Oh Daisy , how I miss you. Glad to hear from you again!Originally Posted by whykickamoocow
New Zealand and Australia are seperated by the Tasman, a rather large and at times dangerous body of water, being seperated by a distance of about 1400 miles. There are no snakes, spiders or any other venomous creatures in NZ, all of those are found on the West side of the Tasman.Prison life should not be taken for granted or glorified
SARCASM!!!!!!ALERT!!!!!SARCASM!!!!!!ALERT!!!!!!!
I would love to spend a few years on the island exploring or doing something. Friend of mine got to spend a year there in college and I was eternally jealous of that. Said the best thing was skydiving in New Zealand over some mountains at sunset.
Just don't mess with the bugs or the biters right?
NZ is a wonderful place, it only has one major draw back, it is full of New Zealanders. The most dangerous thing you will come across in NZ is a NZ farmer, they have a close affinity to their sheep. If you do happen to have long curly or shaggy hair, please get it cut before visiting, or else you may be mistaken for a sheep, and lets just say if the farmer gets his hands on you, you may find yourself walking like you have ridden a prized bull at the local rodeo. Please be careful.
Feel free to mistake an Australian as a NEw Zealander, but never vice versa, or you might find the Kiwi raising their fists at you in anger, and bolts of lightening emanating from their arse.
On the trail I was often met by Americans who would ask me where my accent was from, I would reply Australia, and then they would respond with "I always wanted to visit New Zealand". I was always slightly confused by this, it would be like me meeting an American and saying yeah I have always wanted to visit Mexico. LOL.
I did have one person on the trail, a day hiker who asked me where my accent was from, as always I replied Australia. They then told me that my English was rather good. I can only assume that he thought that we don't speak English in Oz, maybe he thought we spoke Zulu as our native tongue. It made me laugh.
Why hello Chaco, the fun and frivolity of the trail is something that I desperately miss. We were surrounded by so many great and glorious people, I have never been more entertained or laughed so much in my entire life. Hope all is going well in your life. I would love to go to trail days, but bit far for me to travel.
Good times mate!
Van Diemen's Land is the original name of Tasmania, not the whole of modern day Australia.
- AT: Springer to Daleville (714.3 miles) in 2007
- Bibbulmun Track: End-to-End (600 miles) in 2008
It's funny you mentioned that. When I visited Europe, I tried to speak the mother tongues and was greeted with funny looks and then the people would respond to me with perfect english. It got to the point where when I wanted to know something, I would ask the person if they spoke english and everytime they would respond, "Yes, so so." They invariably ended up speaking better than most of my students here in the USA.
Keep up the good work on your side of the billabong.
(Isn't Zulu from Africa?)
I'm not really a hiker, I just play one on White Blaze.
Thank you I actually did take 5th grade Geography and understand that Australia and New Zealand are far separate from each other in terms of being two separate islands and two very distinct cultures.
All be it, I was making a reference to an activity a friend did while staying in Australia. He TRAVELED....to New Zealand (different for those of you that don't know than Australia) and went skydiving.
But I understand, it's like calling us Canadian...or vice versa....or like the lady who asked Marje "Are you Mexican or sumtin?!"
I thought the only people needing to fear NZ farmers are Aussies. And I support their right to protect their sheep from sexual predators.
Well done BigCat, I am impressed with your knowledge, must have been something you picked up on your time on the Bibb track. I have hiked the Bibb aswell, very easy miles, and I thoroughly enjoyed it, I hope you enjoyed your time in Australia.
Van Diemen's land in its modern usage is often used to describe all of Australia during the penal settlement days. The term Australia was not in official use until 1824 to describe the whole continent.
When the first fleet landed in 1788 they called their new home New South Wales, the western half of the continent was known as New Holland due to the dutch explorers. Modern day Tasmania was called Van Diemen's Land as you pointed out. Considering the technical usage of all the terms what can we refer to continent as being named during the penal period. New South Wales is now a state and the rest of the country does not want to be referred to as that because of state rivalries, we are not Dutch so we are not going to call it New Holland, so we often use the term Van Diemen's which was droped in official usage during the 1850's replaced by the name Tasmania.
In many folk songs, poems and other such things the whole of the continent is reffered to as Van Diemen's Land, it conjures up a period of harsh punishment, injustice, excesses committed by our British goalers.
When in Rome, I gave an impromptu history lesson on the aqueducts to some fellow American tourists. They complimented me on my English!
Granted, I may have stereotypical southern Italian looks...but how many Italy natives speak with a Northeast American accent?
Paul "Mags" Magnanti
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The true harvest of my life is intangible...a little stardust caught,a portion of the rainbow I have clutched -Thoreau
Should have done the whole lesson while sitting in an IROC with a quuwaffy from dunkin donutsWhen in Rome, I gave an impromptu history lesson on the aqueducts to some fellow American tourists. They complimented me on my English!
Granted, I may have stereotypical southern Italian looks...but how many Italy natives speak with a Northeast American accent?
Give em a taste of all the progress Italians have made here
DISCLAIMER: This comment was in no way meant to offend Italian American Immigrants nor is there a feeling of bias towards the aforementioned group from the poster. This post was only meant as pure imagery for the author of the award winning life lesson book, HMHDI. Hiker Trash Extraordinaire.
Please tell Dorothy that I said "hello."
'All my lies are always wishes" ~Jeff Tweedy~
Hear, hear!
Well said.Good grief. If what others say about their own hike really has that much effect on your hike, perhaps you should re-examine your life's priorities.
I mean really.
I heard Georgia was originally set up as a penal colony also, as a sort of barrier to the Spanish in Florida. Of course the full and complete history is alot more complicated than that I would imagine. I watched a cricket game down on the field here on Wednesday. Some students from India and Pakistan and Bangladesh were playing a game now that exams are over. They looked like they were having a pretty good time. It was fun too watch. Didn't last 40 days and 40 nights either. Sports are great, the way they connect people. Chess is something you can do when travelling abroad also. Nice way to connect with people. You don't even need to share a language. I learned how to play spanish checkers with some souveinier vendors in the Dominican and that was way cool. After a couple of days they didn't mind so much me hanging around. After a week they didn't want my shoes and money, not all of it anyway. lol
Are you on drugs? You're not making any sense.
The trail was here before we arrived, and it will still be here when we are gone...enjoy it now, and preserve it for others that come after us
No drugs. I think I was responding to some posts further up the thread. Not sure. lol
Great link for those of you who don't want to click it here is what is says
The Appalachian Trail Conservancy recognizes anyone who reports completion of the entire Trail as a “2,000-miler.” The term is a matter of tradition and convenience, based upon the original estimated length of the Trail. Conservancy policy is to operate on an honor system, assuming that those who apply for 2000-miler status have hiked all of the A.T. between Katahdin and Springer Mountain, either as a thru-hiker or in sections. In the event of an emergency, such as a flood, a forest fire, or an impending storm, blue-blazed trails or officially required roadwalks are viable substitutes for the white-blazed route. Issues of sequence, direction, speed, length of time or whether one carries a pack are not considered. ATC assumes that those who apply have made an honest effort to walk the entire Trail, even if they did not walk past every white blaze. If you meet these standards, please complete and sign the form below
Why care if someone embellishes there hiking figures. How is that at all germane? Seems that one's own hiking experience would be what really matters, the energy carried forward into life.
Some people who are proud of their military service don't like people making claiming military experience they don't have.
Some people who are proud of their thruhike don't like people claiming hiking experience they don't have.
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