You know you're in country New South Wales ...

SonOfTheExiles · Post by **SonOfTheExiles** » February 22nd, 2016, 1:45 am

... when the on-ramp to the freeway has a cattle-grid.

https://www.google.com.au/maps/@-34.8174742,148.3224392,3a,75y,101.24h,84.29t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1saqc-SXiguiiq4A7vj2HNIQ!2e0!6s%2F%2Fgeo1.ggpht.com%2Fcbk%3Fpanoid%3Daqc-SXiguiiq4A7vj2HNIQ%26output%3Dthumbnail%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26thumb%3D2%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D59.278484%26pitch%3D0!7i3328!8i1664?hl=en

I was down on the Jugiong Rd from Cootamundra to Jugiong yesterday morning.

SOTE

tony123 · Post by **tony123** » February 22nd, 2016, 1:49 pm

I was most interested in the church with the subtitle, "God Botherers." And, of course, in wasting time trying to drive along the Google roads and finding I'm going the wrong way. I definitely needed a steering wheel.

Wait, it was, "Wanted, God Botherers, no experience necessary," so I could join if I could just navigate Google maps successfully!

Elizabby · Post by **Elizabby** » February 22nd, 2016, 5:31 pm

LOL! My father was from country NSW. I asked him why he never took us girls back there for a visit? He was genuinely confused - why would you want to go there? There's nothing there! Since I left for Sydney, I never went back there myself!

(He was talking about Tumbarumba. I don't think there's much there even now!)

Post by **MaryAnnSpiegel** » February 22nd, 2016, 8:13 pm

SOTE,

You could also be in New Mexico . . . https://www.google.com/maps/@35.0305098,-104.4124437,3a,75y,270h,90t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sQ7NCKepkkPv6x5bzI9itNg!2e0!7i13312!8i6656

Interstate 40 follows the route of Route 66 across much of New Mexico and Arizona.

MaryAnn

SonOfTheExiles · Post by **SonOfTheExiles** » February 23rd, 2016, 12:28 am

Well, Tumbarumba has one claim to fame. It featured in John O'Grady's poem "The Great Australian Adjective".

I was down on Riverina, knockin' round the towns a bit,
An' occasionally restin', with a schooner in me mitt;
An' on one o' these occasions, when the bar was pretty full
an' the local blokes were arguin' assorted kinds o' bull,
I heard a conversation, most peculiar in its way,
Because only in Australia would you hear a joker say,
"Where yer bloody been, yer drongo? 'Aven't seen yer fer a week;
"An' yer mate was lookin' for yer when 'e come in from the Creek;
"'E was lookin' up at Ryan's, an' around at bloody Joe's,
"An' even at the Royal where 'e bloody never goes."
An' the other bloke said "Seen 'im. Owed 'im 'alf a bloody quid,
"Forgot ter give ut back to 'im; but now I bloody did.
"Coulda used the thing me-bloody-self; been orf the bloody booze,
"Up at Tumba-bloody-rumba shootin' kanga-bloody-roos."

Now their voices were a little loud, an' everybody heard
The peculiar integration of this adjectival word.
But no one there was laughin', an' me I wasn't game,
So I stood around an' let 'em think I spoke the bloody same.
An' one of 'em was interested to ask 'im what he'd got-
How many kanga-bloody-roos he bloody went and shot-
An' the shootin' bloke said, "Things are crook; the drought's too bloody tough;
"I got forty-bloody-seven, an' that's good e'-bloody-nough."
An' this polite rejoinder seemed to satisfy the mob,
An' everyone stopped listenin' an' got on with the job,
Which was drinkin' beer and arguin' an' talkin' of the heat,
An' stickin' in the bitumen in the middle of the street;
But as for me, I'm here to say the interestin' news
Was "Tumba-bloody-rumba shootin' kanga-bloody-roos."

Elizabby · Post by **Elizabby** » February 23rd, 2016, 9:20 pm

LOL! We should do that for a weekly poem!

Post by **annise** » February 23rd, 2016, 9:27 pm

Yep - add it to the poetry plaaning thread for Jan 1st 2052

Anne

SonOfTheExiles · Post by **SonOfTheExiles** » February 23rd, 2016, 11:08 pm

Continuing the backblocks theme...

Alice Springs' Todd River Regatta has got to be the only one in the world that gets cancelled because of water in the riverbed. Doesn't happen often, though.

As I remember, back in the Cold War days, the Americans at the Early Warning Station at Pine Gap, just outside Alice Springs, always made a very respectable showing in the races. Haven't seen their form in recent years.

https://www.google.com.au/search?q=todd+river+regatta&biw=1280&bih=661&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwj4g4nJ24_LAhVDX5QKHc5IA00Q_AUIBigB

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henley-on-Todd_Regatta

SOTE

SonOfTheExiles · Post by **SonOfTheExiles** » February 26th, 2016, 6:32 pm

The Pine Tree From Hell

Piotrek81 · Post by **Piotrek81** » February 27th, 2016, 1:48 am

SonOfTheExiles wrote:The Pine Tree From Hell

Muderous critters from Australia- add one.

And, if that weren't enough, just yesterday I read about some nasty ants living in Tasmania...

Seriously guys, how do you survive there?

Post by **annise** » February 27th, 2016, 3:41 am

Have we mentioned the Drop-Bears recently ?

Anne

catrose · Post by **catrose** » February 27th, 2016, 3:50 am

Can you rename this the "Reasons I'm terrified of Australia" thread

Timothy Ferguson · February 29th, 2016, 10:24 pm

Piotrek81 wrote:Seriously guys, how do you survive there?

...we eat them and gain their powers?