Greetings from NZ

[charf]

Hi Everyone,
Taken up this hobby as a bit of a nostalgia trip at the young age of 48. My grandfather had lots of pipes but never saw him smoke them. I think he had moved on to roll your owns buy the time I saw them. Cigarettes never agreed with me so I thought it would have a tinker with pipes. As some of you would have seen in posts from others from New Zealand smoking is very expensive here. US$70 for a 50 gram tin. The government wants to stamp out smoking by 2025. Meanwhile vaping is taking off. So not sure how all that is going to work out.
Have a briar and a few cobs. Also managed to get a variety of tobaccos to taste the differences:

Lane 1-Q

Cult Blood Red Moon

Mac Baren HH Burley Flake

Erinmore Flake

Lane Escudo

Petersen Old Dublin
Smoked a few bowls of each and am just starting to get the flavours. Been great being able to read of everyone else’s experiences on the forum.
Always laugh when I read where someone on the forum talks of a pipe smoker in the wild. I don’t think I have seen anyone smoking a tobacco pipe here for maybe 10 years but they are definitely around. I guess everyone just charf’s at home now!

 

[Chasing Embers]

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

 

[timelord]

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.

 

[charf]

Hi Chasing Embers. Charf was a word my brother used to describe smoking in general. Thought it was quite catchy. I think it actually refers to smoking Mary Jane. He’s a cigarette smoker of 20 years and he couldn’t handle a bowl of Erinmore Flake I gave him which was I thought was a bit of a laugh.
Hi Time Lord. I hadn’t taken much notice of how much smoking had disappeared in NZ until I looked into pipe smoking. I think the government intervention is now starting to have a negative effect with robberies of shops selling cigarettes. I heard today that they are now worried about the uptake of vaping. Probably won’t be long until they either regulate that or tax the hell out of it. History repeats...

 

[jaytex1969]

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!

 

[james72]

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

 

[mso489]

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.

 

[puffy]

Welcome Aboard

 

[anthonyrosenthal74]

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

 

[wyfbane]

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.

 

[jpmcwjr]

Welcome! Dive right in! My main trip on the islands was to Rota Rua (sp). The island is gorgeous, and I suppose the other one is, too.

 

[buster]

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]

Thanks for the kind words US pipe smokers. I am lucky enough to have travelled to quite a few of the states. Love it every time. May make it to DC later this year. Not sure yet though.

 

[Chasing Embers]

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

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

 

[PaulTheScandinavian]

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

 

[mikethompson]

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.