Thursday, May 25, 2006

Australia 101 - lesson 2a


Simpson Desert was named after a man who manufactures washing machines.

Bill Bryson says that it's difficult to determine exactly where the Australian outback begins. "To Australians anything vaguely rural is "the bush." At some indeterminate point "the bush" becomes "the outback." Push on for another two thousand miles or so and eventually you come to bush again, and then a city, and then the sea. And that's Australia."

4 comments:

byron smith said...

Yep.
Though, basically, for those living on the east coast (= about 90% of the population), the bush is west of the Great Dividing Range (a collection of hills that runs north-south down the east coast and defines the (generally) well-watered coastal plain from the (much dryer) inland. The GDR barely qualifies for capitals, given it only rises to a little over 2,000 m (=6,000 ft)).

ckjolly said...

My former pastor, from the place I lived at before I moved here, is disappointed in me.

When he was visiting for his son's graduation, I mentioned that Australia might be my next destination of adventure.

"What's this about Australia? When New Zealand is only 1200 miles away and we all know we have to pass through New Zealand to get to heaven, who wouid want to go to Aussy. I'm a surprised at you even considering such a thing, not to mention a llittle disappointed."

If you can't tell, he's from the north island.

Radagast said...

"Push on for another two thousand miles or so and eventually you come to bush again, and then a city, and then the sea"... kind of like the continental US, but without most of the people.

byron smith said...

Yeah, middle America and middle Australia have such totally different connotations...