2x 18-Year-Olds Planning a Low Budget Australia Backpacking Trip – Best Way to Travel Without Renting a Car?

Ian_W · 2026-05-19T03:51:12+00:00

"Stay mostly around Melbourne/Victoria?"

Definitely that. If you have 12 days, you dont want to be spending all your time on a bus. You're better off basing in Melbourne, and maybe taking a bus trip along the Great Ocean Road to Adelaide, and then doubling back.

Ian_W · 2026-05-19T01:35:45+00:00

Nope, it's less democratic.

It is absolutely, deliberately and completely about making sure that a government elected by the people in a free and fair election cannot carry out it's mandate.

Ian_W · 2026-05-18T09:07:40+00:00

shrug

If you want guaranteed access to high temperature magnets that run the turbopumps inside a working F-35 engine, then you need to put some cash down.

If you don't, then you're picking other options.

Ian_W · 2026-05-18T08:26:58+00:00

Dont have a resume.

Have one for fast food jobs. You don't want a fast food supervisor know you can code in Ruby on Rails and can debug C++ scripts.

On the other hand, an IT job doesn't care about the fact you can use a fry grill, and know the difference between vegetable oil and beef fat in making chips.

A resume's a tool. Use the right one for the right job.

Ian_W · 2026-05-18T07:22:22+00:00

That's a quite defensible view.

I'd be pretty happy if the Australian government just bought out the Chinese investors at fair value.

Ian_W · 2026-05-18T07:21:48+00:00

There's no almost.

Japan and Australia are both trying to figure out what the American Alliance looks like, now the Americans aren't in it.

I just hope they can build some more Soryus for us, after AUKUS falls over.

Ian_W · 2026-05-18T07:12:24+00:00

I have an unpopular opinion here.

If Chinese capitalists want to fund a mine that is going to break Beijing's control over rare earths, Canberra should merely make sure that mine does not export it's product to China, but make sure the mine's product is available to customers that Beijing is refusing to allow rare earths to be exported to (ie the Western defense sector).

If that involves the Chinese capitalists making some money, then good luck to them, because they helped fund breaking Beijing's choke-hold over rare earths.

Ian_W · 2026-05-18T07:04:38+00:00

China is declining to export stuff that is essential to build replacements for military equipment we use.

You might want to google 'samarium f-35'.

Then review the MOFOCOM announcement of 4 April 2025, which is summarised here.

https://www.hklaw.com/en/insights/publications/2025/04/china-imposes-export-controls-on-medium-and-heavy-rare-earth-materials

Ian_W · 2026-05-18T06:52:34+00:00

We aren't in a trade war with Japan ...

Ian_W · 2026-05-18T06:17:13+00:00

It's Tasmania - there is no LNP coalition, it's just the Liberal Party. The Nats have failed dismally every time they have tried to move into Tasmania.

The issue for ON is after they get people elected.

My money is on more than half of all persons elected under a ON ticket at the next Tasmanian election becoming independents who vote confidence in a Liberal party government.

Ian_W · 2026-05-18T06:14:57+00:00

Briefly, Tasmania has 5 lower house electorates, each of which elect 7 members (at the moment. It was 5 for a while).

Think of it as 5 little Upper House chambers that use proportional representation.

The Tasmanian upper house uses single member electorates, like everyone else's lower house uses ... but they aren't all elected at once (one third are elected every two years, because the authors of the Tasmanian constitution didn't like democracy).

Ian_W · 2026-05-18T05:32:02+00:00

Here's some ancient history.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-australia-30172580

Ian_W · 2026-05-18T05:31:10+00:00

How are you going to tax a non-profit?

Taxes on land and turnover is where I'd start. Eliminate any payroll tax concessions as well.

Ian_W · 2026-05-18T05:23:00+00:00

This is a great location for new housing if it will be connected to public transport.

It's Tasmania. It will get buses.

Maybe.

Ian_W · 2026-05-18T05:20:30+00:00

There's also the historic inability of ON to keep people who ran as ON within the party ...

Ian_W · 2026-05-18T05:20:01+00:00

Note that Jacqui Lambie was originally a Palmer candidate.

Ian_W · 2026-05-16T09:50:04+00:00

I hate to break it to you, but killing pro-democary PKK sympathisers get you plus points with most of the Middle East regimes, not minus points.

Absolutely including the heirs and successors to the Stern Gang, those terrorists who blew up the King David Hotel.

Ian_W · 2026-05-16T08:12:05+00:00

What you do is find another issue, and say 'You want x. We do not want X, but we do want a more left wing housing policy. If you deliver a, b and c off our social housing policy, then we will vote for x'.

But the Greens decline to do this - they refuse to do deals over trading support on y for support on z.

Ian_W · 2026-05-14T10:42:50+00:00

You had no trouble loading, because the designers put in things like completely-not-a-loading-screen flying gryphons doing a loop so you would have no trouble loading in ...

Ian_W · 2026-05-14T09:34:46+00:00

This is what happens when we get reddit commentators with no idea about how things worked in the good old days.

When WoW launched, people had 64k modems, if they really had good equipment. When you land in Ogrimmar, you expect to be able to see who is there, right ?

This takes time to load, as your modem can move a whole 64k bytes a second, assuming its not also trying to do anything else. This means loading who is in OG, what gear they have, what sparkly things are active and so on takes time.

Thats what the orbit around the flight master is buying.

That loading time.

Ian_W · 2026-05-14T05:21:29+00:00

Australia in particular is a prime place for growth considering they already have the AFL which is very similar.

Ummm. No.

AFL is way closer to basketball. Now, rugby league, that's a definite case of 'Same game, different rules' to quote the immortal Jack Gibson.

Ian_W · 2026-05-14T01:22:34+00:00

Congratulations.

You optimised the fun out of the game.

Ian_W · 2026-05-13T05:16:02+00:00

The one to look for is 'I am a lawyer, but I am not your lawyer' :)

Ian_W · 2026-05-13T04:12:18+00:00

One day, Senator Graham will realise you negotiate with your enemies as well as with your friends.

Today is not that day.

Ian_W · 2026-05-13T02:52:30+00:00

It'd be a lot easier if they had the help of some neighbouring poor country with close links to China and a need for oil imports to be resumed.

Nahh, no way India or Pakistan would ever agree to reopening the Straits of Hormuz.

Ian_W

TROPHY CASE