Visiting Family and the Queensland Gemfields - PassPorter - A Community of Walt Disney World, Disneyland, Disney Cruise Line, and General Travel Forums
As of January 1, 2019, we have closed our forums. This is a decision we did not come to lightly, but it is necessary. The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk. The server software itself must be updated, and it cannot be without removing the forums.
So it is with a heavy heart that we say goodbye to our long-running forums. They came online in 2000 and brought together so many wonderful Disney fans. We had friendships form, careers launch, couples marry, children born ... all because of this amazing community.
Thank you to each of you who were a part of this community. You made it possible.
And a very special thank you to our Guides (moderators), past and present, who kept our forums a happy place to be. You are the glue that held everything together, and we are forever grateful to you. Thank you aliceinwdw, Caldercup, MrsM, WillCAD, Fortissimo, GingerJ, HiddenMickey, CRCrazy, Eeyoresmom, disneyknut, disneydani, Cam22, chezp, WDWfan, Luvsun, KMB733, rescuesk, OhToodles!, Colexis Mom, lfredsbo, HiddenMickey, DrDolphin, DopeyGirl, duck addict, Disneybine, PixieMichele, Sandra Bostwick, Eeyore Tattoo, DyanKJ130, Suzy Q'Disney, LilMarcieMouse, AllisonG, Belle*, Chrissi, Brant, DawnDenise, Crystalloubear, Disneymom9092, FanOfMickey, Goofy4Goofy, GoofyMom, Home4us123, iamgrumpy, ilovedisney247, Jennifer2003, Jenny Pooh, KrisLuvsDisney, Ladyt, Laughaholic88, LauraBelle Hime, Lilianna, LizardCop, Loobyoxlip, lukeandbrooksmom, marisag, michnash, MickeyMAC, OffKilter_Lynn, PamelaK, Poor_Eeyore, ripkensnana, RobDVC, SHEANA1226, Shell of the South, snoozin, Statelady01, Tara O'Hara, tigger22, Tink and Co., Tinkerbelz, WDWJAMBA, wdwlovers, Wendyismyname, whoSEZ, WildforWD, and WvuGrrrl. You made the magic.
We want to personally thank Sara Varney, who coordinated our community for many years (among so many other things she did for us), and Cheryl Pendry, our Message Board Manager who helped train our Guides, and Ginger Jabour, who helped us with the PassPorter-specific forums and Live! Guides. Thank you for your time, energy, and enthusiasm. You made it all happen.
There are other changes as well.
Why? Well, the world has changed. And change with it, we must. The lyrics to "We Go On" for IllumiNations say it best:
We go on to the joy and through the tears
We go on to discover new frontiers
Moving on with the current of the years.
We go on
Moving forward now as one
Moving on with a spirit born to run
Ever on with each rising sun.
To a new day, we go on.
It's time to move on and move forward.
PassPorter is a small business, and for many years it supported our family. But the world changed, print books took a backseat to the Internet, and for a long time now it has been unable to make ends meet. We've had to find new ways to support our family, which means new careers and less and less time available to devote to our first baby, PassPorter.
But eventually, we must move on and move forward. It is the right thing to do.
So we are retiring this newsletter, as we simply cannot keep up with it. Many thanks to Mouse Fan Travel who supported it all these years, to All Ears and MousePlanet who helped us with news, to our many article contributors, and -- most importantly -- to Sara Varney who edited our newsletter so wonderfully for years and years.
And we are no longer charging for the Live Guides. If you have a subscription, it's yours to keep for the lifetime of the Live Guides at no additional cost. The Live Guides will stay online, barring server issues and technical problems, for all of 2019.
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Thank you, thank you, thank you for your amazing support over the years. Without you, there's no way us little guys could have made something like this happen and given the "big guys" a run for their money. PassPorter was consistently the #3 guidebook after the Unofficial and Official guides, which was really unheard of for such a small company to do. We ROCKED it thanks to you and your support and love!
If you miss us, you can still find some of us online. Sara started a new blog at DisneyParkPrincess.com -- I strongly urge you to visit and get on her mailing list. She IS the Disney park princess and knows Disney backward and forward. And I am blogging as well at JenniferMaker.com, which is a little craft blog I started a couple of years ago to make ends meet. You can see and hear me in my craft show at https://www.youtube.com/c/jennifermaker . Many PassPorter readers and fans are on Facebook, in groups they formed like the PassPorter Trip Reports and PassPorter Crafting Challenge (if you join, just let them know you read about it in the newsletter). And some of our most devoted community members started a forum of their own at Pixie Dust Lane and all are invited over.
So we encourage you to stay in touch with us and your fellow community members wherever works best for you!
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We are doing a trip this weekend that is very different and could be very interesting. We are going to central Queensland in Australia to an area where Opals and Sapphires are mined and sold. This trip is in part a trip into my past as explained below.
I grew up near Edinburgh in Scotland with a mum who was from a large Edinburgh family. Her parent's died when she was very young (15 for her dad and 29 for her mum) so her Aunts and Uncles became surrogate parents. Especially two sets: Auntie Jean and Uncle Bill who lived in Edinburgh and Uncle Davie and Auntie Mary who had emigrated to Australia when my mum was a young girl but who came back and visited June-August most years. When I was a child we spent most summers in Edinburgh with both sets of Aunts and Uncles.
Fast forward 40 years or so and all these Aunts and Uncles and indeed my mum have passed on. Auntie Jean and Uncle Bill had no family but Uncle Davie and Auntie Mary had two son's John and David who grew up in Australia.
We moved from Scotland to Brisbane Queensland in July 2014. I knew there was a large family here but I thought they all lived down in Victoria. Just before Christmas David contacted me and advised they actually lived in Queensland in a place called Sapphire near Emerauld (which has an airport). David asked us to go and stay with them with the advice not to go in the summer.
As the name suggest they live in the Gemfields and while they worked they were prospectors very successful ones as I understand.
We are going to visit them for a long weekend this weekend. We are me Hazel 48, hubby Graeme 50 and son Rory 11. Rory is fascinated with mining here and David has sent him some tiny samples of gemstones and I'm hoping he will show us the mines.
We leave Brisbane at lunchtime Friday and have 3 nights with them. David has asked us to stay with him and Jan his wife. It is a strange feeling as I have never met them but have very fond memories of his parents.
David's brother John emailed me yesterday to say David was looking forward to meeting us. He also said he met me in 1975 when he was in Scotland. I have no memory of that.
How lovely to reconnect with the sons of some important people in your life. Sounds like a fascinating place, too. I don't think I've ever known a prospector, and definitely not a successful one! Should be a very educational and fun trip for Rory.
Sounds like a fun trip! Hope you're able to do some mining! Maybe you'll find a giant sapphire and make enough on it to retire!
Oh wow early retirement now wouldn't that be cool.
My uncle who came to visit us in Edinburgh had a box of Opals under his bed as his pension. His sister came out to visit him in Australia and he pulled the box out and asked her to choose one which he set for her in a ring.
Now isn' t that more exciting than a portfolio of stocks and shares.
Oooh, I hope you do get something, Hazel! I'm a bit leery of buying any gemstones because I know nothing about them and could easily be told something is very high quality when it is not. You'll be very lucky, having your cousin there to guide you! Of course it would be really exciting to find one in the field and have it set!
I was working from home yesterday and made huge progress in the morning. Early afternoon I was waiting on another person's contribution so Graeme and I went for a coffee at a local shopping centre and the jewellers was selling rings and earrings with beautiful Australian sapphires.
They are really dark almost black and very opaque. Quite beautiful.
Anyway you can look for sapphires at the Gemfields and if you find one you can get it cut an set. Or alternatively you can buy a stone and get it set......
PassPorter's Free-Book to Walt Disney World It’s hard to believe anything is free at Walt Disney World; but there are actually a number of things you can get or do for little to no cost. This e-book documents over 200 free or cheap tips to do before you go and after you arrive. You could save a considerable amount of money following these tips. Perhaps more importantly; you can discover overlooked attractions and little-known details most people whiz by on their way to spend money. Click here to see free sample pages from the e-book! Get this popular e-book free of extra charges when you join the PassPorter's Club for as little as $4.95. A club pass includes access to all our other e-books; e-worksheets; super-size photos; and more! This e-book is also available for separate purchase in the PassPorter Online Store for just $5.95.
We have a gift for David and his wife Jan. When we were in Scotland in April we met this photographer who prints our photos or some of his own if you like onto Canvas. He had a gorgeous picture of the two bridges near Edinburgh one road one rail taken at night. We had it printed onto canvas.
David lived in Edinburgh until he was 8 years old so i am hoping he will like it.
Well in terms of resisting buying jewellery the weekend is already off to a bad start. I was browsing the US Disney Store site and they have the disney Pandora Charms. I have been wanting some of these for ages. They also deliver to Australia.
I ordered three, it cost a fair bit for delivery but they remove the tax so it wasn't too bad. I have wanted some of these for ages so I'm a happy lady.
PassPorter's Free-Book to Walt Disney World It’s hard to believe anything is free at Walt Disney World; but there are actually a number of things you can get or do for little to no cost. This e-book documents over 200 free or cheap tips to do before you go and after you arrive. You could save a considerable amount of money following these tips. Perhaps more importantly; you can discover overlooked attractions and little-known details most people whiz by on their way to spend money. Click here to see free sample pages from the e-book! Get this popular e-book free of extra charges when you join the PassPorter's Club for as little as $4.95. A club pass includes access to all our other e-books; e-worksheets; super-size photos; and more! This e-book is also available for separate purchase in the PassPorter Online Store for just $5.95.
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finding a sapphire. 
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