Greetings from NZ

Welcome aboard from Kentucky! Do explain the word "charf". I do love exotic slang.

G'Day and welcome Charf. I guess I'm a bit closer to you than most on this forum as I'm on the Sydney coast overlooking the Tasman. Aus ain't far behind you in terms of taxation or ambition regarding smoking. As I live in a leased unit (no smoking in the apartment) in a building which doesn't allow smoking in common areas or in the grounds (shame, we have a nice garden overlooking the harbour) I tend to smoke in the local reserve (er, that's a public park for the non-Aussies...) or walking down the street (still allowed). In the reserve I've met several cigarette smokers, a couple of cigar smokers and 3 ex-pipe smokers but never anyone else actually smoking a pipe and I don't recall seeing another pipe smoker in Sydney but I guess there must be a couple around. And yes, there's plenty of Vaping going on around here too
Not sure why the ex-pipers are ex-pipers but they all had fun trying to guess what I was smoking (not chance - it was Black Frigate on two occasions and Balkan Sasieni on the other). Oh, and I've not met with some of the animosity that a few of our US brethren have reported when smoking in public.
Anyway; welcome.

I saw a pipe smoker in the wild while making some work deliveries a few days ago. Sitting on a sidewalk bench in front of a nice hotel.
The urban dictionary defines charf quite differently, but we shall not hold that against you... :P
Welcome!

Welcome to the forum, bud! Charf sounds like a good word to me.

charf, welcome aboard. I know New Zealand only from the movies in "Lord of the Rings," and "Wrinkle in Time," which featured panoramas of your breathtaking landscapes of steep green covered mountains and waterfalls and such. I worked for many years with a senior geneticist who eventually became the editor of my institution's scientific journal. We always got along and had cordial relations, but not enough that I really got to know him well. Eventually he even recruited me as a staff member of the journal, but I didn't feel I was the right fit for his position. Eventually, as he retired, I came to realize that he was a Maori, and when he retired he took a position as president of the university with a predominantly Maori student body in New Zealand. He had an amazing story to tell, and I heard only a little before he headed home.

Welcome Aboard

I have to ask because I know it's on everyone else's minds..... are you a hobbit? 8O
Welcome, from Texas!

Welcome Charf! Hopefully we can answer any questions you have and maybe smuggle you some tobacco. I am from Washington State on the west coast of the US.

There use to be a fella on this forum from NZ. He started to grow tobacco as an experiment and to cut down on cost. That was quite a while ago. My niece is suppose to move to NZ in a year. I would love to visit and try my chances at some trout fishing. Welcome to the forum.

Charf was a word my brother used to describe smoking in general.

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Ah, got it. I like it, going to have to use it to make my friends wonder what I am talking about!

Welcome to the Forums Sir,

Never I couldn't have imagined that this smoking situation has turned that bad in NZ and AU,Prices high and brand names are only a few?Meanwhile we here up in Scandinavia(this time Finland)are not far behind of Yours,since recently our Gov. come up with the ridiculous idea that they will do all possible that smoking would come to end till 2025, Again,ours Customs Authorities wasn't to hear about to this idea, they know to what this would lead and have no means to enforce it, today a pack of Marlboro is about $ 8 U.S and a 50 Gr(1,75oz) pouch of Standard Mc Baren tobacco sells for $ 20

Welcome charf!
Lots of good info on this site, be sure to ask as many questions as you like. As for taxation and restrictions, from my time here I've deduced that if you live in the US, you have it great; lots of selection, no customs worries, and prices are super cheap. Then there is anywhere else; prices are expensive, selection is scant, and customs will rob you if you mail order.