This is AustraliaThis is Australia
In October 2005 I was kindly invited to keynote the AUUG Unix/Linux/BSD
conference in Sydney, Australia, and took it as a chance to tour the
one continent (except Antarctica) that I had yet to set foot on.
Our trip began in Melbourne, we then drove the Great Ocean Road west from
there ending in Adelaide. Barely stopping there, we flew to the "top end,"
landing in Darwin to visit Kakadu National Park in the outback. That
was followed by a flight to Cairns for the Great Barrier Reef, and then
ending up in Syndey for the conference. It was 17 days but really too
short a time (as always) to do all that.
Here are the photo galleries. Just as important however is the
panoramas of Australia gallery
with my biggest shots.
Observations of Australia
I've posted some of my thoughts on Australia in my blog, including
Australian Ideas and
Australia, Fair on landing.
More will come there.
I hope it doesn't seem to mundane to say that the country Australia reminds
me of the most is my own home of Canada. Large, with giant sparse areas.
A former British colony speaking English with lots of U.S. influence it
might like to avoid. A growing Asian influence and population.
And many other similarities. Though not the same
either -- not also a French colony, of course, and not nearly as U.S.
influenced and thus more like the UK in many ways in spite of being further
away.
To my amusement one Australian said that he thought Australia was more U.S.
influenced since it is in Iraq and Canada is not. That's true but in the
end he's wrong. Australia has a bit more of its own identity. Australians,
unlike Canadians, don't try to pass as Americans, nor do they wish to.
Unlike Canada, Australia doesn't spend nearly so much time trying to define
itself in how it differs from the US, or even the UK. Its past isolation has
helped it there.
I am told New Zealand often worries about defining itself as being different
from Australia -- that may be a closer mirror.
