platypus

Thank you. Thank you. You are too kind.

During the 8 months or so, spread across many vacations, I spent in Oz, I have never come across anyone that expressed dislike for me because I am American. (I'm sure I provided many other reasons, though ). I found everyone to be extremely friendly, laid back, and generous. In fact, in a pub I very seldom had to buy my own beer. People seemed to want to talk to me just because I'm from the US. I shouted often though - didn't want to leave the wrong impression.

As far as the nasty bitey things go, I have seen many in the wild - red bellied black snake, king brown, crocs, sharks, stone fish, box jellies, dingos (heh heh), etc. I spent a lot of time hiking in the hinterland, walking in the desert, and diving on the reef. I wasn't looking for them, but I was in their world. They gave me a wide berth, as I did them.

BTW, I've seen many nasties here in the US - rattle snakes, cottonmouths, alligators, black widows. So we are not the non-venonous toothless nirvana some would like to believe.

And cost? Recently I saw round trip airfare from LA to Sydney for $800. And once you get there, the US dollar goes very far.

Believe me. It's worth the trip. Just be advised that you will probably find yourself wanting to cash in your return ticket.

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Out the 10Base-T, through the router, down the T1, over the leased line, off the bridge, past the firewall...nothing but Net.