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Australia is not that much on my radar screen. It seems to be too much like the United States, just with a different accent and a much smaller population.
Traveling to the other side of the world just to see another English-speaking western country is not my thing. So, I'm like - yeah, okay, whatever.
I am fascinated by the wildlife and the Great Barrier Reef, however.
Perhaps a place to go if you didn't have to sit for 14 hours on a plane and deal with jet lag! Otherwise, there are other cool places to see.
We spent a month in Brisbane, Queensland about ten years ago, when my son and German daughter-in-law lived there, before my d-I-l got homesick, and they and my two grandsons returned to the Fatherland.
That was a 21 hour flight from London, via Singapore, and even though I took advantage of a B.A. deal of buy one Business Class flat bed seat, get a second free, I was still shattered on arrival both ways.
We had dinner a few weeks later, in Lille, France, with one of my French relatives, and his wife asked me to ask my wife what she thought of Australia, (my wife doesn’t speak French).
My cousin’s wife was a tad surprised when I translated my wife’s reply as, “C’était comme une Amérique civilisée”, (It was like a civilised America)!
I'm retired and Australia was on my list, but I've given up flying long-haul in Coach. Using miles was crazy (my brother flew there in Business class for a company conference and had to cash in 400,000 miles to get my SIL there with him). Paid airfares were crazy high- could I afford them and still buy groceries? Yes. Did it make sense to spend that much just to get there and back? No.
While I'm sure Australia and NZ are beautiful and interesting, so are other places that are closer. I also like a bit of the "foreign" so I gravitate to Europe and south/Central America. I loved Jean-Francois' translation of his wife's observation: "C’était comme une Amérique civilisée"!
While I would very much like to visit Australia, especially Melbourne, I've never been able to bite considering the length & expense of the flight to there & then to end up in a place, a fairly expensive place to boot, where the natives look exactly like me, speak english & the local customs are awfully similar.... drinking beer & barbequing & listening to rock music.
For the same investment in time & expense I've chosen to visit SE Asia instead in the past. But if money was not a factor I would spend a considerable amount of time traveling around Japan, especially staying in ryokans & high end hotels.
I would also like to spend prolonged periods in both London & the British countryside & have a pied-de-terre in Rome.
Location: RI, MA, VT, WI, IL, CA, IN (that one sucked), KY
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Quote:
Originally Posted by BigCityDreamer
Australia is not that much on my radar screen. It seems to be too much like the United States, just with a different accent and a much smaller population.
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The appeal of Australia (to me and many) is that it isn't like the U.S. at all. The plants and animals are rather distinct from everywhere else having broken off so long ago. It has an incredibly high rate of endemism; same reason Madagascar is so appealing.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Hefe
For the same investment in time & expense I've chosen to visit SE Asia instead in the past. But if money was not a factor I would spend a considerable amount of time traveling around Japan, especially staying in ryokans & high end hotels.
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This would also be high on my list. I can easily (and have) do Cambodia, Malaysia, etc on my own dime, but to properly do Japan, I couldn't afford it on my own right now.
The appeal of Australia (to me and many) is that it isn't like the U.S. at all. The plants and animals are rather distinct from everywhere else having broken off so long ago. It has an incredibly high rate of endemism; same reason Madagascar is so appealing.
That's why I am currently planning to visit Australia in 2020 (and knock on wood, Madagascar in 2021). Most of may travels are nature-oriented, and Australia is hard to top in that regard.
I did Australia and New Zealand, one week each, back in 1989, and I have zilch desire to ever return to Australia. I drove a rental car from Brisbane to Sydney to Canberra and Melbourne. I'll take South America with the Andes Mountains over Australia any day.
My number one spot to visit would be Hungary because both of my parents immigrated from there in the 50's. All of my family is there.
I'd love to go to Alaska and Greece, and Ireland to see Ashford Castle which has gardens that were designed and put in by my son's 4th great grandfather in the late 1800's. He is also buried there with his 1st wife and one of their kids.
Australia would be nice but I highly doubt I'd actually get there. My son has relatives there too. I also have a friend that lives there.
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