I am an Aussie living and working in Thailand. I picked up the pipe about 4 years ago, but still consider myself very much a beginner.

UPDATE: I am an Aussie now living back in Australia with my wife and daughter. I have now been smoking a pipe for 9 years! I don't know what made me pick a a pipe in Thailand those years ago, but I am sure glad I did. I think I have learned a bit over the years and have become a better pipeman, but it sure does take some time. One would think that putting some tobacco in a pipe and smoking it would be pretty much straight forward, but I would say that it is only in the last year or so that I have really begun to get the most from my pipe smoking. It really has only been in the last 12 months that I feel that I can pack a pipe - take into account different tobaccos and different pipes - well. I know that I have still got a way to go - and I am happy about it!