Kim, Kim..are you OK?

[kim]

Actually, I have lived a few different places in the world and I reckon NZ in general is pretty hard to beat.
Though, because its quite small with only about 4million people spread out over 1800km or so, it can be quite hard to earn a decent buck.
But the trade off is easy living and outdoor activities galore all year around.

K

[roostafish]

NZ is generally the same climate as the state of Oregon in USA. It's at the 45th parallel North, NZ is 45 South. If you had a house in both places, you could just skip winter all together, just spend the warm season in both places. OR you could just go to Costa Rica permanently. It rarely drops below 70 degrees F. It's green, hilly, beautiful. Although, if you've never actually seen a snake, CR has some real doozies! Not to mention a species of giant spider that'll make you scream like a girl, guaranteed!

[TooFastTim]

Originally Posted by roostafish

Not to mention a species of giant spider that'll make you scream like a girl, guaranteed!

Hah! As an ex-Saffer (South African) I laugh at giant spiders! SA has a nasty looking thing called a baboon spider, basically a tarantula, the biggest I've seen was about the size of a medium sized dinner plate. Baboon spiders will give a nasty bite but aren't poisonous. The also have something called a rain spider which is a little smaller than a baboon spider but is harmless. These have a nasty habit of coming indoors. It's not nice to wake up in the morning and find yourself staring at one of these. However they are harmless. Worst bugger was something called a button spider. AKA black widow. The highest concentration of black widows in the world was about 30 k's from where I lived in a place called Philadelphia.

Snakes! Nasty things. Mambas (black & green, both in Natal, ask Dingo about them), cobras (many species) and my own favourite, puff adders. I've ridden over a puff adder or two in my time.

Over to our friends across the ditch who will, no doubt, regale with tales of man eating spiders and snakes so poisonous that just looking at them can kill you.

Tell you the truth I hate spiders and would probably run away, a gibbering wreck, if I set eyes on that Costa Rican bugger.

[GMP]

I may be going to Costa Rica next spring. How would it be for 2 kids (6 and 9 yr old boys) as far as overall safety/security is concerned? I would be in a time share condo on the beach somewhere (my sister-in-law's), not sure of the town.

A friend of my brother's went, and a guy in his group got stung in the balls with a scorpion! He hung his suit out to dry and didn't check before he pulled it on! Luckly it was not a real bad species of scorpion.

[roostafish]

In my opinion, Costa Rica is as safe as any other place. Certainly politically. There are no worries about the Federal Police harassing you because you're a foreigner. Of course, there are bad guys just like any other place, so you don't want to be a fool. If you're staying at some sort of resort, the kids will not only be quite safe, but probably isolated from the true culture. It's a pretty poor country, and if you venture out of San Jose and experience local dining, you'll find inexpensive, yet tasty meals, that are mostly based on beans and rice, and often a hunk of meat, probably chicken. The local Fruit will blow your mind, as in any tropical place.

And, fortunately, you probably won't be lucky enough to see that goliath tarantula.

Bonus, you're Gas Gas 250 is a viable streetbike in CR. for that matter, so is an RM 250. You'll probably lose count if you try to see how many Yamaha Serows you can spot.

Also, you can go to Volcan Irazu on a tour, and see both coasts at once from the top. It's the tallest peak in CR.

[GMP]

I've been to Cabo in Baja, around the Caribean, Truk Lagoon in the south Pacific, and all over Russia. My wife has been all over the world on business, so we know a bit about travel common sense. I enjoy getting to know the locals, learning the culture, and the food. This would be the first time for the kids out of a highly developed area with $$ like, say the Cayman Islands we did last year. We are an adventure vacation family and do not sit on the beach every day. I'd like to include the kids as long as its OK to travel around to the various activities and not worry about being robbed or carjacked like what seems to be happening in Mexico lately. Of course I'd do some riding there. I'll get the name/address of the condo and let you know exactly where Iwe would be staying.

[roostafish]

I think you'll have a blast. The whole country is beautiful. If your kids enjoy the jungle, beauty, animals, food, you'll have fun. The Northern part is dryer, and there isn't much of a population base. There is much to see and do, and there is lot's of Eco tourism sprouting everywhere. There are jungle tours, volcano tours, you name it. The roads are kind of beat up when you leave the areas with any money or tourism. In fact, the road to Irazu is pretty ugly, but there's worse.

[barkeater]

I'd love to do the Milford Track one day. I need a better job that leaves a little extra $$ for fun before I can plan that adventure though.

[roostafish]

Boy, we have really gone off topic on this one. We should think about a GG.org gathering of some type. Find out where most people who want to do it live, and do a reasonably central location, as long as there's killer riding that is. We could do several awesome locations along the west coast of U.S.

I can put together a tour of some awesome riding in Oregon. I can even arrange to feed us all. You can check out dirtbikeoregon.com for a sample of some of it.

[barkeater]

Like the Husaberg Force rides. They get together in one location (US and Europe for those too poor to travel that far) and shoot the poop and ride for a while.