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Fly
over to down under
By
Chris Hoskin
Daily Forty-Niner
Contributing Writer
During a long 14-hour flight to Australia,
a toddler throwing a temper-tantrum and
the in-flight presentation of some week-old
sports match, you will question your commitment
to adventure. As soon as the beauty of the
Australian mainland appears below your plane,
however, you will realize you’re in
for a good time.
I’d say rule No. 1 is take the first
day easy. Don’t drink, don’t
party. Rest up, get a hearty meal.
Beer is somewhat a delicacy in Australia.
In America, we have many giant mainstream
brewers who have a claim staked in a majority
of American bars. In Australia, however,
most of the big geographical regions have
their own brew of choice.
For example, the predominant beer enjoyed
in the northeastern state of Queensland
is XXX which has a dry, distinct bite to
it. In Sydney and most of New South Wales,
Toohey’s is the beer of choice. Victoria
Bitter is enjoyed by—you guessed it—residents
of the state of Victoria.
I’m tempted to say that beer flows
in Australia like water. Well, about 90
percent of the country is made up of desert,
so I think it’s safe to say that in
areas of Australia, beer flows more torrentially
than water. There are pubs, bars and nightlife
everywhere. You can take your pick in any
town, no matter how small.
Picking a traditional Aussie pub, one complete
with locals, is a must-do activity for any
tourist. Aussies, the lovable bunch they
are, absolutely love a drink. They get loud,
happy and really quite adorable after a
few pints, especially when there’s
a sport match on the telly.
Sport, by the way, is one thing that is
never in shortage in Australia. Australians
love sport almost as much as they love a
pint of beer. Any season you visit will
be packed full of Aussies fervently supporting
their local teams or national teams competing
abroad.
Whatever you do, though, don’t try
to understand Aussie sport. Trying to understand
cricket or Aussie rules football in the
few weeks you might spend there is like
trying to cook a ham by staring at it and
saying, "Cook, ham, cook."
But I would encourage anyone to at least
"give it a go" as they say. Asking
a local what the hell is going on is a great
way to get an Aussie to ramble on and on.
It’s also a good way to make a friend.
And Aussies make great ones. I still get
wonderful, exciting letters from the friends
I spent only a few hours with. These happy-go-lucky
folk with their easygoing way of life have
a great deal of my admiration. The Aussies
themselves were my favorite part of the
trip.
Perhaps their natural welcoming friendliness
toward foreigners is what makes Australia
such a wonderful tourist destination. One
of the best ways to get around is by purchasing
a "hop on-hop off" bus or train
ticket from your arrival point to some other
major hub.
For example, I bought such a pass from Sydney
to Cairns, a city of about 130,000 people
located in Australia’s northern tropical
region. The freedom in the pass allowed
me to customize my progress toward Cairns,
and I got to spend a lot of time in the
less-populated regions where I could find
a little beach with no one on it and have
a little privacy in paradise.
Also helpful to the student tourist are
the abounding youth hostels in even the
smallest of towns. Hostels provide just
a little bit more than the bare minimum.
You’ll get a bunk in a room you’ll
share with three or five other travelers
from all over the world. You’ll make
friends who you’d think are completely
different.
After chatting, you’ll realize how
much you have in common, and you can easily
make a friend by just inviting someone to
a nearby pub. At about $10-15 per night,
the experience cannot be beat.
The biggest lesson I learned in Australia
is that you can have a great time without
spending a fortune. You don’t need
to stay in resort hotels, whose amenities
are duplicated indefinitely at all other
franchised, generic resorts all over the
world. If pampering is what you want, Australia
is not for you.
Just relax, take everything as it comes,
enjoy your time and be a good tourist. The
people of Australia deserve only the best.
Food • Vegemite is
a putrid, disgusting black substance that
is usually spread on toast, that only those
who were raised on it could love.
Fact • Australia
is the sixth largest nation in the world
in geographical size, but is 53rd largest
in terms of population.
Hot spot • The Mad
Cow Tavern in Townsville, Queensland is
a great place for nightlife, and check out
the Battle of the Coral Sea memorial. It
commemorates the site where American and
Australian naval forces fought together
to successfully defend Australia from a
Japanese invasion during World War II.
Activity • Catching
the Aussie spirit by going with the flow
of things and avoiding the stress that comes
with planning out tiny details. Be casual,
and go barefoot everywhere!
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