Thanks y'all! Tomorrow I am going to the UC gardens. It's the only one mentioned abve that I visited as a student, but I was not an avid rose grower then, so I imagine it will be of more interest to me now. I had been recommended seeing Fivoli in the Spring as opposed to now by a friend who has been multiple times. I don't know anyone who has been to Morcom, but it sounds intriguing and I may try to slip it in Saturday, time willing. I never would've guessed there's a 7 acre rose garden by Lake Merrit, but what do I know? I WISH I could make it down to San Jose, but that's almost certainly not going to be possible this trip. Ditto as regards the Sacramento Historic Cemetery. I ended up at the SF Botanical garden today as opposed to Saturday and it was quite impressive. Not a rose garden by any means, but some wonderful types of flora I had not seen before. There was a heavenly smelling Mrs. Oakley Fisher and a very lovely Reve d'Or in bloom there today though. Jay

Thanks again! Paul, I should have had him take off his hat..he's bald and it really would have looked like an antenna! The lamps were metal. The website is www.desertsteel.net. A little pricey, so it looks like I will be saving up for a while! Ryan, we did. We weren't coming from WI only to miss it! Nothing is allowed on it....just you and your shoe protector slipper thingies....they don't want you dropping anything that might scratch the glass. THEY will gladly take your picture, which, if not included in your package, will cost you roughly $30! We passed. I took pictures of it from the side and I have other souvenirs and my memories. I still would recommend it though! Nancy

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 visited in 2010 for the first time. My favorite memory is walking across the Brooklyn Bridge into the city. It's the first thing I thought of when I learned we were going! At the center, there was a man doing ink drawings ..I bought two..St Patrick's Cathedral and of course the Brooklyn Bridge. Both are framed and hang in the living room. We took a cab to the Brooklyn side and walked into the city, which made for some great photos. We also really enjoyed the Pedicabs/rickshaws. They are everywhere and made for a new and fun experience for us. The cab rides were waaay to scary for me, lol. We also loved Central Park and enjoyed a carriage ride through it. If you stay in Times Square, beware the character crew that appear to be willing to take pics with you but we had an unpleasant experience ( and scary for my little grand daughter). Some actually got into fights with one another over who got more tips. We stayed at The Millenium/Broadway in Times Square. We also got invited into GMA studio for the live show which was an unexpected treat after it started raining, lol. Do your research if time permits and find things interesting to you...most of all have fun! Just a word of advice...if you take the cabs, close your eyes till the ride is over..oye