# Cool Sounding Places



## sags (May 15, 2010)

Listening to the latest discussion on what Bernanke will say after meetings in Jackson Hole.......I was thinking the US has some really unusual city, town, village names.

Just a few......Buffalo Mop, Texas............Sweet Lips, Tennesee..........Scarce Grease, Alabama..........

And there are lots of Looneyvilles in the US.

Here is a link to a list of names..............

http://www.accuracyproject.org/towns.html

Anyone know of any Canadian names like that?


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## andrewf (Mar 1, 2010)

Dildo, Newfoundland?


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## m3s (Apr 3, 2010)

They have nothing on us



















It never occurred to me for a long time that Lower Sackville NS was such a funny name as well


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## indexxx (Oct 31, 2011)

mode3sour said:


> They have nothing on us
> 
> 
> 
> ...


I lived in Lower Sackville for a while. It always made me think of the Sackville-Bagginses from LOTR. My wife's family lived in Horsefly, BC back in the day.
-Eyebrow, Saskatchewan
-Swastika, Ontario
-Asbestos, Quebec
-Blow Me Down and Come By Chance, NL and Lab
-we have Mosquito Creek in North Vancouver; to that spot I go not...


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## humble_pie (Jun 7, 2009)

let's not make fun of st-louis-du-ha-ha.

hahas are heavy-duty landscape fences which have fallen into disuse although they are extremely effective & clever. They are a sort of dry moat, or a wall facing down into a sloping ditch that keeps out living creatures like cattle.

hahas were originally designed for deer parks & other country estates, so that deer, cattle & other large animals could be kept off the formal lawns & gardens surrounding a manor house. Meanwhile the lords & ladies could enjoy an unbroken view from their gardens out into the surrounding forests & countryside.

i found a marvellous contemporary example of a post-9/11 haha that was designed & built only a few years ago in washington DC to protect the Washington Monument, itself the object of many terrorist threats. The mandate given to the landscape architects was to find a way to block trucks with bombs from driving near the monument without using the standard concrete Jersey barriers or ugly rows of stanchions spaced 3 feet apart.

the architects built a beautiful low walled haha - without a ditch - around the Monument. The thick wall is low enough for tourists to sit on, broad enough for them to walk on. It looks like a graceful element in the garden, but its real purpose is a barrier that not even a Hummer could break.

.










.


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## Just a Guy (Mar 27, 2012)

The arrogant worms (Canadian band) covered a few...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vpycgIlhJXs&feature=youtube_gdata_player


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## ddkay (Nov 20, 2010)




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## Cal (Jun 17, 2009)

Pretty sure there is a Moron, Cuba. Although that is not exactly cool sounding is it.


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## indexxx (Oct 31, 2011)

Then we have Fucking, Austria. Sorry for the perceived profanity, but that's the name of the town. Also Batman, Turkey, and Ptuj (pronounced 'Ptooey, just like spitting), a gorgeous little mediaeval gem in Slovenia. Grand Cayman has a section of Georgetown called Dog City, and an official district called Hell (due to ironshore formations, complete with cheesy carvings of 'satan' stuck here and there), where a local character named Ivan dresses up in a devil suit for tourist photos. The giftshop also has a post office, so one can send a postcard with a postmark from Hell.


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## Toronto.gal (Jan 8, 2010)

indexxx said:


> 1. Then we have Fucking, Austria.
> 2. Batman, Turkey.


You're well travelled, but for the purpose of this thread, Canadian only places qualify [as per OP], so no need to show off. 

1. As for the etymology of the Austrian name:

"It is believed that the settlement was founded in the 6th century by Focko, a Bavarian nobleman. The existence of the village was documented for the first time in 1070 and historical records show that some twenty years later the lord was Adalpertus de Fucingin. The spelling of the name has evolved over the years; it is first recorded in historical sources with the spelling as Vucchingen in 1070, Fukching in 1303, Fugkhing in 1532, and in the modern spelling Fucking in the 18th century, which is pronounced with the vowel oo as in book. The ending -ing is an old Germanic suffix indicating the people belonging to the root word to which it is attached, thus Fucking means "(place of) Focko's people".

2. Batman, Turkey is not at all related to the fictional character as you know [name came from one of its rivers named Batman, since the 19th C.], that's why it's better to stick to Canada and the US [for the purpose of understanding origin of names]. 

"The origin of the name "Batman" is unclear: it might be a shortening of the name of the Bati Raman mountain located nearby, or refer to the unit of weight used in the Ottoman Empire since antiquity."

Moving closer to my province:










http://www.google.ca/search?q=old+w...DemWywGthoDwCw&ved=0CCYQsAQ&biw=1920&bih=1109


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## Jon_Snow (May 20, 2009)

I've been kayaking to this spot http://www.flickr.com/photos/mtngoat/2772331785/ for years, not really thinking about its name except that it really doesn't fit - its one of the most beautiful places I've paddled in my 20 years of kayaking. One day I decided to research the name, thinking there had to be a reason for such a out of place title. Turns out in 1863, an American and his young daughter sought refuge from a storm, pulled onto the beach here, and were subsequently killed by a group of natives. Authorities found the litttle girl's body purposely hidden beneath some rocks.... they never found the man's body.

When I visit now, I sometimes get the "willies", imagining how that horrific scene may have played out almost 150 years ago. Still a beautiful place though.


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## m3s (Apr 3, 2010)

Fucking (read Fooking) was actually the first one that came to mind haha. The sign before the town also states in German "Please, not so fast!" It's a must have photo for anyone driving through.


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## indexxx (Oct 31, 2011)

Toronto.gal said:


> You're well travelled, but for the purpose of this thread, Canadian only places qualify [as per OP], so no need to show off.


Only mentioned these as Moron, Cuba was brought up. 8^}


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## Toronto.gal (Jan 8, 2010)

It's cool to go off-topic sometimes; now learning about Ptuj. :encouragement:


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## brad (May 22, 2009)

Jon_Snow said:


> I've been kayaking to this spot http://www.flickr.com/photos/mtngoat/2772331785/ for years, not really thinking about its name except that it really doesn't fit - its one of the most beautiful places I've paddled in my 20 years of kayaking.


Years ago my brother and I spent a couple of days camping at Dungeness Spit on the Olympic Peninsula, in Washington State. I mentioned on the phone to a friend that I was camping there, but the phone connection was a little dodgy...there was silence on the other end for a moment and then he asked, "did you say that you're camping in a dungeon of spit?"


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## Toronto.gal (Jan 8, 2010)

Cal said:


> 1. Pretty sure there is a Moron, Cuba.
> 2. Although that is not exactly cool sounding is it.


1. You would be almost correct, it's Morón [but not an English word, lol].
2. Ok. sounding in Spanish; it means a small hill/mountain located in a forest.


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## Jon_Snow (May 20, 2009)

That's not my Flickr account linked above Btw... That fella has at least 10 years on me.


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## kcowan (Jul 1, 2010)

In 2 weeks we are headed for Croatia and eventually staying in Krk. I am tempted to ask "Pat may I buy a vowel?"

Moosejaw, Red Deer, Salmon Arm

I'm sure there are many further east.

In PV, Playa los muertos - The Beach of the Dead.

In Fla, Boca Raton - the rat's mouth.


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## Toronto.gal (Jan 8, 2010)

kcowan said:


> In Fla, Boca Raton - the rat's mouth.


Actually, ratón = mouse [not rat].

Can you tell the difference?



















"Rats are typically distinguished from mice by their size; rats are generally large muroid rodents, while mice are generally small muroid rodents."

Have a good time in Croatia!


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## sags (May 15, 2010)

kcowan said:


> In 2 weeks we are headed for Croatia and eventually staying in Krk. *I am tempted to ask "Pat may I buy a vowel?"*
> 
> Moosejaw, Red Deer, Salmon Arm
> 
> ...


LOL...............good one:encouragement:


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## peterk (May 16, 2010)

humble_pie said:


> hahas are heavy-duty landscape fences which have fallen into disuse


You are full of surprises HP. As a soils engineer I found that fascinating, and will have to be careful with my future use of "haha!".


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## Toronto.gal (Jan 8, 2010)

peterk said:


> You are full of surprises HP.


You have been around long enough not to be surprised anymore Peter!

HP is simply the smartest person here, and not just about a subject or two, but about an unlimited number of topics it seems.


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## Ethan (Aug 8, 2010)

The maternal side of my family comes from Big Beaver, Saskatchewan. Saskatchewan also has:

Climax
Elbow
Eyebrow

And lastly, Regina (the town that rhymes with fun!). When the Rolling Stones held their concert in Regina 6 years ago, Mick Jagger said "I promised your mayor, Mr. Fiacco, that I wouldn't make fun of the name of your city. Does that make me a *****?"


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## m3s (Apr 3, 2010)

Ethan said:


> When the Rolling Stones held their concert in Regina 6 years ago, Mick Jagger said "I promised your mayor, Mr. Fiacco, that I wouldn't make fun of the name of your city. Does that make me a *****?"


Haha I was "working" at that show. Saw some good football there as well whenever the snowbirds made an appearance. It's a unique feeling to live there.

A couple from Montana decided to go to Canada for their holidays one summer. They drove north across the border, stopped at a dinosaur park, then continued northeast. After driving for a couple of days, they realized they were lost. They found a small city, and pulled over to ask a pedestrian for directions. "Hey buddy, can you tell us where we are?" The pedestrian smiled, said "Saskatoon, Saskatchewan", and went on his way. The driver turned to his wife and said "Well, we still don't know where we are. He doesn't even speak English."


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## Four Pillars (Apr 5, 2009)

I love this thread. Keep 'em coming!


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## CanadianCapitalist (Mar 31, 2009)

Canadian Geographic has funny place names categorized but the list doesn't have some of the funniest names in this thread:

http://www.canadiangeographic.ca/mapping/offthemap.asp


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## humble_pie (Jun 7, 2009)

footnote to haha history
(for canadian history buffs only)

wikipedia says the word haha is thought to have come from france, from gardening or possibly from french fortification history. In addition to a dry moat the word haha also meant an impasse or route blockage of any type. It's in the sense of route blockage that st-louis-du-ha!-ha! is thought to be named.

the town is close to the start of an arduous 80 kilometer portage which early canoe travellers had to make as they travelled west between the atlantic ocean & present-day rivière-du-loup on the st-lawrence river. What they were doing was shortcutting the immense gaspé peninsula to the east. I'm not sure, but it looks to me like they were following the restigouche river system. Today, the transcanada highway follows the same route.

the rest of the story is my own conjecture.

it's likely this shortcut route would have been established by first nations long before europeans arrived. Aboriginal people already had well-established north/south trading routes. All that the first arriving europeans really did was hitch rides on existing native trading networks, then enlarge them.

portaging past present-day st-louis-du-ha!-ha! was probably a crucial micq-macq trading route to the st-lawrence river & westward to the important trade zone at the junction of the ottawa & st-lawrence rivers. This is present-day montreal. Here, for a thousand years before europeans arrived, fur pelts were traded for copper, flints & other goods from southern first nations who came north via the richelieu & chateauguay rivers.

i've always been fascinated by how the first nations in northeastern north America taught travel routes, agriculture, medicine & even survival itself to the earliest french, dutch & british settlers.

_(imaginary 18th century conversation between the 1st european explorer on the upper restigouche & a passing micq-macq)_

voyageur: _svp monsieur, l'endroit comment s'appelle-t-il ?_

micq-macq (a true canadian, he doesn't speak french) _*Ha ! Ha !*_

voyageur (à ses copains) _evidémment le nom du village c'est ah ah._

2ème du canôt: _ah bon ? mais c'est la nouvelle france, faut ajouter le nom d'un saint._

voyageur: _je le baptise donc le saint-louis-du-ha!-ha!_


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## m3s (Apr 3, 2010)

humble_pie said:


> voyageur: _svp monsieur, l'endroit comment s'appelle-t-il ?_
> 
> micq-macq (a true canadian, he doesn't speak french) _*Ha ! Ha !*_
> 
> ...


"Ah Ah" Too funny!! I always found the sign amusing driving along Highway 1. I didn't think it sounded very "français" to me, yet when I lived in Québec I found many places, baies, and even the recent monument for the Saguenay flood is named "Pyramid des Ha! Ha!"  Seems they started a whole nouvelle france naming tradition


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## Nemo2 (Mar 1, 2012)

Along the lines of the preceding 'imaginary conversation', there used to be conjecture that the first Brit to see a large hopping marsupial in Australia asked an Aboriginal tracker what they were called......"I don't know (_kangaroo_)" replied the tracker.


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## Toronto.gal (Jan 8, 2010)

The place itself is 'cooler' than the name & truly spellbinding.

*Yoho National Park* [Yoho: a Cree expression of awe and wonder, means beautiful or how amazing].









Some Yoho facts:

- 28 mountain peaks more than 3000 m in height;
- *Takakkaw Falls* [Takakkaw: 'loosely translated from Cree, means something like "it is magnificent"], with a free fall of 254 m, is the third highest in Canada;
- over 400 km of hiking trails;
- most abundant large mammal in the park: mountain goat.

http://www.pc.gc.ca/eng/pn-np/bc/yoho/visit/visit16.aspx
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Last_of_the_Dogmen


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## m3s (Apr 3, 2010)

I happened upon a small town en route the other day and took this picture for the CMF. Like any good commune française of 1000+, this one had a Château-de-Pusey, and even a circuit-de-karts.


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## humble_pie (Jun 7, 2009)

mode aiguise tes oreilles je t'en prie. Comment disent les gens de peuehzee, c'est pas la prononciation du québec ...

tu savais qu'il y a un village au nom du Longwy en france. Pas loin, plutôt vers le nord, à la frontière du luxembourg.

keep the dirty side down & the shiny side up.


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## Toronto.gal (Jan 8, 2010)

HP: cool/interesting/funny, are words that have different meaning to different people.


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## humble_pie (Jun 7, 2009)

Toronto.gal said:


> HP: cool/interesting/funny, are words that have different meaning to different people.



PS dirty-side-down-shiny-side-up is a parting farewell to bikers. Like may-the-wind-be-always-at-your-back is the classic fare-thee-well to sailors. It's not a reference to the long-suffering villagers of pissy-en-france.


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## Toronto.gal (Jan 8, 2010)

An té a bhíónn siúlach, bíonn scéalach [excuse the French, not!].


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## m3s (Apr 3, 2010)

humble_pie said:


> tu savais qu'il y a un village au nom du Longwy en france. Pas loin, plutôt vers le nord, à la frontière du luxembourg.
> 
> keep the dirty side down & the shiny side up.


Nice find! J'ai suivi la Moselle alors pas passé par la, mais je pense que j'avais la dernière fois. Presentment dans les Alps. :chuncky:


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## humble_pie (Jun 7, 2009)

longwy has a place for U to visit some day, although this time you've biked off in the opposite direction.

le fort de Fermont, une partie importante de la ligne Maginot qui subsiste encore.

http://www.mairie-longwy.fr/general.php4?id_site_rub2=10&id_site_rub3=204


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## Rusty O'Toole (Feb 1, 2012)

How about Bummer's Roost and Punkydoodle's Corners Ontario?


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## sags (May 15, 2010)

Sounds like a good place for a world financial meeting.................I can hear it now...........

"Investors around the world await any news from Punkydoodle's Corner"..................seems appropriate somehow.


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## kcowan (Jul 1, 2010)

We are starting week 3 of an Adriatic tour. The first week from Dubrovnik toured the Dalmation Islands on a 40 passenger ship. Then we went to Punat on the island of Krk for a few days. Now we are in transition visiting Pula on the Istar Peninsula on the way to Zagreb.

(This is another item on our bucket list. So far so good.)


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## m3s (Apr 3, 2010)

Enjoy kcowan, I'd love to do the Balkans on vacation. It might just be next.

Today I rode past a BITSCH in Switzerland. Couldn't help wondering if T.Gal would like that one


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## CanadianCapitalist (Mar 31, 2009)

mode3sour said:


> Today I rode past a BITSCH in Switzerland. Couldn't help wondering if T.Gal would like that one


Personal attacks on other members will absolutely not be tolerated. See #11 in Forum Rules.

http://canadianmoneyforum.com/announcement.php?f=8


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## Toronto.gal (Jan 8, 2010)

Thank you CC.
**********

















*Machu Picchu* - “The Lost City of the Incas” was chosen in the 7 New Wonders of the World in 2007. It literally means 'Old Peak/Mountain' in Quechua, a native South American language & still spoken today in some parts.

It's a 15th century pre-Columbian Inca site & indeed a citadel & architectural jewel, located 8,000 ft. above sea level.

'The citadel is divided into two sectors: the agricultural and the urban, where there are main squares, temples, palaces, storehouses, workshops, stairways, cables and water fountains which run through both sectors, which measure 20 and 10 hectares respectively. Machu Picchu was built according to its natural surroundings, with its constructions following the natural curves and dips and rises in the land.'

http://arxiv.org/ftp/arxiv/papers/0904/0904.4882.pdf


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## m3s (Apr 3, 2010)

I'm certainly not the instigator here, but I apologize for that comment T.Gal. I did actually randomly drive by that town, and thought it was funny. The German language makes for endless funny names. The Andes are also cool to see for sure


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## Beaver101 (Nov 14, 2011)

Toronto.gal said:


> .... *Machu Picchu* - “The Lost City of the Incas” was chosen in the 7 New Wonders of the World in 2007. It literally means 'Old Peak/Mountain' in Quechua, a native South American language & still spoken today in some parts.
> 
> It's a 15th century pre-Columbian Inca site & indeed a citadel & architectural jewel, located 8,000 ft. above sea level.
> 
> ...


 ... fascinating! Thank you for the pics, write-ups and article ... no wonder you're so popular here - you make a great teacher! :encouragement:


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## Toronto.gal (Jan 8, 2010)

Beaver101 said:


> no wonder you're so popular here - you make a great teacher!


LOL, I think you're just getting intimidated by post counts [which have no correlation to popularity in the least]. But glad you're enjoying the information/forum.

*Rapa Nui* - [called Easter Island in English {given day of its discovery}], is a very isolated island inhabited by Polynesians. It's located in the southeastern Pacific Ocean & a territory belonging to Chile. 










It is a World Heritage Site and famous for its stone giants [as you can appreciate from 2nd. pic. below] called moais, which are believed to have been carved from volcanic rock by the natives of the island between 1250 and 1500. It's also considered to be the most remote inhabited island in the world! 

















'The island is, technically speaking, a single massive volcano rising over ten thousand feet from the Pacific Ocean floor. The oldest known traditional name of the island is Te Pito o Te Henua, meaning ‘The Center (or Navel) of the World.’ In the 1860’s Tahitian sailors gave the island the name Rapa Nui, meaning ‘Great Rapa,’ due to its resemblance to another island in Polynesia called Rapa Iti, meaning ‘Little Rapa’. The island received its most well known current name from the Dutch sea captain Jacob Roggeveen, who, on Easter Sunday, April 5, 1722, became the first European to visit.'

http://www.world-mysteries.com/easter_island.htm#Easter Island


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## Nemo2 (Mar 1, 2012)

I have to get in on this.......Humpty Doo



> Humpty Doo lies 47 kms from Darwin on the Arnhem Highway. It is famous for the fact that in the 1950s it was one of the great failed postwar agricultural experiments.














> Boxing Croc
> The Australian obsession with 'big' tourist attractions finds one of its most hilarious manifestations in 'The Boxing Croc' on the Arnhem Highway.


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## Beaver101 (Nov 14, 2011)

Nemo2 said:


> *Humpty Doo *...


 .... LOL! And Toronto.Gal's places like Rapa Nui - called Easter Island in English ... continue to fascinate ... just make sure a Stone Giant do not cross with Boxing Croc when alive! :biggrin: Thanks for bringing up these really cool places from Earth ... very fascinating and interesting. :encouragement:


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## Toronto.gal (Jan 8, 2010)

Nemo2 said:


> Humpty Doo


My tolerance level is a bit conservative for such thrilling adventures, so don't think I could handle Humpty Doo , as I couldn't even go on the Jaws ride when in Orlando some years ago [sad, but true story]. :hopelessness:










Beaver/Nemo, if you have been saving for early [late] retirement, you can check out some of the great places listed here! :encouragement:


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## Nemo2 (Mar 1, 2012)

Toronto.gal said:


> Nemo, if you have been saving for early [late] retirement, you can check out some of the great places listed here! :encouragement:


I turned 70 yesterday, and quit working when I was 46..........been to ~ 60 countries, (thus far), some of which may be on the list...I'll check it out. :encouragement:


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## Toronto.gal (Jan 8, 2010)

Oh, HappyBelatedBirthday Nemo & MANY, MANY happy returns! 

You and Google share same birth date. :encouragement:










Wow, 60 countries, hmmm, I'm jealous; have a little catching up to do.


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## Nemo2 (Mar 1, 2012)

Toronto.gal said:


> Oh, HappyBelatedBirthday Nemo & MANY, MANY happy returns!
> 
> You and Google share same birth date. :encouragement:
> 
> ...


Much appreciated! A lot of the travel, including an overland trip, (old car/thumb/train/local bus, etc), from England back to Australia, (except for the deep wet salty areas), was undertaken ~50 years ago, (life & travel were so much simpler then)......followed by R&Rs from Saudi, and interspersed with regular old 'vacations'......with luck, more will come before I shuffle off this mortal coil, (apologies to Hamlet). eaceful:


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## Jim9guitars (May 5, 2012)

I see these places in Eastern Ontario on a regular basis: Tincap, Throoptown, Roebuck and Yarker. There's more, I just have to remember them, and then there's Wawa and many more along the Trans Canada Highway that I might look up later.


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