Around Australia.

 

Magun's Compass
Learn from the Travel Experiences of Others

 

Even if you are not emigrating, you are probably just as apprehensive about the land you are approaching.

"What is Australia?" you ask.

It is the world's largest island and smallest continent. It has a huge red centre, with symbolic Ayers Rock -- Uluhru -- the largest monolith on Earth.

The largest monolith on Earth; Ayers Rock or Uluhru to give it its native Australian name.

The Great Barrier Reef is the largest living coral in the world, and the snowfields of The Great Dividing Range are greater than those of Alpine Switzerland.

But don't tell them that they are the biggest braggarts, and remember that a "Pommy Bastard" is a term of endearment.

Many youngsters, under 26, even choose to take a whole year out and apply to Australia House for a working visa. Fewer funds are needed if you can work your way around the continent, and it can be a good experience to muck in with other nationals.

The vast central plains are desert, or semi-desert, and nearly always deserted. The thought of the spirits of Aboriginal ancestors blowing across measureless miles of their dreamlands, might be compared to a remark made by Marco Polo on a Gobi Desert crossing, in 1274:

"Beasts there are none; for there is nought for them to eat. But there is a marvelous thing related of this Desert, which is that when travellers are on the move by night, and one of them chances to lag behind or fall asleep or the like, when he tries to gain his company again he will hear spirits talking, and will suppose them to be his comrades. Sometimes the spirits will call him by name; and thus shall a traveller oft times be led astray so that he never finds his party. And in this way many have perished."

"Walkabout..."

Australia Index.

Nomadic Gatherings - Travels in Asia and Australia

Travel on trains and buses in Asia, then jump into cars with complete strangers in Australia and New Zealand as Michel introduces you to a collection of characters that bring Nomadic Gatherings to life.

If you can't afford to buy a copy of Nomadic Gatherings, the chapters are slowly being made available online - for free.

You may even decide that it really is worth having a hard copy in your hands; a useful read for those long bus journeys being written about, and for endless waits at ferry ports.

Nomadic Gatherings - Online Chapters.

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Magun's Compass