1. How are the Cigar Afficianado Big Smokes?

2. My wife and myself are going to Cairns Australia for a long weekend. Has anyone been there, and found a good cigar shop, or an especially fun place to act foolish? Are Cuban cigars readily available in Australia, or should I park my butt on the lanai of my room with my Cigar Bid finds?

1. Never been to one ... but I hear it's a 'cattle call'. Lot's of fun, if you like being shoulder to shoulder being hearded from booth to booth. Like I said, I've never been ... but this is what I've heard from many who have.

2. I have several friends that have either been to, or live in, Australia ... that say cigar selection is extremely limited and are very expensive ...

Nothing like getting a plethora of second hand information, eh?

a friend of a friend of mine once went to a CA Big Smoke in Australia and it turned out to be a bunch of guys with really expensive bad cigars watching a crocodile getting cooked on a spit.

... I heard it was a crocodile getting spit on by a cook, but like I said, it was second hand information.

BTW, I should have been a little more clear ... Cuban cigars are pretty easy to come by if you are willing to pay the price (most of them anyway), it's the others that are harder and more expensive to get.

My suggestion ... take your own, just in case! I did when I went to PR, and I was glad I did. In Puerto Rico, getting just about any cigar I wanted wasn't a problem ... it was the prices that were outrageous.

Find one of those online sites in Spain or Switzerland selling Cubans and have them ship to your hotel.

been to two big smokes in the old days.
first was dallas...felt like halloween, filling up a bag with great gars, smoking some super fine dunhills, fuentes and some single malt and the best food you can imagine. but, it was packed...you were elbow to elbow the whole time, also all the smoke (poor venilation )got to be a little too much. if i remember i came away thinking my $75.00 (i think that was the cost)was the best money i ever spent i came home with over $200.00 worth of cigars, ate and drank like a king and loved it. ( had to go buy a bigger humi).
the second was in NYC, this was when the boom started going strong. while i had a great time, the drink didn't seem to flow like it did in the first one, but the biggest suprise was the gars they were giving out were not anywhere near the quality of the first one. at both events they give you a coupon book which you take to each booth and trade a coupon for a cigar...neat deal like tricck or treat...in dallas i traded a whole bunch of my coupons for dog rockets at the dunhill booth. the guy was trying to hook me on dunhills (duh) i came out like a bandit with about 25 dunhill double coronas tubed (made my night) in NYC it was a way different approach... no big shots from the gar companies, just a bunch sales people or worse yet just people they hired to man the booth, nobody would accept anyone elses coupons ( got a alot of crap that i gave away when i got home). also, in NYC they had drink coupons (bum deal) when you run out of coupons no more scotch (thought i was gonna cry). overall impression of big smokes...everyone bent over backwards at the first one because this was before the boom and they would do anything to please you, at the second it was pretty much like- just get in line and be grateful for what you get. in summary, you will probably have a good time if pushing and shoving and crowding doesn't bother you. you will probably get your money's worth, but i doubt you will make a haul.

Just lending a bit of substantiation to the comments about availability and cost of cigars in Australia ... a long-time friend of mine has had an even longer friendship with a fellow in Australia ... the Aussie is all the time sending money, asking for a "care package" of cigars ... judging from the enthusiasm he shows for the cost of smokes from the US (even with the cost/delay of postage to get 'em "down under", I think you'd be quite well advised to follow the suggestion of taking your own ...

Thanks to everyone who replied.

I had visions of "sheilas" waving Cuban cigars at me while I beat them off (only because the wife will be next to me).

We are going to Cairns with about a dozen golfers and wives (some play better than I!!!, the wives mostly), so maybe I'll take some of my CigarBid winnings to have after a satisfying meal of Kalua bear and Greg Norman Chardonney wine.

Dennis

Went to my first one in Las Vegas last year - won't ever do it again unless I'm fully comped.......

Dennis ... for a couple of crazy seconds, I misunderstood what your vision of yourself and those cigar waving Shielas were gonna be doing ... and in front of your wife to boot ... I deduced the meaning when I realized it had to do with you REPELLING their advances instead of them acting on YOU ... oh, well ... I get it now.

I went to last years (2001) Big Somke in Vegas.
IT WAS WORTH EVERY PENNY!!

It was a bit of a a** holes to elbows, but the food was great, 30+ cigars, all the booze you could consume, HOT Babes, great cars.

We were not "herded" You got a coupon book and you walked booth to booth getting you cigar.

Last year was a record setting event. They sold out all of their preprinted tickets and had to substitute with hand written ones so people could get in the door.
There were still plenty of food, drinks and CIGARS for everyone.

The Napoleon Room near the entrance was always busy with all sorts of cigar people. Famous to infamous.

I would suggest everyone go to at least one, the Big One, in Vegas.

The wife and I got back this morning from 4 days in Cairns, Australia.

What a nice vacation!!!

A couple of nights ago, all 16 of our group had dinner at Pesci's on the Pier.

After spending lot's of Aussie dollars, I was staggering out and spotted some Cuban cigars at the end of the bar.

I purchased a Romeo Y Julieta #3 for, as best I can recall, about $12 (American $). I had it on the lanai of our room, watching the huge bats fly around. I thought they were some sort of black, stealth night bird, but my Guamanian fanihi(bat)-expert friends said they confirmed seeing wings.

The cigar was very good, but I wasn't sure of what to expect. Kind of like a typical "first time". Definite different, and I want to do it again!

Thread Hijack.............
Dennis, Did you do any fishing while you were there? Cairns area has some of the greatest Marlin fishing in the world.

RDC,
What you said about the "Big Somke in Vegas" sounds interesting. Anybody know when it happens or where I can get info?

RDC also said something about "HOT Babes". Maybe they were the ones with the Big Somke's. lol

efm, "The Big Smoke" will be at the Paris in Las Vegas November 15-17, 2002

Doh! That would be this weekend. Maybe next year.

Spiny,

No, no marlin fishing, though I did notice that the area is known for excellent marlin fishing.

Man, I must have been really tired when I wrote my message last night. I meant to say that the huge black "night birds" were confirmed to be bats because my buddies identified bat-shaped wings on them, as opposed to birdie wings.