Things you don't want to lose.....

I'm gonna start this topic. Because I'm an idiot. Somehow, I've managed to lose my passport. Yep. My PASSPORT! And, it has my permanent residency visa in it, which I only got in May. Now, this would be a silly thing to do at any time. However, it's truly moronic, given that in two weeks I'm supposed to be going back to Oz for the first time since moving here, to go to the NRL Grand Final and my Dad's wedding. Flights are paid for. Grand final tickets for myself, my father and 3 of my brothers in my hand. Guess how much to get a replacement passport in time? You won't believe it: $700. Plus. How do I figure that? $257 for the passport. $127 for priority processing. $102 because I'm not in Australia. Oh, and this is Australian dollars. And - get this - I can only apply IN PERSON in Auckland or Wellington. So another couple of hundred dollars to get there and back, taking it to around $700. And that's not even the bombshell.... If I travel on a new passport without reapplying for a permanent residency visa to be added to it, I forfeit it, and have to start from scratch, instead of being just 2 1/2 years away from being eligible for citizenship. There is absolutely no way I can get a new passport AND PR visa in just two weeks! So guess who isn't going to the NRL Grand Final, or his Dad's wedding? This moron right here, that's who..... So (mainly to make me feel better), what's the worst thing you've ever lost?

decades ago, i was helping out with a road race, was mucking around putting big water containers in the car, i forgot i'd put my expensive SLR camera on the ground, and drove off without it.. couldnt afford a replacement for years, it needed to be insured as a specified item and i couldnt afford that either......

3 nights from Mesopotamia to Lake Tekapo via the Two Thumbs range. First morning, spread out my kit and re-packed. Missed my toiletry bag and did the the next 3 days and 2 nights with no contact lens solution or lens soaking case. You'll appreciate that better if you're a lens wearer. Now I always look behind me anytime I'm about to move from a stop. Sorry about your predicament, Kreig. Definitely 'lost', not just mis-placed ?.

Frank and I were descending from the tops on a very windy day and he fell over in a patch of black sooty manuka scrub. Do you think we could find his GPS in its black case? That event cost him $800 including new mapping software and he grizzles about how useless the replacement GPS is compared to the one he threw away. I'm often losing stuff but I find a lot too. This trip we got a beautiful technical pair of socks for Frank.

"And - get this - I can only apply IN PERSON in Auckland or Wellington." Is that because of the interview requirement which I now see on the AHC website, even for a renewal?? Weird. I wonder how long they've been doing that. I've had dual citizenship for yonks but got my first Australian passport about 5 years ago. I just dropped in the form with supporting documentation (citizenship cert, photos, etc), but they didn't require any interview with me. Maybe Australia's concerned about people stealing someone's documentation and submitting it.

I haven't lost anything significant I can think of, but I was out in the Tararuas once with someone who lost her wedding ring. It was somewhere outside the tent, but we never found it. Fortunately for them, they had separate rings they'd bought specifically for when tramping. Her hubby was also there and he probably just pulled another ring out of the six pack when they got home. The wedding ring was the last to go. On that same trip, somewhere down Tregear Spur, the Tararuas ate up an expensive barometric wristwatch, a decent walking pole, and an air mattress. That'll learn 'em to leave stuff attached to the outside. :)

Bino's. Brand new. Thjey weren't an expensive pair, but they were a gift. Zip on pocket of belt bag had opened up. All zips on belt bag now have snap clips so they can't open by accident.

@kreig Depending on if you are able to screw things to the wall, something like this: https://www.mitre10.co.nz/shop/jobmate-security-safe-230-x-170-x-170mm-black/p/246138 Then it is safe (no pun intended), and you know where it is.

@Kreig, that is just the pits. Feel so sorry for you mate. Fortunately I've forgotten all about the things I've lost...

The CTC went down the Hodder once and lost 6 walking poles in the party. In the end they climbed up onto a spur and came down that. I've lost walking poles twice in scrub. Now I put the pole inside the pack.