I hope Jaro does not take offense to my tweaking of his suggestions, but given my prior visits to New Caledonia, I hope I am not out of line to submit the following: La Tontouta is the only international airport in the territory, and it is almost an hour northwest of Noumea, as, despite the seemingly short distance, only a small portion of the road was 4-lane motorway as of my last visit (the rest was one lane paved in each direction). Alas, this is a common situation in NC, so you have to factor in a good deal more driving time than the apparent distances might suggest. By car, you will likely be able to actually see many of the 46 species of gymnosperms existing in the country (all but one are supposed to indeed be endemic). However, I would be greatly surprised if you actually got to see a live plant of Parasitaxus ustus. Although it is reasonably well-distributed throughout the country, in my experience it is sited in seriously remote and inaccessible areas. Only people in the know can lead you to the assorted locations where it grows. Unlike other conifers, including far more rare species, which you might see growing in arboreta or planted displays (a small but lovely one can be found at the IRD headquarters at Anse Vata district in Noumea), to my knowledge, no one has yet successfully propagated or transplanted and grown this species in a horticultural setting, so you are unlikely to find it even in a garden. Port Boisé is indeed near the only known locality where Araucaria nemorosa grows in the wild. The species, however, does not grow at Port Boisé itself, but rather just before the road descends from the plateau down to sea level to the Gite Kanua at Port Boisé. Although one can certainly reach the spot via the Chutes de la Madeleine, that would be a considerably less direct route over roads which are confusingly marked (and often unpaved) on the local map. A more easy-to-follow route (and faster, despite seemingly being a bit more circuitous), is to go directly to the southeast coast via the main road to Yate, through to, and continuting past, Goro, to where the road turns inland upwards into the plateau (for a view of what you'd see behind you as you climb to the plateau on that road, see www.garystutler.com/Pages/Works/LeColDeGoro.html www.garystutler.com/Pages/NCgal01.html Once you turn inland, you will reach a clearly marked crossroads pointing the way to Port Boisé. Shortly before that cross-roads, you will cross a small river. Look closely at the near bank of the river before crossing. You will see Retrophyllum minor and Podocarpus novaecaledoniae. Throughout the plateau region of the South (also known as the Plaine des Lacs), Dacrydium araucarioides is exceedingly well represented. At the higher elevations you will see interestingly shaped Agathis ovata dotting the area. Despite not being the most direct route to see A. nemorosa, the Chutes de la Madeleine is well worth a visit, not just because of the beautiful waterfall, but because of the astonishing diversity of conifers and other flora, which you are unlikely to see anywhere else. In fact, this preserve is probably the only place where you will be able to actually see Neocallitropsis pancheri and Dacrydium guillauminii. Downstream from the main viewing area (and across the river itself) you can see some pretty huge Araucaria muelleri (although they might be rulei . . . a bit tough to see from that distance, and they are not readily accessible by foot). Although it is absolutely true that there is one or two tiny populations of montane N. pancheri, I am informed that they are located in the Montaigne des Sources preserve (which is closed under lock and key to incidental human access), and in one other highly protected and very remote area which mere mortals are seldom given the chance to even approach. Trust me: If you want to see N. pancheri outside of an arboretum or garden, you must visit the Chutes de la Madeleine preserve, not just for the beautiful waterfall, but for the amazing flora (both gymnosperm and angiosperm). (By the way, although in the old days, N. pancheri was indeed exploited for its perfumed resin and other qualities, the tree is today so exceedingly rare and protected, that it would genuinely amaze me if resin could actually be purchased nowadays for something as trivial as a tourist souvenir. I can't say it's impossible, but I have never seen it offered for sale in NC or anywhere, and I would be thrilled to find out where I can get some during my next visit, if you do indeed locate a source of something like this). By the way, although the Parc Rivière Bleue is open to the public and well worth visiting because of the visitor centre and the extensive plantation of numerous endemic conifers, virtually all of the most interesting wild areas of the park have been closed to incidental traffic as of a few months ago. This is because a hurricane (cyclone in that part of the world) damaged a crucial bridge, rendering it unsafe for traffic, and cutting off the heart of the park from the main highway. It is possible that repairs have been done since my last visit, but from my conversations with friends, it seems that the money simply wasn't there. I hope that this is not the case, as the forested heart of this park is magnificent, simply chock full of amazing flora: Giant Agathis lanceolata, huge Dacrycarpus viellardii, Acmopyle, Libocedrus, Falcatifolium, and the list goes on. But the visitor centre is itself very well done and worth the visit, even if the heart of the park is closed. If you want to see some nice specimens of very rare (and hard to get to gymnosperms), you should take the time to visit the IRD's small garden (interior atrium), Parc Rivière Bleue's conifer plantation, and the Parc Forestier on top of Montravel in the heart of Noumea. The latter is a glorified zoo, but it also has several huge Agathis and Araucaria (and perhaps now other genera as well --- they were working on it not long ago). As for collecting seed or plant material, I wouldn't recommend it. Americans are not viewed with the highest esteem at the moment around the world. Although you may well have the odds in your favor and leave the country after successfully violating their rules about collecting and exporting germplasm, if you do get caught, not only would you personally get into some deep do-do with the gendarmerie, but you would intensify the official hostility against Americans who are working hard to establish official contacts for scientific purposes with the responsible Caledonian agencies. Enjoy your stay in NC.

I would not drive into the city if you can possibly avoid it. Nor would I stay in New Jersey, only to lose vast warehouses of time traveling back and forth. If you are planning to see lots of shows it makes sense to stay in or around Times Square, but if your focus isn't Broadway plays and musicals you should probably stay elsewhere-- I'd let your interests guide your hotel location. It's difficult to recommend a hotel without knowing what you'd like to spend. Just within a few blocks of each other on W. 44th St, for example, I can think of three hotels that span the price spectrum--- the Chatwal ($$$), the InterContinental($$). and the Hotel Mela ($), all within easy walking distance of most Broadway theatres. Affinia Hotels are a less expensive option (they're in several manhattan locations), and there is no dearth of fine hotels to choose from. If you like smaller boutique hotels the Lowell is a great one. We left NYC twenty years ago and still miss living there. I manage to get up a few times a year and there is always something new to see, hear, taste and enjoy. Hope you have a wonderful trip!

"If wire ends are welding themselves to the nut, something else is definitely going on in there!" Yea, there was not a good connection because they were not pretwisted. The ones that I pretwist dont get loose, and never will. Just make sure you pretwist clockwise so the nut doesnt work against it. People that claim pretwisting might make it worse are twisting it the wrong way. FYI Ron you are not alone, there are plenty that dont believe in pretwisting and there are plenty that do. Some good discussion here: http://www.mikeholt.com/forum/Forum1/HTML/005609.html "I was taught to pretwist. I still pretwist with solid wire. I have seen wire nuts melted because of poor connections. By pretwisting your not depending on a wire nut as the sole mechanical connection of the splice. Good connections means no call backs" "Like other on this board I have gone back to pre-twisting especially solid wire. I find it works quite well and as mentioned fewer call backs because something has come loose. But after looking at the boxes of wire nuts, listed in the instructions, all it says, " It is UN-Necessary to pre-twist", it doesnt say it not recommended or it is not code compliant just that it is UN-necessary, or more succinctly it is a time saver not necessarily better not to."

To stay near Columbia, try Aloft. It is quite close and simple but new. A lot of bedraggled hotels in the area. Also check out AirBnB. As far as shows, I would read the reviews carefully, as it is such a personal thing. My favorite recent one was Three Tall Women, but I think that is gone. Come From Away was just a little too saccharine for me but it may be because I was in NYC for 9/11 and I just can't see it in song, even from the uplifting Gander vantage point. If you have not seen them, I'd consider Hamilton (because it is kind of a must-see to me), Beautiful (because the Carole King music is super and I the true life story is interesting), Kinky Boots (i loved the movie, too, but the music is totally different for the show... I thought the show was fun and funny), Wicked (great music, some humor), and Dear Evan Hansen (modern, touching, great perf by the lead, but more for teens perhaps). I am a huge Downton Abbey fan but have not done this yet https://www.downtonexhibition.com/ Also, I prefer the MOMA somewhat to the Met, and I think they have better dining too. : )