Australia, we don’t know you, but we love you, say our American friends

I never bother, life is to short for that, I come here for a bit of fun and am not into the serious stuff.

Chardonnay, then you're talking:)

There are two sides to me, I am a Gemini, I come here for both...........

A belated welcome to A2K, I hope to meet you on my trivial patch.

Of course it is!

(actually, it's a bit more complicated than that and one must expend some effort to find Guinness brewed in Ireland, otherwise its just Fosters mixed a teaspoon of Vegemite)

Thanks:)

So far your "words" are interesting in changing them, trivial patch... I'll have to "think" on that one

For me to know and you to find out.

G'day

Born and bred in aus [OZ]
You yanks are funny.
Like hoards of pommies wanted to come here in 50's to 80's
Now americans want to come here.

Well it is ONE WORLD

“For in the final analysis, our most basic common link, is that we all inhabit this small planet, we all breathe the same air, we all cherish our children's futures, and we are all mortal.” JfK

“It’s always been my dream to visit Australia,” I was told over and over again. Yet for most, the prospect seemed as realistic as a Contiki Cruise to Mars. “Oh heavens, no,” a beautifully dressed woman in her 60s protested “It’s much too far to actually go there”.


hahaha

Prill

You're Piglet, aren't you? But a rather dangerous looking piglet. This is unusual.

Welcome...don't feed the wildlife.

I seem to run across quite large numbers of US folk. Mind you, some of them are probably Canajunians, and I'm a bit scared to ask.

I can't help thinking 'Hjarloprillar' was the name of the alien woman Louis Wu committed Rishathra with on Ringworld - but I can't find any reference to it on the web - so I must be wrong.

Always great to have another orstralian on board!

Well, it is damned far and damned expensive.

Several year back my daughter was engaged to an Aussie and the plan was for them to live in OZ for several months and then come back to the US and get married.

My wife insisted that we would have to visit them during their time in Australia.

OK by me I said , but you had better be prepared to spend about $30,000 on the visit because I wasn't flying to Australia in Coach and Business Class tickets cost about $11,000 per. God knows what a First Class ticket costs.

Door to door from Dallas the trip to Sydney is about 21 hours. I would throw a clot spending 17 hours on a plane, jammed into the cattle car.

The engagement fell apart and so we didn't make the trip, but you have to be rich or somewhat rich and quite fit to travel from the US to Oz with regularity.

It's the other side of the world.

So, no surprise that people who want to go, never go.

About 35% of Australians travelled to the USA in 2009/2010 alone.

(source : http://www.abs.gov.au/AUSSTATS/[email protected]/Lookup/4102.0Main+Features20Sep+2010 )

Can't be all that hard, we aren't that much richer than you, and just as clot prone (all though we a little slimmer).

So what's the real reason?

The real reason:

America is a better place to visit than Australia?

Logical, no?

Sure, without the "Australia is where I've always wanted to go" part.

So you really are putting weight on the dreaming aspirations of poor Americans?

No, I don't think so. The number of people who could easily afford come here, would like to, but don't... must be massive. I don't get why. I suspect it just seems too hard, or too extreme or something.

$30k geez..

It only cost me $3k to go to America, from Australia.

We have flights here from $1700 return now... Your dollar is close to ours, bet ya can find deals

Too expensive!

A coach ticket costs $3,000

A lot of the google response I'm getting on the issue suggests two reasons why overseas travel in general is very low in the US.
1) America has everything you want. Snow, beaches, mountains, whatever.
2) It's too scary.