It is all a bit sad really. I know a lot of people who always go to the same place for holidays, kids or no kids, year after year. Why? It is not that much more difficult to go somewhere else and probably doesn't cost anymore. I am sure it would be much more enriching to everyone if they did take themselves and the kids to different places.Talk about insular!!
I must say that I have travelled USA a bit and it is quite spectacular and, while Australia might not have things on the grand scale of say the Grand Canyon, Yellowstone, Montana, Monument Valley etc etc, we do have a lot of incredibly amazing places to see in the smaller version, of course. The UK is just fantastic for history!!!
But I don't think we publicise what we have got in Australia other than the touristy spots that get all the dollars in advertising and government help... and a lot of these places are quite trashy, in my opinion.
Having discovered them since owning the JKU, I must say that I love the deserts of Australia. But they are becoming crowded now, too, now that every one buys or leases a 4WD and just wants to be a Malcolm Douglas (bless his soul) or a Leyland brother (bless them all, too).
I remember finally getting to Rudall River National Park in the remotest Pilbara and bugger me dead if, after the last kilometre that took me an hour of crawling, there were 3 sets of bloody grey nomads all set up. Jeez, really. And they would not let me alone. I think that they get sick of each other being together so long in a confined 4WD space and so make a beeline to any one that turns up. I have to be careful here because my missus says that I am about as grey and nomadic as those about whom I complain.
It was here that one night I got bailed up by 4 dingoes (mum, dad and 2 kids). I pissed off the alpha male by squirting it in the eyes with African wasp spray.... it did not like that at all!! To be doubly sure that they would leave me alone I set off a screaming soccer hooligan horn. They all yelped and took off after that. Still, I was camping on their home patch.... there were a number of caves in the area that I noticed in the day and wondered whether there would be any dingoes about.
It is the only time that I have been bailed up by dingoes. You do see a lot of them, but only after they have been watching you, unseen, for 10 or so minutes. If they notice u spotted them, they will drop to the ground, as still as can be. When u turn your head, they take off. Ten minutes later they will be 5-10 metres away, and behind you. And you don't even know that you have been stalked.
Last edited by humdingerslammer; 05-05-2022 at 11:58 AM.
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