As in any other country in the world, country Australia is different from city Australia. One glaring difference is the price of goods. In the U S there is some difference but not a dramatic one IF you are close to a "city" or major highway. Not so much in Australia. To start with, for a (former) small town guy, the price of anything in Aussieland is shocking. U.S. Americans are always worried about the price of gasoline and talk about that almost as much as about the weather. So - petrol here is 'about' an average of $1.50 per liter (litre in Aussie). There are 3.8 litres per U.S. gallon so that makes $5.70 per Aussie dollar per gallon. Then convert to U S dollar at $.97 per and that is rounded to $5.80+ per gallon. That is for unleaded, the higher octane petrol goes way up from there. So much for moving to here to get away from all the election madness in the U S.

Probably all of you have seen pictures of the Australian bush. Most of those pictures come from the professional media where they are paid to do a movie or a travelogue. The true Aussie bush is rougher than what either of those two extremes show and not all of it is lush and tropical. The tropical part is in the north but from midway down it is similar to what the U S was many, many years ago.

  We went on a bush walk in the Pilliga Forest on a trail the National Parks and Wildlife Service had made. At every significant point there was some sort of art figure. One of the most impressive to me was a bronze statute of an Aboriginal father with his son. The father is pointing down the canyon showing and telling his son about how that is their hunting and living place. This particular clan/tribe of Aborigines had lived in this area for centuries before the Europeans came and pushed them out. It is theirs once again.

The walk through that part of the forest was quite good as every so often there was another monument to the Aboriginal people. The carved and metal structures were of the finest of great quality.

  Australia has a small population so they haven't ruined all their forested lands yet. One can drive for miles without seeing a habitable structure. One can, however, see where settlements had been tried or farms had been abandoned just as in the U S and many other countries. If you have read any Australian stories, early day fiction or history, it is easy to hear the ghosts speaking. The hardships they had to endure were much the same as our early “settlers’ except they still had the royal system in place. They were pretty much owned by the crown which is a concept so foreign to Americans we cannot grasp what it was like.

  Having been through many small Australian towns and am now living just outside one, I can see a great difference between this one and one of similar size in the U S, I am not familiar with European small towns so I will keep this comparison to the U S and Australx. Coonobarabran is a town of just over 3,000 people. The main street is full of businesses, there are people there every day and there are very few empty store fronts. It is a busy, bustling place that is fun to visit. So far, all shop people have been very friendly and helpful to an old guy who cannot get their strange coins sorted out.

Even if one looks the correct direction before crossing a street one would have to be careful. There is so much traffic the main street is always busy. I have not seen any area where the houses are run down and shabby. It appears that the people here have some civic pride and keep their houses in good nick (sic). Even in the progressive metropolis of Broken Arrow, OK there are run down sections and run down houses. Makes one wonder about the difference.

On another note, the Australian government has just declared that the family of every high school child would receive $820 per child for school expenses. Every elementary child’s parents receive half that. Compare that with the U S where we have many politicians trying to do away with public education. I think the Aussies have a better handle on education.

I looked out the window and what did I see, two little black eyes looking back at me. My best guess is that anywhere this is being read, on the north top of the world, there are not juvenile kangaroos eating the grass in your lawn. This morning I just looked out the living room window and there he was - or she was. I am not really great with telling the difference unless one is carrying a smaller one in her pouch and then I am an expert. Winnie the Poo stories to the contrary, mommy kangaroos are not effete looking and have pretty, long eyelashes. They look like kangaroos.

Two days ago at an early hour, I was walking across this property and looked up and saw a mob of kangaroos streaking toward their day time home. It is amazing how fast roos can travel. It is also amazing that Australian natives could get close enough or be fast enough to catch them. As I has read and been told, Kangaroo meat was a staple of their diet so they must have had some tricks and skills that we moderns do not have. I certainly don't as I didn't even see them until I saw this line going toward the mountain at their tremendous speed. They were truly a sight to see. I found out later that roos run in a line. I suppose they figure the hunters will get the slow ones at the end and the fast, big guys will make it safely home.

Probably 99% of the people reading this have never seen a kangaroo in the wild; but you should.

Also today I drove the 16 kilometers into town. Now for you directionally impaired, the Aussies, as does their original British overlords, drive on the left side of the road. Why any civilized nation would do that is beyond me as it causes some major problems. Just imagine driving on the "wrong" side of the road and looking at your speedometer which is registering about 80 and a car comes around the curve ahead of you on the wrong side and going very fast.

Having a car smash in a foreign country is enough to ruin your whole day so one has to be careful. Here in Coonabarabran ( I am NOT making that up) the people park at a 45 degree angle and put the back to the curb (kerb), That's correct, they back in to park. It makes for some interesting scenes as their main street is very busy.

We parked on a side street and walked all over town only moving the car when it was time to grocery shop and then go home. Walking makes it a great deal easier to pass someone on the correct side or change sides when someone is coing directly toward you. Also, when you walk all over the shopping district you do not have to keep backing into the curb/kerb. Once a day is enough.
Fortunately, the grocery store had "standard" parking one just pulled into. I got that one correct in only one try. OKJ, I had to drive slowly around the parking lot until I found an easy one to get into as i was sitting on the wrong side.

Then it was 16K (10 miles) the other way on the wrong side of the road again. If I keep coming over here I may start a national campaign to change that to the way God intended.

I shall attempt to publish pictures on my blog.

Wellsir, we were worried and not looking forward to a five hour layover in Dallas. It didn't happen, nosir, not at all. We had six hours in Tulsa. The plane from Dallas had mechanical problems. Good, I didn't want to fly in it anyway. So they finally started boarding people in Dallas to come to Tulsa. There were more mechanical problems.
Now when the plane finally arrived, did they think we would all cheer? Not bloody likely. But we did get on and we did finally leave. People all over missed many connections but, fortunately as it turned out, we had a five hour window so we were good.
Our plane from Dallas to Brisbane was a little over half full and there was plenty of room for everyone. Many people hit the center section and had all four seats to stretch out in. I got to the back and grabbed one ofr the full rows only to be told by a cabin attendant that part of it was taken. Why she saved it for a young guy I do not know but she did.
I tried sleeping in two seats but couldn't get in a configuration with my old, tired body that was as confortable as my personal one seat with the back let back. So I stayed there. I wanted to try to sleep so I am mad at the cabin attendant.
We landed in Brisbane to refuel, let off a few passengers and take on a few. WE had to go through security again in Brisbane but, as in most countries, we did not have to undress and remove down to the bare skin as we do in the U. S.
When we finally landed in Sydney we were sent through the mildest entrance you can imagine. Having been there several times I am sure they recognized me and said, "Hey, there is Chelsea, put him on the fast track as he is a VIP.
You can put whatever initials you want to that.
We are now in Connabarbran and have already seen many Roos. More about that later as I hear people approaching.
The days have been super beautiful.
More later.