ozzieeagle

I think we could actually do better than first spot if we all actually put some effort in instead of "She'll be right"

Come on I want to see some effort by everyone and lets invent a class of our own.

sonlymewalter

can't be arsed.

Throw another shrimp on the barbie

Turban Explorer

Australia comes top spot in:

a) national parks and related activities - camping and trekking
b) beaches and ocean
c) wildlife - thanks to a low population there is still healthy populations of some amazing creatures. Relatively good conservation laws to maintain this. Birdlife here is undeniably amazing too.
d) the red centre is incredible/ frighteningly desolate but great - so much space!!

Categories could be 'naturalist' and 'claustrophobe' ??

paulry

Would love to explore the red centre. I used to spend time in the Namib in Southern Africa and that was awesome but the central deserts of Australia must be out of this world. Soon

In Exile

lol. heading reminds me of the "Derek Zoolander Center For Children Who Can't Read Good"

verystormy

Well thats enough to turn me off.

Camping and treking - i am stuck in the DRC doing that for a living. Last damn thing i want to see when i get back will be a tent.

Red Centre - Worked in it for 4 years. First week was wow, click click click constant. By end of second week i realised that it is flat and red. Thats it. Oh and too damn hot

Do love the beach and the roos though

paulry

DRC?

Lots of flies too,I guess

verystormy

I didnt think it was possible to have so many flies. God i hate them.

paulry

I wont go there then

DRC = Congo?

verystormy

I wouldnt. Yep, DRC is the Congo. Lovelly place. You should come for a holiday. Constant rain, thick mud, lots of AK47's and every disease known to man - we had 8000 cases of plague recently and the Ebola river runs through my work area. Bring your bucket and spades.

sheene

Having lived in Alice for 6 months, I have mixed feelings - sometimes I used to hate it, other times I simply loathed the place.

tonyk38

Cairns is number one in Aus for not having them. One of the reasons I couldn't live in many parts of the south is the bush flies! They simply don't exist up here.

paulry

That's a godforsaken part of the world. I spent just under a year in Angola in the 90s. And that was hell on earth, I even had my own AK47 (I kid you not). It was good money but I ended up getting out while I could. One of my best mates: a South African geologist spends a lot of time in the DRC. He even lived in Australia up until 18 months or so ago. But hey, the DRC's a big country so it's unlikely you've bumped into him.

verystormy

Mossies though?

tonyk38

I would agree with you 100% on B and D, but not A and C alas. Well OK, the 'camping and trekking' bit is fantastic, but not the way the National Parks are often managed.

A lot of wildlife in this country is in so much trouble; extinction rates are amongst the highest in the world. The incompetence with which many NPs are supposedly managed to protect them beggars belief.

On a brighter note, I'd add to the 'We're number 1' at such and such:

1) Space in general: not just the 'Red Centre'. Aus is almost inconceivably vast. Even in the populated areas it doesn't take long to get to areas where there are no people at all. Sometimes that can be a very good thing.

2) Houses: we're talking about space again. Aus apparently now builds the biggest houses in the world. We gobble up a lot of land in the doing but we have the space to do it if we do it right (not always done...), and if I'm honest, it's actually really nice to live in hugeness.