we are a fearful mob ---------- I really don't know why - but, we are - I would have expected the opposite
I also would have expected the opposite to the nanny state - but, it's just undeniable -
when one travels to - well, almost anywhere really - you see that Oz is way way over the top of most places with freedom curtailment, controls of this, controls of that
fences here, helmets here, licences for this and that, can't swim here, can't climb this or walk there, beach closed - god knows what
I've seen some amazing kids in Oz - I remember being in NW Tassie on the rocks of a very rough area and seeing a couple of young kids take their boards down into what was basically a washing machine and head on out - they knew exactly where they were going, how to get there and they had knowledge, spirit and guts that really impressed me -
but, they are rare
here - it's totally different - the kids here mostly are basically little supermen and women in disguise -
if they aren't rocketing along on something on wheels, they are dashing in between fountains on hot days or leaping into rivers after going full pelt down some jetty and jumping out as far as they can go -
they progress to - the one's that I videoed in Chamonix who get about the place wearing ropes and axes and spikey boots - doing the real thing they make what I saw at home in general like little cutie dolls wrapped in cotton wool.
From my memories of Germany last - they get even wilder there. In SEA - I saw the most amazing young women travelling alone - some hitchhiking, some on scooters, some bussing it etc etc - hardly saw an Aussie doing that sort of thing - when you see em - they were much more fluffy like me - in a BNB or similar - here - yeah, you see the Ozzies - but, the adventurous ones are on boats or in campers - the rest - in hotels and the like.
I don't get it really - we do have adventurous people - you see them in all sorts of parts of the world, but, a bit older these days - however, at home -------- crikey - one needs these days to go to the outback - to the classic pubs, goldfields and opal fields - and, still - they are getting harder and harder to find - and, they are not young
We've lost something in Oz - we've lost our spirit of adventure - it's like it's just gone in a puff of mist or something
wanna go out for a ride on the bike --------- go and just jump on - throw on a helmet perhaps and just zip off?
na - have to put on the leathers, the gloves, the helmet, make sure the rego is right, insurance paid -------------- geesus
there's one thing about being responsible - and, there's another thing to have lost all spirit I reckon
freedom ---------------- it's long gone ------------ it's a concept - a state of mind ----------------- and --------------- it's left for foreign shores
