A new appreciation for the size of Oz.

[bamamick]

I was reading the Dragon class newsletter from Australia last night and they were talking about a crew (the winning crew) driving from Perth to Adelaide for the Prince Phillip Cup, which serves as the nationals regatta. 2750km! I thought that 988 miles one-way was quite a penance for sailing the Dragon in Cleveland last year but that is some kind of dedication.

Of course, we have people who travel from Seattle to Miami every winter to sail in various classes but few tow a boat as substantial as a Dragon to do it. Quite impressive.

Mickey Lake

[shamus]

Mickey, just before the second gulf war started I was chatting to a naval officer from one of your ships which was here on leave. We were talking about differences between US & Oz, and I commented that the two countries are about the same size but the populations were vastly different in size, mainly because of the poverty of soil and climate in most of inland Oz. "The same size?" he sez laughing hard- "It's 3000 miles across the US!" Apparently he had never spent much time looking at a globe. You'd think if you were off to some country for leave you'd have a bit of a squiz on the map to see where you were going. The diff in area is approx Alaska, unless we count our Antarctic Territory, which I don't.

[P.I. Stazzer-Newt]

I heard someone say that Perth (Western Australia) was the most isolated city on the planet.

[PeterSibley]

Russia is the place that defies my sense of distance ....11 time zones , Australia 3.

[huisjen]

Shamus, just tell me that guy wasn't his ship's navigator. :D

Dan

[Wild Dingo]

I heard someone say that Perth (Western Australia) was the most isolated city on the planet.

Yeah Ive heard that too

Also heard it called the most boreing city in the world too... but I guess that all depends on who you talk to eh?

Mind you theres buggar all open after about 1am!

[mmd]

I chatted with a fellow from New York one day at the Yarmouth, NS ferry terminal. He was taking a week's vacation to tour Atlantic Canada. He said he was going to drive to St. John's, Newfoundland that day, then work his way back through PEI and New Brunswick on the way home. He was quite confused and a bit indignant when I told him that it was a thousand driving miles and a six-hour ferry ride from where he was standing to St. John's.

Not meaning to single out just Americans with this posting; it amazes me how very little effort people expend to educate themselves about the countries they plan to travel to.