Holy shaZam! the flights are expensive.

Even if I stayed with every GStwin member across the continent I'd still be broke in the bank.

To keep the 'troublemakers' out   

You think it's pricey to fly down here from the USA, you should try flying to the USA from down here. THEN we can talk about expensive.

Most of your ticket goes to having the army circling the major airports so tourists don't get ambushed by dropbears, blueringed octopie, natives, funnel-web spiders, snake tsunamis, box jelly-fish, taipans and salties as they get off the plane. Prior to the tax levy in 1966, almost 90% of tourists to Australia were killed before they even made it to the terminal. Recent work and training has brought this percentage down to around 87%.

The planes are also coated in vegemite inflight, to prevent air-strikes by Dropbears. Unprotected, most airliners are little more than half open sandwich boxes to these vicious buggers...

I really like blueringed octopie, especially with flakey pastry, tomato sauce and a little garlic butter.

Bahahahaha .. Good one Malf! ..

And yes .. Blue ringed octopie .. Australia's answer to Fugu!

Man you guys are crazy.  I just wanted to see what it might cost to holiday in Aus, and was I surprised.  But then again you are a long way away.

...and those pesky dropbears...

Quote from: Malfruen on April 25, 2013, 12:39:56 AM
Most of your ticket goes to having the army circling the major airports so tourists don't get ambushed by dropbears, blueringed octopie, natives, funnel-web spiders, snake tsunamis, box jelly-fish, taipans and salties as they get off the plane. Prior to the tax levy in 1966, almost 90% of tourists to Australia were killed before they even made it to the terminal. Recent work and training has brought this percentage down to around 87%.

The planes are also coated in vegemite inflight, to prevent air-strikes by Dropbears. Unprotected, most airliners are little more than half open sandwich boxes to these vicious buggers...

How refreshing, such a variety of ways to die. Here you only need to worry about one thing, and it's people. They don't care if you're a tourist, man, old lady, whatever....they just as soon stab you in the face than say hi for looking at them on the bus. After all DC was they murder capitol of the world for a while (and still might be for all I know).

This will give you some Idea what you don't need to be worried about.


[attachment deleted by admin]

Quote from: pliskin on April 25, 2013, 09:47:39 AM
After all DC was they murder capitol of the world for a while (and still might be for all I know).

That explains the vibe I got in some parts when I was over there a while back.. NY felt safer than DC

Trip to Oz is pretty cheap here - only a couple hundred bucks. I am thankful we have a large natural moat to keep the nasty critters on that side as well.... Trip to the States or UK however.. $2k ish return..   

Quote from: pliskin on April 25, 2013, 09:47:39 AMAfter all DC was they murder capitol of the world for a while (and still might be for all I know).

Nope According to its rankings, the 10 cities with the world's highest homicide rates are all in Latin America. Latin American municipalities make up 40 of the top 50 murder capitals, and it's not until No. 21 (New Orleans) that a city outside Latin America makes an appearance. This comes with a caveat: the study only included cities for which statistics about homicides were available, which means cities facing bloody civil wars for which statistics are hard to come by - like Aleppo, Syria - won't be on the list.

On another note

http://www.australiangeographic.com.au/journal/drop-bears-prefer-travellers-says-study.htm

Drop bears are less likely to attack people with Australian accents, according to experts at the University of Tasmania.


Drop bears inhabit closed canopy forest in the south-east of Australia. (Credit: Volker Janssen)
DROP BEARS TARGET PEOPLE with foreign accents more often than those who are Australian-born, according to new research.


The study, conducted in a drop-bear hot-spot in New South Wales, aimed to gather data around the behaviour and ecology of the elusive species.

There has been relatively little scientific research into the drop bear (Thylarctos plummetus), which the Australian Museum describes as a "large, arboreal, predatory marsupial related to the koala." Populations are thought mainly to exist in forested coastal regions of eastern and southern Australia, stretching from the Cape York Peninsula to Tasmania.

Tracking drop bear behaviour

Dr Volker Janssen, a research associate at the University of Tasmania, led a research team into Morton National Park, 120km south-west of Sydney, in search of drop bears.

Given that ordinary GPS tracking is difficult to apply to tree-dwelling animals, Volker came up with a new approach to study the animal's behaviour. "It involves tracking the prey, rather than the predator. The location and timing of attacks is then used to map the animal population," he says.

Members of the research team were tracked using GPS devices, and dispersed in the study area. The findings, published in the journal Australian Geographer, have revealed that six drop bears inhabit the study area.

"Drop bears are known to be very territorial," says Volker. "They do not stray far from a relatively small number of trees in close proximity that are used as hunting ground."

Australians less likely to suffer attacks from drop bears


In a second study sample, a number of Australian-born research assistants were monitored and their data compared to that of assistants of international descent. Statistically, the results suggest that people born in Australia are significantly less likely to be attacked by drop bears.


Credit: Volker Janssen

"The analysis has provided valuable insights into the animal's hunting behaviour," Volker told Australian Geographic. "It has been confirmed that foreigners are much more likely to be dropped on than Australians."

Volker attributes this selective behaviour to a number of factors, the most significant of which relates to Australian people's taste for Vegemite.

"By-products of the interaction between chemicals found in Vegemite and those found in human sweat repel drop bears," Volker says. "Most Australians eat Vegemite at least once a day, so they permanently exude these chemicals through their skin and are thus protected."

Drop bears are also thought to be able to discern Australian accents, and seem to be less likely to attack people who have them.

How to avoid drop bears

"While drop bears are now not as common as they used to be, there have been many sightings of them over the years, mainly by bushwalkers hiking off the beaten track," Volker says.

According to previous studies, drop bears hunt by ambushing ground-dwelling animals from above. Once prey is within striking range, he says, the drop bear will plummet several metres out of the tree, skilfully latching onto the neck of its victim.

"Drop bears do not specifically target human beings, but there have been several cases where bushwalkers have fallen victim to drop bear attacks, resulting in serious lacerations and even death."

Volker suggests several methods bushwalkers can adopt to defend against potential drop bear attacks. These include wearing forks in the hair, spreading Vegemite behind the ears or under the armpits, and even urinating on oneself, to deter the species.

Further study may raise awareness for the species, which is believed to be in decline.

"The drop bear is a peculiar and uniquely Australian animal," says Volker. "A better understanding of behaviour and ecology will allow us to ensure that a sustainable population is maintained by enhancing conservation efforts."

Find more information about the habits and ecology of drop bears, as well as a distribution map here on the site of the Australian Museum.

Volker says he hopes his journal article is a useful discussion of GPS/GNSS techniques in ecology, and also an example for students of how to put together a research paper.

Coda, don't forget to remind the folks to leave their babies at home, Dingo's love them chubby  screechy little rascals.

Great.  Another drop bear thread.

It's expensive to fly to Australia because the USA shut down Johnston Atoll.

OK CRAP! You can only find one of these in the good old US of A.
7ft severed head washes up on shore TODAY!
http://gma.yahoo.com/blogs/abc-blogs/floating-7-foot-head-leaves-rowers-scratching-theirs-150612279--abc-news-topstories.html


Do you have any of these over there? We do and they can climb trees also. I was deer hunting in up-state Pennsylvania one year. I sat myself in the woods before dawn and something really big fell out of a tree a few yards into the darkness. Whatever it was it hit the ground with a heavy thud and a grunt. Needless to say I had my 30-30 locked and loaded standing there in the darkness for over an hour waiting for something to come at me in the dark. All the while listening to the coyotes howling in the distance and black bear dens all around me. True story. 


These coyotes are really a problem for some cattle farmers. Some states have bounties on them.


Florida has a problem with pythons. (yea, lots of tourists get eaten, mostly babies)  People get them as pets and they get to big....they let them go.


We got these in Florida as well. Lots of golfers get eaten at the water traps by these, really.

But with all these beasties nothing but nothing scares me more than a bus load of 15-17year old female inner city hoodlums from Baltimore. They will FU up
Here is a video.
http://video.search.yahoo.com/video/play;_ylt=A2KLqIOc6HlRiTQA7O_7w8QF;_ylu=X3oDMTBrc3VyamVwBHNlYwNzcgRzbGsDdmlkBHZ0aWQD?p=baltimore+bus+fight&vid=00c0fa3a78726116dc356fa1c41c598e&l=1%3A06&turl=http%3A%2F%2Fts1.mm.bing.net%2Fth%3Fid%3DV.4652408364794048%26pid%3D15.1&rurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DoAFx0o6H_FU&tit=Best+MTA+Transit+Bus+Fight+-+Baltimore%2CMd.+Bus+%23+10+%28+Live+Action+%29&c=2&sigr=11akbut6k&age=0&fr=yfp-t-900&tt=b
Here is really tame bus fight video. Anyone know where it's from?
http://video.search.yahoo.com/video/play;_ylt=A2KLqIQM6XlRZzsABA77w8QF;_ylu=X3oDMTBrc3VyamVwBHNlYwNzcgRzbGsDdmlkBHZ0aWQD?p=baltimore+bus+fight&vid=145e813a50fab7274c8a56b71ee3b388&l=3%3A53&turl=http%3A%2F%2Fts3.mm.bing.net%2Fth%3Fid%3DV.4858330529202674%26pid%3D15.1&rurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DczN6VG8T5PE&tit=Bus+Fight!+Drunk+Guy+Gets+Punched+Out!&c=2&sigr=11ak7fbf8&age=0&b=31&fr=yfp-t-900&tt=bPE
I got stung on the back of the neck by a black wasp tonight. It got inside my collar and I when I felt the burn I never took my shirt off so quick in my life. 5 hours later it still hurts

the critters are cool....  .... you were up in bear country with a 30-30??... 

but the head.... thats just plain weird!! 

Quote from: Janx101 on April 25, 2013, 08:33:04 PM
the critters are cool....  .... you were up in bear country with a 30-30??... 

but the head.... thats just plain weird!! 

Lever action Winchester 1894 with open sights....just like John Wayne.

well then pilgrim!! .. you must be one o' those hairy chested, moonshine drinkin, hellcat eatin frontiersmen i hear about up in those woods!!..

i got no real issue with the winchester .. or the calibre... and from what little i know the black bears aint always as big as some others!!... but having used a 30-30 on different things over the years .. while it has quite reasonable knock down power... with something as rugged as a bear.. i'd just personally worried about 'pissing it off' a whole heap if'n it wasnt a lethal shot!! ..

kudos to you for having the Stones to be there!! 

Yea, black bears are pretty small here. Never ran into one in the woods either.

A little off subject, but I always wondered who would win in a fight with man eaters.

Grizzly Bear
VS
Lion or Tiger

Shark
VS
Crock

Were we have:

Most venomous scorpion

....and these


...and these:


All poisonous.  A Gila monster can kill a man just by looking at him.