It's a BIG country

I can quite believe it.
When on holiday in the UK years ago, I looked at the distance of the place from one end to the other and thought "should take a day or so".....yeah right ! I was thinking of the distances here, not there :))

Mate just came back from the U.S, some of the more funny questions he was asked

1. Is it true you government pays for every citizen to have year long vacation in Europe.? "No mate other way around, we pay for the government to have year long vacations in Europe" LOL

2. Where about's in Europe is Australia?!!!!

3. Is Australia very big?, "Are you serous, it’s F**king huge."

Another tip he reckons, If you think you are about to be mugged or somebody a bit shifty is watching you, Just walk up to em and ask where something is and be sure to use lot’s of Australia slang and they will leave you alone.

They even got into a Club in New York where the entry fee was $300 for just $20 just by telling the bouncer at the door where they we from, the owner of the club even came down and talked to em LOL.

Young friend was in US on holiday and asked where she was from.
Australia.
"Oh yeah, lottsa mountains, huh ?"
She's puzzled for a moment. Mountains ??
"Australia, ya know. That's where they made that Sounds of Music movie ?"

Funniest thing I was asked about in the US was "are there crocodiles where you live?"

This was in Florida, where you can see alligators as roadkill in the leafier suburbs.

My goodness. Bet they wouldn't attempt that with any trolly from my supermarket. I'm flat out controlling them as they veer towards the Yuppy "I've scheduled 15 mts to do this and then pick the kids up" types.

Agreed. But commercialization has its advantages also. There are now signs telling you what's there, and the locals don't just want you to open your wallet and leave.
They actually welcome you ! There are heaps more facilities, and even the tiny towns are cleaning up their act for the tourist dollar.
You can still get away from it all but as you say, it's just a longer drive :)

Michael et al,
I agree. I travelled around Aus extensively by 4WD in the 60s, 70s and a little in the early 80s. Life got too busy after that - perhaps my priorities got changed! I wore out a series 2A and 3 LWB Landrover and finished with a G60 Patrol which did a few trips but mostly towing trailers & boats.

Like you said in the early days you could go to so many places and see few people and have few restrictions. A few idiots did silly things, but on the whole those that travelled in the bush appreciated and respected it.

Bought a Pajero about 10 years ago and started travelling again but not to the extent I hoped. Plan to retire at the end of this year and am going to get out there again. I am going to try and avoid going back to the special places I knew well because I don't want to spoil the memories - I am sure so much will have changed.

I worked for a couple of years in the Kimberley and had an aboriginal mate who took me to many places that few knew - absolute magic. Still find that if you have to walk more than 15 mins if deters most of the yahoo crowd.

I worry about the speed that some of the time limited folk travel at on bush roads. Had an incident a few years ago when I had a near head on with a guy in a top of the line Landcruiser on a narrow track through heavy scrub. He had the attitude that you travel as fast as the vehicle can go in the conditions, which in his case was about 80ks. Came around the corner and found me coming towards him at about 30ks = closing speed of 110ks !!. I headed into the scrub and we missed somehow, me with a lot of scratches and a broken headlight, he with virtually nothing. He abused me for getting in the way, his kids looked embarrassed and his wife said nothing. He jumped back into the rig and roared off again. I changed my undergarments !!

We tend to travel at moderate speed because we like to be able to look at things, but I do keep an eye out so I don't hold others up. Used to find that I often caught up to people when they had punctures or got stuck and helped them out. Wonder why I don't get many punctures and get quite good fuel consumption? Not a boring old F@&%, just prefer to keep my adrenalin times to when I can race my sports car on the track and not put others at risk.

Sorry didn't mean to go on, got on a thought roll.

cheers
alastair

I dunno Footy, perhaps we look for different things when camping. We prefer to be away from crowds and the commercial activity that seems to follow.

Years ago when we first went to Mataranka maybe one or two other families would be there and camping was available anywhere.

Some years later when I took my mum and dad, we were stopped by a boom gate and directed to a small area that was set aside for tents...tour buses were in another area and caravans yet somewhere else.

The hot springs were still there, but had lost all its attraction for me at least. Almost had to queue up to get in..

If that is the benefit of a commercial activity, I'll go elsewhere.

Same with Ayers Rock, when we first went we were able to camp at the Olgas, with the Rangers permission, don't think that would happen now:(

Cannot live in the past I know but I still object to a lot of the restrictions placed on some places.

Sorry but it is a sore subject.

Cheers
Michael

Michael, yes I remember those times well. The thought of boom gates at Mataranks is just....plain wrong !
As I get older I enjoy my comforts more. Motels are now an OK change from lying on the floor. Maccas brekkys mean no fire, no cooking or washing up. BUT I still don't like crowds or big cities.
I'm still amazed by the number of travellers out there, even on remote tracks. Not huge numbers but they're there.

hahahahaha. When one passes me I think the same thing :))))

Yep, my recent trip was 12000km, around half the distance between London and Sydney. It's a long way.

I asked how big one station was. "A million "
"But we just bought the place next door" How big is that one ? "Oh it's tiny, around 250,000 acres. "

Yeah I got a mate and his parents have a Million acre station up in the Gascoyne, But Don’t live on it, just have a manager to run the day to day operations and they live down in Perth.

Not a bad way to do things.

A 5 DAY pass to see Australia ? I'm speechless !