have a big bearing on the venue chosen

GrjApp

I'll add to the other posts - thanks for a great (first for me) Ozfest. Hope to make it back for more!

kirkwoodj

Noosa would be fantastic!

Itsalongwaydown

Mirage IIIO Fighter.

RAAF front line fighter prior to the FA-18A.

tom911

For those that weren't able to make it to Vivid Sydney, I've just uploaded the photos from last night along with 3 videos, linked below.

QF WP

I'd similarly like to thank the organiser (both frontline and back office) for their hard work in making yet another Ozfest a roaring success. A nice mix of regulars and new attendees and I'd think they'll be seriously thinking about returning for future Do's.

Bring on Ozfest 15 and Sunshine Coast (Noosa). Fantastic and already some of the thoughts for events have started coming out (in the background). Like kpc, Mrs QF WP and I wouldn't miss it and have to keep my record of only missing one (Darwin 2011) intact .

ozstamps

We raised a toast to our many friends and ozfesters from here in the tiny Faroe Islands, in the North Atlantic -




Sounds like another great ozfest, brilliantly organised, and great to see once again many overseas Flyertalkers flew in for it. We only had a flight window of end May for this trip, and sadly it clashed with ozfest .. next year all good hopefully!

Glen and Margo.

(n.b. - one truly savours the draft beer here, as at $A20 a glass - like everything here, prices are truly insane! and do not even THINK about ordering wine - not one tree on this entire Island group, much less any grapevines!)

.

Austin787

I also echo the appreciation to the Oz Fest organizers to make this great event happen. In addition to the Oz Fest, I also enjoyed the following in my Australia/New Zealand trip:
* Climbing the Sydney Harbor bridge around sunset
* Light shows in Sydney and Queenstown
* The museums of Christchurch and Auckland
* Lush park in Christchurch
* The lakes, sheep farm, and mountains of Queenstown
* A helicopter ride to Milford Sound, with landings at a glacier and a secluded beach
* Climbing a volcano (Mt Victoria) near Auckland
* Walking through a rainforest and on a black sand beach near Auckland
* Business class flights on United (SFO-SYD) and Air New Zealand (AKL-SFO)

CDKing

Any rumblings of ideas for next year, i know i'm probably thinking way too ahead. just curious if its been decided on being in OZ or neighboring countries.

Efrem

There were lots of informal discussions of that topic over wine and such. The two main candidates that surfaced were Australia's Sunshine Coast (north of Brisbane) and New Zealand's South Island (e.g., Queenstown). Consensus, if there was any, is that Queenstown is probably too chilly that time of year. (Possible thought for 2019 or later: a one-time switch to the third weekend in January, also a holiday for most Yanks, and meet in Queenstown then.)

However, nothing at all has been decided. There might also be other options (such as Broome). A bit harder to get to (though served by both QF and VA), but no cold weather; not as similar as the Sunshine Coast to other recent venues; lots to see/do; and we'd be there a few weeks before before it gets overrun by winter tourists from the rest of southern Oz who want to warm up.

BOB W

A few of us were in Queenstown prior to this DO and it was below freezing every night. The town itself is lovely with plenty of wine stops and other things to do in the area, but I would vote for a warmer time of year to go back there.

Oz Fest

Oz Fest 15 thread will be started Saturday. Will be in Australia