April 17, 2025 • 50 mins
“G’day mate,” “Throw another shrimp on the barbie,” and “That’s not a knife… this is a knife”—these are just a few of the iconic phrases from Crocodile Dundee and Paul Hogan that made Australia, the land Downunder, famous to many North Americans in the ’80s.
Both Canadians and Americans have been fascinated with my hometown, from the creepy crawlies, magnificent shorelines, famous wines, the equally famous welcomes from Aussies, and an abundance of things to see and do.
Join me, Professor Goway, Don Forster, and our Account Manager from Los Angeles, Cory, who’s visited Australia more times than you can count, as we discuss the excitement of Australia and why a trip Downunder should be at the top of your bucket list.
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Episode Transcript
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(00:01):
Land down under, Australia, my homeland and a playground for American tourists.
Made more famous in the 1980s with Paul Hogan with a put another shrimp on the barbie andthat's not a knife, this is a knife.
Australia's popularity grew exponentially and it became the flavour of the month for the80s and 90s and has remained so to a lesser degree for the many years since.
(00:24):
Today we're going to visit, literally and metaphorically, Australia with Corey Payton, GoA's
manager based in Los Angeles, California as he recounts his many visits to the land downunder.
Hey there everyone, I'm Don, Professor Goaay and welcome to the GoaayPro Travel Talepodcast.
Travel far and gravel often.
(00:56):
Hey there everyone and welcome to the Go A Pro Travel Tales podcast today, but it'sactually this week.
So you're hearing this the week after we spoken to Meg Boyd who is Go A's Down Under orAustralia product manager.
So it's a week of Australia, but joining us today is Corey Payton.
Now Corey is an American living in Los Angeles, California.
(01:21):
And other than that,
Corey in his past life with other companies who we won't mention right here, but he hastraveled extensively down to my home country, Australia, where I was about, God, it's
almost a month ago now, four weeks ago.
So we're both gonna reminisce on our experiences in Australia and why it's such a coolplace to holiday in and to visit particularly for North Americans from the East Coast,
(01:51):
because it's much closer that way.
from the West Coast, not East Coast, a bit further from the East Coast as I found out whenI went home again the other time.
So Corey, welcome.
Thank you.
For those who may not know introduction.
Yeah, there you go.
Thank you.
For those who may not know you, can you give us a little brief about who you are, yourexperience in the industry, not so much with Australia necessarily at this stage, but just
(02:14):
where you came from in regards to travel.
Yeah, I graduated college back in the 80s, so I go back a while.
And in the winter time, I would work at a ski resort.
So you meet all kinds of people, enjoy that thoroughly.
And I was planning on going to law school.
So I was studying for law school and taking all the tests and getting ready, but I wasalso skiing and meeting all kinds of travel people.
(02:36):
So when I graduated, my parents all said, take a year off, see the world, travel.
So I did and I met somebody from the ski resort and we traveled Europe and I met a ton ofAustralians and New Zealanders So when I got back I put off law school another year and
decided to go down under so that's where I'm heading to so in the early 90s by 1990 I tookoff for six months to travel around Australia, New Zealand.
(03:02):
Just said let's go.
I had done three months in Europe.
So I was kind of into the Travel for longer
and I was also a camp counselor in the summer and that kind of stuff.
So going to Australia in the winter was perfect for me because I was leading tours withcamping tours and I was at Contiki for a while.
(03:24):
So Contiki, as you know, is very much like 80 % Australian and New Zealanders.
So I had plenty of people to visit.
had homes to, you know, they'd say come visit, but they don't really mean it.
Well, I showed up on their doorstep.
Around Sydney cuz I was there I was in New Zealand three months and three months Australiaroughly ballpark So I got a Greyhound pass back then you have Greyhounds in Australia At
(03:49):
least you did then we did and a pass for two months and just traveled all around and somany Australia's were telling me I saw more of their country than they had because they
were saving it for when they retire Which you're probably doing to see like the outbackuber pd and up through Alice Springs So I took a bus pass all around and visited
my friends.
So that's how I got to Australia the first time and then I came back and I was still atour manager with Contiki.
(04:12):
So I met Australians like crazy and then I worked for a travel company that focused mainlyon Australia and New Zealand.
So then I got to take fams to Australia and New Zealand.
the high end way.
wasn't the backpacking budget.
It was the helicopter in and land on the.
nice.
Yes, it was very nice.
So that was quite a difference.
And I'd appreciated it so much.
(04:33):
You you appreciate it a lot more when you've done the backpacking and the hitchhiking.
I hitchhiked all over different places, which is, you know, you don't see that now.
But in the early 90s, it was pretty common, especially in more and smaller towns.
So I got to see Australia quite a bit as we're focusing there, just from the like.
from the ground up, literally walking outside of a town and hitchhiking to the next one,or taking buses through the outback.
(05:01):
I remember staying up half the night because they would, you know, those bus drivers, theydrive those long.
hours wow from yeah adelaide up to alice springs is a long way with nothing so i was upkeeping them awake and they were really happy to have it so i'm kind of a talker and a
chatter and i was telling my yank stories as you call us your yanks yeah your you guyscall us i don't know you'll edit this out but you used to call us seppos and you can
(05:27):
explain why you did that because yeah
so that actually yeah, just to jump in there because I'm not gonna edit this out so TheAustralians actually were colonized by the British.
So we have a lot of connections and and rhyming slang is a big thing out of the UK or wasThis is actually a little bit about it in the go away pro travel Academy on the UK
(05:50):
modules, but rhyming slang So it was septic tank
equals yank.
as Australians will then shorten anything septic tank became seppo.
So seppo through a long connection there.
calling American septic tanks like how pleasant but I mean I get it cuz they would saythey would say go answer the dog and bone because
(06:17):
dog and you go, the rhyming saying which is the phone.
Yeah, dog and bone is the phone.
That's the more pleasant and then you call on British people palm ease because of themagistrate so it was when I was hitchhiking our sign said a palm and a yank or a palm and
a seppo Because we wanted people to know we were foreign we were I was in marketing in1990 here Marketing as I was hitchhiking because we wanted to pick up look we wanted
(06:41):
locals to give us a ride so that we could Visit their house and tell our stories.
So I was traveling with a British guy that first time
for quite a while and you see it in the photos when I sent you, when we're on a camel onthe outback.
But that was my sign, know, Palma Nacepo heading to Alice Springs and we get a ride.
(07:03):
So yeah, you're bringing back good memories.
Yeah, So again, for anyone who visits Australia, you have to remember that we do have avery dry sense of humor and we do like the nicknames and yes, often the classic one is
someone who's a redhead, we call them bluey or blondy, you know, the complete opposite.
(07:23):
But it actually means you care about the person like that.
It's actually a show kind of
No, guess.
Yeah.
And that was my point.
If you get a nickname, it's because you're liked and everyone should have a nickname oryour name is, you is cut down and abbreviated.
So Stephen is Steve.
yeah.
Or he might be Coro cause.
(07:44):
You got closer.
OK, so again, it's it's all a sign of endearment.
Just going back, though.
Most Americans and we are going to sort of focus on the American market here, becauseobviously that's your backyard.
But most Americans, for some obvious reasons, they don't get a of vacation compared to theAustralians and Europeans.
(08:06):
Yeah, the two-week things.
So most Americans, at least in their youth, not all, but most, don't travel at length, butyou obviously did.
is that something, were you bucking the system, so to speak, bucking society?
Like, did you get,
Do you get raised eyebrows when you said you're off for six months to Australia at thetime?
Because again, back in the eighties, back in the eighties, Australia, well, it dependswhen you went, but you know, it was in the eighties in Australia really came to prominence
(08:32):
with the traveling world through, you know, Kaukobah Dundee in excess, the America's Cup,whole lot, know, bands had men at work, men at work, course.
Yeah.
But so when you said you were going to Australia for, you know, and New Zealand for alength of time, you know, were eyebrows raised at the time?
Well, in that time, Americans went to Europe because of the year rail pass.
(08:53):
It was just huge.
I mean, that's what people thought of.
Australia needed that idea to kind of permeate the youth market and it just didn't.
And I always have a theory, Americans think that Australia is so far, which it reallyisn't when you're flying to Greece.
If you're flying to Greece or maybe Southern Europe, it's the same roughly, hour, give ortake, it's the same, but you're also flying to a different season.
(09:23):
So I was flying from summer to summer and that...
mentally makes Americans think that Australia is farther away.
It's just something in my mind.
I think that's the subconscious.
Like, it's winter there in July?
That's far.
You know, that's kind of what I Americans process.
(09:45):
So that was the
In my mind, people are thinking, wow, you're going far.
It's winter, everybody's skiing, and you're going to summer.
So I was bucking the trend.
But like I said, I worked for Contiki.
I had Australians over my house.
On a Contiki tour once, I pulled them up to Fresno, and the entire bus got off at myparents' house.
So my family was very used to meeting and seeing Australians as they came and visited meas well when they came back to the US.
(10:12):
They often went to see, you know, I was in California, so that's where a lot ofAustralians start when they travel to the US.
Yeah, exactly.
again, one, it's the it's easy.
I always remember growing up and my dad worked for Qantas.
So the conversations and opportunities to go L.A.
were many for me.
I was a bit spoiled.
(10:33):
But yeah, most Australians when they looked to the US actually this segues nice into makesquestions.
So most Aussies will.
Again, we're talking the younger crowd at this stage anyway.
I don't think it's changed a great deal.
After university or even after high school, they'll disappear for a year becauseeverything is so far away from Australia.
And the mindset is if I'm going to go, I'm to go for a while, enjoy myself, then I'll comeback and get into life, whatever life may be.
(10:58):
Now, one of the biggest calling cards for a young Australian is to go to the UK andEurope, because obviously the UK, the connections, et cetera, and Europe's across a very
short pond.
So they go and do that.
When we looked at the US, it was LA for a couple of reasons.
And I noticed this was there about a year and a half ago.
Disneyland was a big thing growing up.
(11:20):
And I was out there for go away doing a show, literally in the back, the on the on theback entrance of of Disneyland, the hotel I was staying in, I swear, I think three
busloads and I mean, like large groups of anywhere 20 to 40 people from Australia hadflown in and their main
destination for their trip to the US was Disneyland.
(11:44):
as an American, be it East Coast or West Coast, as Australians look to Britain, or greatto the UK for the connections there, where do Americans dream about as they're growing up,
when you were young and now, as you work in the industry, like, you know, for a first timetraveler from the States, where are they looking to go?
(12:04):
Like, where is their sort of go-to destination?
Is it
Always the Caribbean?
Is it Hawaii?
For me growing up in the ski resort and the more active community, Hawaii would be yourfirst trip maybe long haul because it's a four hour flight from LA to Hawaii.
So that was my first trip and that kind of started the edge.
(12:27):
And then it's London, Paris, Amsterdam.
That's just what the...
It was my...
that's through the 90s and through the 2000s when I talked to younger people my nieces andnephews and such it's Going to Europe going to London.
I mean, it's just what is talked about their friends have gone maybe the year before SoAustralia is the next trip kind of in their mind.
(12:50):
Okay, and I think you know the for me it was the weather You know that we were at skiresorts and so we were ready for some
It's worth it well Right, and it's worth pointing out for anyone who is a skier.
There are there are ski slopes in Australia They're not on the same.
I don't actually read about yes, very good.
(13:15):
Yes red bow and in
In what we call the snowy mountains, because as I always say, Australians form like theysee them.
they're mountains with snow on it.
So the snowy mountains.
But to Corey's point, saying, yeah, they're more hills compared to the Rockies and theAlps and stuff like that.
Yes, exactly.
But I think technically speaking, Australia gets more snow or our snowy mountains get moresnow than Europe or something like that.
(13:39):
It's some crazy stat, but it doesn't like it might be a stat that's true, but it doesn'ttruly equate to Europe.
I for the youth, the barrier reef, the surfing, diving, that was all the draw for me.
And that was one of my biggest excitements.
It was also meeting the people in their home country, because I'd met so many Australians,but they were so wanting me see them.
(14:02):
Yeah, born and raised.
Oh, you are?
Oh, can't.
Yeah, grew up on a farm in California.
So I'm farm boy, central California, raisins.
grapes to raisins, peaches, so yeah, total farm boy.
I'm not rich.
I live in Los Angeles now, but I grew up California.
So even as a rural Californian, did you go to the Californian beaches much?
Because obviously, again, a cliche for people who don't live in the States and forAustralians, if you live in California, it's beach life.
(14:29):
It's that whole thing.
That's what you see through the movies and all the TV shows.
So obviously there's more to California than just it's coastline.
So again, I guess my point is I'm interested to know you as a rural Californian, theattraction of the beaches and the Barrier Reef in Australia.
Yeah, we would go to the beaches, but in Northern, I was more central and NorthernCalifornia.
(14:52):
And if anybody knows California, they get very foggy and things in the summertime becausethe hot air, can be 40 degrees Celsius, pretty common 110 degrees Fahrenheit in the
central California and it pulls in the fog.
So the people joke the coldest winter you'll ever spend is a summer in San Francisco.
So all along that beach is fog and cold.
(15:15):
So
we want sunshine and Northern Californians didn't go to LA.
It was just, you know, when you're from the central Northern, you go, you're kind of a SanFrancisco 49er fan, all that.
Australia was a big draw because it was just pictured as sunshine and Bondi beach andsurfing and you know, and Baywatch and all that was popular on television.
(15:37):
And so that, that was a big draw for me as the growing up in California.
It just seemed like we had a.
Great relationship, you know, mean all the people I met and talked to were realdown-to-earth great people Fun enjoyed life enjoyed barbecues, you know that kind of thing
having a barbecue at Christmas.
That is cool
(15:57):
Yeah, that's that is something that there is.
But there are not a there are not a ton of cultural differences between Australia andNorth America.
Weather obviously is one of them, particularly if you're from Canada.
I'm in Toronto.
So just coming out of the winter here, which has been just it's just hanging on won't goaway.
But yeah, I think one of the people biggest shocks or cultural differences is if they if.
(16:25):
If a North American goes to Australia over Christmas time is that it's not snowing.
And yes, there is a Christmas vibe down there.
have Christmas trees, we do all that type of thing.
But yeah, our Christmas day will often be presents in the morning and then you go for awalk out of the beach in the afternoon.
because I would travel there in the winter because I'd led tours with Contiki in thesummer and then I would go to Australia quite a bit two or three times in the winter which
(16:52):
was your summer.
So that worked perfect for me.
I remember throwing out clothes in my closet that were all sweaters I hadn't used in twoyears and I was like, man, why do I have all these?
But then I realized I hadn't been home in a winter so like the third winter I had nosweaters, no jackets, no clothes because I was leading tours but it was kind of nice to
have
know constant summertime it was really works well so that's
(17:16):
I tell you what, again, I was just home recently and it was coming out of summer.
was still very hot because, you know, the world's a bit crazy with its temperatures andweather these days.
But it was, you know, the 35 mark, quite humid, beautiful.
And would be 80?
Yeah, sorry.
Yeah, around there, 80s to 90s.
(17:36):
And you'd, you know, you just put on some shorts, shirts and flip flops and you'd walk outthe door.
And I come back here to here being Toronto.
And I walk in the front door and I look to my right and we have our coat rack, which isjust like buried in coats and gloves and, like just coming out this morning.
Cause we were going through a cold snap.
was like the whole thing.
It's just, I do miss that aspect about Australia, but on the flip side, having lived herenow in North America for a while, I've come to appreciate the change of the seasons, which
(18:04):
you don't see as dramatically in Australia.
there's a lot of sort of culture.
True you can't get I remember seeing that sorry But I was there in the fall going up tothe Blue Mountains from Sydney and really thinking and it's April May and You got the
pumpkins and the fall foliage and all that sort of thing and it was like wow This is youknow, really cool.
So you do get it
(18:25):
Yeah, again, you know, there is a change of season naturally and you do see it but not tothe degree you would see up in New England and even here in Ontario where it's just
amazing.
Now that's awesome for like two or three weeks then it might be and it sucks.
Well it's cold for the next four or five months.
So you said for you when you were younger it was the beach and the barrier reef again, allthe big classics of Australia which have been very well marketed over the years.
(18:54):
you now as a professional in the industry, when you're out there talking to all our agentpartners or even consumers directly, what do you think is Australia's attraction in the
2000s?
Is it the same thing?
Is it what you've mentioned, the people, the friendliness, the barrier reef, Uluru, etcetera?
(19:14):
Well, I think the initial draw is Sydney in the Opera House and the bridge and the bridgeclimb I mean obviously that's what you see in the media and it's kind of like I want to
tick that off the box seeing the Opera House it's kind of like the Taj Mahal of thesouthern hemisphere so and it's
It's just as beautiful, I'll tell you.
(19:35):
But then meeting the people is what I promote, is places like Kangaroo Island, where I sayKangaroo Island is like all of Australia in one small island.
And it is definitely coming back after the fires.
I've seen that might be people Google it, they'll see that occurred in 2018, but it'sreally come back and the people are amazing.
(19:59):
I promote that quite a bit, Adelaide and the wine country.
You know, as you get older, you enjoy those wine countries.
So you got three of them, Yarra Valley.
Let's see if I can remember them.
The Barossa is out of Adelaide, Yarra Valley, and then Hunter is outside of Sydney.
So you've got the three wine regions to visit.
So as we get older and appreciate good wine, and I'm from California.
(20:20):
That is nice and right now with the exchange rates, wow, you can get a bottle of wine forhalf price.
So that's nice.
The exchange rate is incredible right now.
We were talking about that recently.
So time to go.
so just just on that point, we're not going to into the reasons behind it.
It's not a political podcast.
at the moment, yeah, I think our director of sales, Renee said it's close to half the USdollar at the moment, something like that.
(20:46):
Yeah, so to explain that to people, some people don't realize, so if you take 58 US cents,you can get an Australian dollar.
So 58 cents gets a dollar.
So that's pretty sweet.
And when you see an item in Australia, it's generally speaking about the same price asyou'd see here.
So a bottle of good wine, about 30 bucks.
(21:08):
But realizing you're only paying 58 cents for each one of those, everything's 40 % off.
So
It's pretty sweet, pretty sweet deal if you explain it that way.
Like when you get your credit card bill, it'll say, you know, you'll pay 30 Australian,but then it comes back and it'll only be $18 on your credit card.
Yeah, so Here's the only hard silver podcast now is a really good time to travel toAustralia take advantage of the current situation because it's in in your being Absolutely
(21:35):
Talking to our US agent partners out there.
This is definitely in your and your clients favor
And of course we've got to mention the wildlife.
think people notice, you know, they want to see a kangaroo, you know, for you it's likekangaroo I mentioned to people are like deer, you know, in California.
You're not going to see them walking down the street.
But if you go up towards where I was, Central Valley, and you head up towards themountains, towards Yosemite or anything at sunset, sunrise, you're going to see deer out
(22:01):
and about and doing their thing and eating.
it's like, cool.
We pull over and take pictures too.
of deer and it was just like that in Australia to see kangaroos.
know, you're like, yeah, they're out and about and doing their thing and no big deal whenyou're driving from Sydney to the Blue Mountains and stuff.
You're like, we pulled over for a picnic or and there's kangaroos and for an American,that's pretty sweet.
Like we were like, wow, there's kangaroos in the wild just doing that.
(22:25):
And then when I did those bus rides, seeing the big reds, they come the big reds that aresix, seven foot tall and.
You know, on those bus drives, you'd see them at sunrise just standing up full speed.
They can sit on their tail, you know, and put up their entire bodies.
It's pretty, pretty amazing.
That was, you know, and I think that was part of the draw.
So you got the weather, the beaches, the iconic picture, you know, snap, whatever kids dothese days of the opera house.
(22:51):
And then to see the wildlife, you know, you combine all those and you're like, OK, it's onthe list, man.
It's.
no, it's definitely, even for an Aussie growing up, yes you get used to seeing kangaroos.
Now again, if you grow up in a city, you're not going to see, as you just said, as we usedto say, like a lot of Americans would think you'd see a kangaroo bouncing down George
(23:13):
Street, which is our main shopping street in Sydney.
But on the flip side, it doesn't take much to see indigenous wildlife.
What we have to do is get out into the suburbs with lots of bush.
Or I went home to visit my mom many years ago and she lives in a place on central coast ofNew South Wales.
And I was with my wife and of course we were jet lagged so we were up at 4 o'clock in themorning, couldn't sleep.
(23:37):
So we drove down to the beach because I think 80 % of Australians live within 10kilometers of the coastline, something crazy like that.
And as we drove down, I can't remember the town actually, top of it, Yamber.
The town's called Yamber.
segue here, quite a lot of Australian town names and places are named after the indigenouspopulation, the aboriginal.
(23:59):
So Yamber is an aboriginal name.
So this town is quite interesting.
It's a town where a lot of Australians will retire, but it's also a beach town.
So you go into the, you know, the center and you see everything from, you know, all thesurfies, walking around barefoot, which a lot of Australians do regardless.
And then you have your retired crowd, you know, playing bowls.
But as we drove towards the beach, there was a soccer rugby pitch there and on the rugbypitch at about six in the morning.
(24:23):
there was probably 30 kangaroos because next to Yamber is an Aboriginal or not reservedbut area which is theirs and it's left unmolested.
the kangaroos bounce in from there, they eat the grass off the pitch and they disappearback in and that's like right in middle of a rather large town.
And the thing I've noticed having gone back a few times over the last couple of years isthe famed cockatoo which is the white parrot with the golden crest.
(24:50):
I live in an area where we see lots of them.
things.
get into your room.
They got into the room.
were out on Whitsundays, Hamilton Island, and you do not leave your sliding glass dooropen in Hamilton Island.
And somebody always does.
They'll just tear up the room.
Yeah, you have to sign when you check in, you know, that you'll keep that sliding glassdoor closed.
(25:15):
yeah, they're beautiful birds.
mean, they're beautiful.
Just.
That's yeah.
And they're just everywhere.
I've just noticed they're everywhere now as well.
So, wildlife will creep into.
And again, you'll see cockatoos downtown Sydney, like around Circle Key.
I saw them.
I can't remember.
think these birds are called an ibis.
They weren't there when I was growing up.
We call them bin turkeys now.
(25:39):
you.
Yeah, exactly.
I'll throw up a picture now of what they are.
they're like an ibis bird, long beak, and they're all over Sydney.
and they get into the garbages and stuff like, hence the name, turkeys.
So there is wildlife, like literally down to
driving to we went to the outback out of Sydney Wogan Valley which I believe you know inthat direction doesn't matter but the locals know where things are and he pulls over he
(26:03):
said come on come on with me mate that's my worst Australian accent
And we went out and he knew where wombats, a family of wombats lived down in littletunnels, you know, and he would say that their back ends are like a bone to cover the hole
so that they, so they go down and cover the hole with their backside, which is all bone.
that kind of protects themselves.
And so he's scurried him out.
It's not very nice, but wake him up.
(26:26):
and see wombats.
So that happened in the Kengri Island.
I saw a little echidna's, know, cruising across the street.
Koalas are a lot more difficult in my opinion.
Many times I've been there.
Pretty tricky.
You got to kind of go to a sanctuary of some sort to see a koala.
Well to be guaranteed, you do, you have to go to a sanctuary.
We don't endorse holding them, that's something that you shouldn't be doing.
(26:47):
GoAway won't allow you to hold them.
But you can get very close to them, like there's a place south of Sydney, I can't rememberits name, where you can literally put your face right next to the koala in the tree, you
don't touch it in the koala, they're very docile.
doing that up in Coranda.
If you do a Coranda, if you get a Coranda rail from Cairns up to the it's a little railway beautiful ride and you come back via the gondola up there is a really nice animal
(27:15):
sanctuary you even see the birds cassowary those dinosaur birds you can see those up theretoo in a sanctuary and the koala so you get them all I love that train trip it's one of my
favorite I recommend it all the time because you got cans of the barrier reef diving andthen you got some rainforest in that train and
gondolas is pretty cool.
Okay, I've got to compliment you on your pronunciation of cans because most Americansdon't get that right.
(27:39):
know you've been working with us in the destination and Australia for a while, but it'snot hard.
So let me ask you, how do you pronounce the capital of Victoria?
Melbourne.
Melbourne and Melbourne.
That's not bad.
Melbourne.
(27:59):
And how about how and how about our national capital?
How do you pronounce that?
Canberra
Very good!
Not Canberra, it's Canberra.
Made me quiz.
didn't write that down.
I that was on top of my head.
Thanks a lot, Don.
No worries.
get the brain cells are working.
(28:22):
So right on.
Yeah, I've been around a lot of Australians.
So the owner again, Bruce Hodge, owner of GoWay.
There was a beautiful segue.
Can you name the states that you visited in Australia?
Where have you been in Oz?
All of them.
I've been done to Taz.
Yeah, I went I sent you that picture.
(28:42):
I actually flew the first time when I went to Australia visiting family.
They wanted to go to see Perth.
They had never been there.
I not.
They weren't my family.
They feel like family, but they were very close, close friends were still very close.
And so they wanted to go to Perth and they're like, use me as an excuse.
Like, let's take the Yank to Perth.
So we went there and then we went out to Rocknest Island and we saw the Kwakas.
(29:04):
And I have a fun story.
won a contest because the camper company who creates Bounder, I mean, creates thesecampers.
This is like early 90s.
And they had a camper called a Bounder and they wanted a new name for a new camper.
So there was a contest going on and I put in submitted Kwaka because they were kind ofusing the kangaroo idea.
(29:25):
And I totally won.
Like I won like 500 bucks.
I don't know if they've ever invented, you know, created a Kwaka camper van, but.
It's pretty sweet.
So I have fond memories of rot nests and seeing these little animals.
You can post one up here.
Put it right up here, little quokka.
But yeah, so I've been to pretty much all of them.
Darwin, which is Northern Territory, South Australia, Western Australia, up intoQueensland, not to be confused with Queenstown, which is New Zealand.
(29:55):
And then New South Wales, Victoria, and Tasmania.
Is that all of them?
That's it.
if you've been to Canberra, that's a territory versus state.
So yeah, like I said, I saw a lot of Australia on that bus trip for three months.
So and then going back we went out to Western Australia and El Cuestro we went to which isa pretty iconic place where they did a lot of the filming of the movie Australia the movie
(30:24):
the big cattle ranches and Wide open plains and so I was lucky enough to go there which isreally off the beaten track.
You're like, yeah
Eatin' ants.
Yeah, so we don't call them ranches in Australia, we call them stations.
they're massive.
are a couple.
Yeah, there are a couple of stations which I think are bigger than Belgium.
(30:47):
Like they're monstrous areas of property.
Yeah, most of them of which, know,
probably 80 % desert, but you know we do have some of the most purebred and the bestbloodline camels are in Australia and that goes back to yeah back in the colonial days
they used camels obviously to transport goods and services across the deserts.
(31:09):
The camels were used in the laying of the telegraph which ran from Adelaide all the way upto Darwin which was then connected to the underwater cables that went to the UK so that
changed Australia from all communications being by a boat, by the telegraph, things thattook six months now took two or three days.
(31:29):
So what had happened is when also the railways were laid, the camels were not needinganymore, so they were just left to wander.
Camels and basically the bloodline is now so sought after that you get the Saudi Arabiansand quite a of the Middle Eastern camel breeders will come to Australia or buy camel.
(31:50):
flesh from Australia because it's such good basic good genetics that's an interestinglittle
and I heard that the gone train is named after Afghanistan because of the camels comingfrom Afghanistan and that gone train I have done through there.
So if you want a really amazing experience just doing a train ride through that outback,can do the gone is from what is it Adelaide up to Darwin.
(32:16):
to Darwin or any Pacific goes in the Pacific Ocean the Indian Ocean to the Pacific Oceantonight so from Perth to Sydney and again you don't have to do either you don't have to do
Adelaide pieces you can do it in two sections
an idea you know and I think Americans love train journeys we kind of have that in Europebe like do the train journey in Europe and people don't realize maybe that there are train
(32:39):
journeys in Australia that'll you know kind of break up the flying all around becauseAustralia's big as the US people Americans do not realize that it is five hours flight
across yeah three hours Sydney to Cairns
So you do a lot of flights.
So train journeys may be an idea to break things up.
Yeah, so just on that note, so a big country as Corey mentioned, the easiest way to getaround is flying and there is a really robust domestic network within Australia.
(33:10):
But the trains we mentioned, so you can go north, south, Adelaide to Darwin on the GAN.
You can go east, west, west, east on the Indian Pacific.
There are also train journeys that run up the famed East Coast, so from Sydney all the wayup to Queensland and further north if you want to.
And then there are short little sort of day trips, the
Coranda rail as Corey mentioned earlier.
(33:31):
It's a very famous, it's all of like 42nd rail journey or experience, not journey.
In the Blue Mountains, it's called, I think it's just.
It's like a funicular kind of thing,
Yeah.
And it's an old mining railway which got people from the top of the cliff down into thevalley.
They've now turned in.
Like I think the grade is like something like 89 percent.
(33:51):
It's real.
It's almost a vertical drop.
I think you can even see people rappelling down the mountain as you're going down.
You can do that up in the air.
the more adventurous sport.
Now one thing that we haven't touched on which I'd like to and I'm sure what experiencesyou had if any you've mentioned you know your experiences with the Australians were
(34:15):
friendly and nice which I generally think we are overall.
We have to acknowledge that we were not there first there was the indigenous populationthe Aboriginal people and
I took my family back there years ago and we did some extensive Aboriginal interactionsand immersion to us up in the Northern Territory, which is where you have the best
(34:35):
opportunity to do it.
So have you had that yourself?
Have you done any Aboriginal experiences on your own?
first there you could actually climb Ayers Rock which is now called yes Rue yeah I want toget that right
And which is an aboriginal name, which is, think, very respectful to name it or rename itor bring the name back.
(34:58):
you could find that you cannot because that's disrespectful to that.
It's kind of a spiritual gathering place for the aboriginal people.
So I respect that.
I saw, we got to go all around it and up it.
And you can see the paintings, the aboriginal paintings that are million.
I can't be millions, but.
But very, very old, like we're talking Egyptian type.
(35:22):
cave drawings that date back quite a few years.
So that was very fascinating.
And you don't realize that that was in Australia.
I was very impressed after being to Egypt and some of those places that things are just asold in Australia.
And then I also did, which I really remember fondly, is a Medicine Man day tour we did upin the outside of Cairns where an aboriginal
(35:50):
Elder if you will took us out and showed us all the plants that they had used and berriesand all even bark of the wood that they used for medicines and it was so Fascinating and
how you know much of that was lost that these plants can you know cure and heal and goodfor all kinds of they can make teas out of the different leaves and it
(36:14):
And they gave it to us and maybe it's a little psychological, but you feel the energy oryou feel the, you know, they feel better and more robust and it just, it's nice that not
everything has to be so processed, you know, it can be natural and there are, you know,people that understand the value of the roots and maybe even finding new medicines.
(36:36):
Cause that up in that area is a lot of it's untouched, which is so amazing.
probably the most famous areas you can do this will be up in Kakadu National Park.
So this is all the Northern Territory area for the most part, though there are Aboriginalcommunities and peoples all over the country.
And just going back to Corey's mentioning of the cave painting, the Aboriginal peoples arethe oldest living culture in the world.
(36:58):
you go.
Yes.
I that's in
So it's highly recommended that you speak to one of our destination specialists.
If you're going to Australia, particularly the Northern Territory, that you try and workin an Indigenous experience because as Corey just mentioned, here's I did the same thing
with the family.
We were with a lady.
used her white name, Patsy was her white name, and she actually came from an area calledArnhem Land, which is also in the Northern Territory.
(37:25):
And this is blocked off for the most part for the Aboriginal peoples.
There's no or very, very little tourism.
into Arnhem Land.
So she came from there.
you know, based what she, what Corey just mentioned, she showed us, you know, fruits andberries and roots and stuff like that.
And it's, it's amazing.
And I'm quite proud to say that Australia's finally, yeah, all the art work.
(37:48):
I love that work.
love Aboriginal.
It's almost a dot drawing people know about well just
that's probably the most famous version of it.
The dot painting, though there are other types as well.
And as I saying, I'm really pleased that Australia, White Australia is finally recognizingand truly taking on board the impact that we had on them and their culture and its impact
(38:12):
and potential future for them and for us as well, working hand in hand.
So that's a good positive step.
That's my little, I guess, political.
Yep.
And I can transition my favorite experience of all time.
Number one, easy, not difficult is diving the Barrier Reef.
And I had no idea.
(38:33):
I'd been to the Barrier Reef snorkeling and you do it, you know, as a backpacker andthings.
And it's gorgeous.
It's amazing.
You know, you see the clams and all that sort of stuff.
But we did one trip and this is way later on journeys to Australia.
I realized you can go diving, actually diving with tanks and you can go down 10 meterswith only a day like
(38:54):
two hour lesson, if you can swim and you're very comfortable in the water, you can do aresort dive as they call it.
And I had no idea.
I just figured diving's for Patty, you gotta train in three days and it's just toocomplicated.
I'll snorkel, I'm fine snorkeling.
But then it became an opportunity and I was like, okay, why not?
And if you're a little less comfortable in the water, they have cables that they take youdown.
(39:17):
So you could go down via cable slowly so you could get your ears adjusted, everything.
It's not like...
you you're on your own.
So you go a cable down and it's all protected.
So they don't want you touching the reef and everything.
So it's all done just so professionally.
And you can go down slowly and get comfortable, clear your ears.
I'd never dive dove, whatever the term went diving before.
(39:38):
And it was just an incredible experience.
I got so comfortable.
And they said it was it's a little pricey, but it's so worth it.
You know, I mean, it's just once in a lifetime.
And they were like, we have time to go again.
Would anybody like to go again?
I mean,
I paid it again, that credit card bill.
Because at first it takes a while to get comfortable with your ears and things.
(39:58):
You're enjoying it, you're experiencing it.
And I was even, get your dive meter and I was trying to get below 10 meters and boy thatdive master, he's showing me, he's like, you're not gonna, no you're not.
I've been doing this a long time.
But to actually do a dive at the Break barrier reef is just special.
It's just a life experience that.
(40:19):
you get to carry on.
mean, it really changed me.
now, that was definitely my number one experience in Australia.
Interesting.
So a point you brought up much earlier, there's a lot of Australians don't see their owncountry, which I think it's true for most people in their respective countries.
I can't speak to you on how much of the states you've seen, but when I was growing up, Idid most of my travel everywhere else but Australia.
(40:41):
So when I went back again with the family a couple of people, many years ago when the kidswere really young, my wife and I left our kids with my mother and we did that.
went up to the Barrier Reef.
We were both certified drivers and we did a three-day live aboard.
And to your point, was amazing.
There's a lot of news that the reef is in
which it is there are areas which are you know in trouble but we are working we beingAustralia working very hard to rectify that but there are still many many pristine areas
(41:07):
in of the barrier reef so even if you're not a diver you can do the resort dives as Coreymentioned or just go up and snorkel because
snuba they have this weird thing with a we I travel agents where they put like a bubblething on your head and so you're breathing naturally and then they lower you down so
you're don't mess up your hair I mean it's really bizarre seriously yeah you see it yousee like Bugs Bunny cartoons you know like if they go into space you look like a spaceman
(41:34):
but then you get to have the experience because a lot of generations go out to the barrierreef you know grandma the kids the grandkids the great grandkids you know and so grandma
wants to
be a part of the joy and the talk and all that sort of stuff.
So they have little submersibles, submarines, tiny ones, little, they're not too tiny.
You don't get too claustrophobic, but you can also do the snuba, which is I thought wasgreat so that grandma can talk with the kids.
(41:58):
Yeah, I was down there.
Yeah, how was it?
did the, you were snorkeling while I was over here.
I saw you, Johnny, you were amazing.
I saw you in there.
They're sitting there breathing just natural air.
They don't have to have a snorkel.
They don't have to worry about salt in their mouth.
And I just thought it was great for the whole family to be able to enjoy it and talk aboutit.
That's the best part.
Oh, I was there with you.
(42:19):
And they hand you like sea cucumbers so that grandma
Well, I feel like I could grab on myself.
But you know, so that the older generations can, you know, and it's not just older.
Some people are not comfortable in the water, you know, so they wasn't just all older.
just that's what was in my mind.
But some people, you know, that snorkel, you get salt water in your mouth and all that.
So there's so many ways to experience the Great Bear Reef.
(42:39):
It's just a really nice, nice way to do it.
Okay, so as we wrap things up here, let me just a bit of role play for you.
I come to you as an agent who's never sold Australia before.
You obviously have a lot of experience with it in actual being there and obviously workingwith the country for many years.
You mentioned you were just at a Tourism Australia event, I think in LA.
(43:00):
So I come to you and I say, well, I've got a client, they've got, let's say two and ahalf, three weeks.
flexible, don't worry about airfare they've got that sorted.
They want to do Australia, what are your recommendations?
This is probably their only time they're going to go that far.
that's good point.
Well I'll give you two and a half weeks, what should they hit?
Yeah, my first comment and this is so common is to pick one Tell your clients to pick oneAustralia or New Zealand because every American who goes down the down under they think
(43:33):
well I'm going that far.
I'll try to do both countries.
It's just how we all perceive things You know you figure so pick one.
That's my number one advice So like you said two and a half weeks is generally the amountof time people have so pick one Australia pick
definitely.
There's so much to see and do as you've heard.
then I love to Sydney's.
(43:55):
Some people like to end their trip in Sydney.
I kind of disagree with that.
But some people say end in Sydney, fly to Melbourne, perhaps start there.
Because Melbourne is like the San Francisco of Australia, say that's a little you know,coffee is really big and art and it's just a little more the graphic laneways.
and then you'll be over your jet lag for Sydney.
(44:15):
So it's just an idea because there is a bit of jet lag when you first get there and you'rea little fuzzy, but you're gonna end there generally too.
If you fly into Sydney, you're gonna end there.
So you'll have a day at the end to do some things.
So just realize you're gonna be pretty tired the first day in.
Some people do the bridge climb to keep them fresh and fun and as you land, cause you getin and in the mornings.
(44:36):
So spend some time in Sydney.
And then like I said, I love Melbourne.
and then picking one of the wine country regions if you're into that.
Kangaroo Island for me is a favorite, so I love doing that.
And then Cairns, so most people do Sydney, maybe Melbourne or Adelaide, Kangaroo Island,and then definitely Cairns and doing your Barrier Reef.
(45:01):
and the rainforest area.
So when you start doing three days here, maybe three and two or three Melbourne, becauseyou want to go down and see the penguins coming ashore every night.
That's Phillip Island outside of that's some more wildlife.
And then Kangaroo Island and Berry Reef is pretty sweet.
And then if you have time, if you stay in Cairns, you're on the mainland, you might wantto do an island experience.
(45:26):
And my favorite is Hamilton Island, which is in the Whitsundays.
So you're getting an island experience.
but it doesn't have to be totally high end, because many of those island experiences arepretty expensive.
But Hamilton Island has mid-range hotels and properties, so you can be on the barrierreef.
You're not on the outer barrier reef there, but you're on the barrier reef, and so you getthat island experience.
So that would be a recommendation.
(45:48):
If you're not doing Kangaroo Island, maybe add in Hamilton.
So I've kind of said a lot.
then the Outback, you know, Outback takes a little extra work, you know, fly out there andto see the Uluru and the sunset there and the Aboriginal culture.
That would be maybe a second time traveling to Australia.
But if they are into trains, like I said, or into the more cultural experience, then youmight add in Ayers Rock and Alice Springs and Uluru.
(46:17):
So it's so much to see.
yeah, that's the trouble.
It's like any country that's just so...
what do you That's why I say pick one pick one country.
Yeah, definitely do that.
I would always try and squeeze in Uluru and Katatuta, which were called the Olgas, again,back to our original name in Katatuta, which is right by Uluru, if you can on your two and
(46:39):
a half, three week trip.
Other thing I'd like to point out too is that, as Corey mentioned, most people will fly inand out of Sydney, but that doesn't have to be your only option.
You can fly into Melbourne, out of Brisbane.
Brisbane's becoming probably one of the main
Well, I don't want to say secondary, like it's equaling Sydney as an entry and exit point.
you could into Sydney out of Brisbane, into Melbourne out of Brisbane.
(47:00):
Yeah.
It's something to keep in mind.
A state which Corey didn't mention.
I know he's been there and I know he loves it as well, but I want to just throw it outthere is Tasmania.
Now it'd be difficult to squeeze.
mean, Corey mentioned Ian plus Tasmania, but Tasmania is like a country unto itself withinAustralia.
It's often forgotten, which is a big mistake by Australians.
(47:22):
as well as international.
Absolutely love it.
And if you fly into Hobart, there's one of the most impressive modern art museums in theworld there.
It's called Mona Museum of Old and New Art.
And you want to look it up.
If you're into art and you want to get off the beaten track and really experiencesomething unique and fascinating, the owner rotates the
(47:47):
exhibitions his art collection constantly so you never know what you're gonna find but Iwas just absolutely amazed so Tasmania is not just the rural farms and you know that sort
of thing is why I kind of to mention it that the museums and things like that and thewildlife is pretty cool.
It's got amazing wildlife and it's actually probably concentrated wise more colonialhistory than anywhere else in Australia because it's got some brutal pasts, it's got some
(48:13):
amazing pasts because if you were bad you were sent to Australia.
And if you're bad when you're in Australia you got sent to two places, Norfolk Islandwhich is north, and you had to be pretty bad to get sent down to Tasmania again.
No wonder they have a whiskey trail down there.
For the comics and whiskey.
There's a great whiskey trail down there.
(48:35):
They make some pretty iconic whiskeys in TesManias.
So there's another treat.
Yeah.
So I think you can hear from all of Corey's experiences that there are so many experiencesto be had in Australia, wildlife culture, First Nations history and culture.
Yeah.
Stunning beaches, of course.
Desert outback.
Sport.
(48:55):
Sporting.
I'm biased.
Yeah, I'm biased.
I Corey's a biased because of his connection with the country over the years, but it istruly a very special place.
At the moment, as we've mentioned,
with the way the dollar is working, it's in Americans' favor.
So now is the time to travel to Australia.
If you are able to, if you have the time, if you have the budget, go for it.
(49:19):
If have anything from three star to five star, soft adventure, hard adventure, high endluxury, if that's what you want as well.
So Corey, I'd like to thank you for your time today.
I really appreciate it.
That was fun.
Memory lane.
enjoyed it.
Enjoyed it going down memory lane back to the 80s and 90s.
It's, you know, things have changed, but they haven't changed that much.
That's what's great about Australia.
(49:39):
You know, you'd still down to earth kind people.
Yeah.
Absolutely amazing scenery.
It hasn't been overrun and it's just really, really amazing.
was there just maybe two years ago.
So it's just still fantastic.
It is.
I was just there about a month ago and I fell in love again with my country.
It is beautiful.
(50:00):
I do miss it dearly.
And anyone who hasn't had the opportunity to travel there should do it now, do it later,but just please at some stage do it.
On that note, thank you again, Corey, and thank you everyone for listening in today.
Really appreciate your time and we'll talk to you soon.
Yeah, thanks Don.
you
Land down under, Australia, my homeland and a playground for American tourists.
Made more famous in the 1980s with Paul Hogan with a put another shrimp on the barbie andthat's not a knife, this is a knife.
Australia's popularity grew exponentially and it became the flavour of the month for the80s and 90s and has remained so to a lesser degree for the many years since.
(00:24):
Today we're going to visit, literally and metaphorically, Australia with Corey Payton, GoA's
manager based in Los Angeles, California as he recounts his many visits to the land downunder.
Hey there everyone, I'm Don, Professor Goaay and welcome to the GoaayPro Travel Talepodcast.
Travel far and gravel often.
(00:56):
Hey there everyone and welcome to the Go A Pro Travel Tales podcast today, but it'sactually this week.
So you're hearing this the week after we spoken to Meg Boyd who is Go A's Down Under orAustralia product manager.
So it's a week of Australia, but joining us today is Corey Payton.
Now Corey is an American living in Los Angeles, California.
(01:21):
And other than that,
Corey in his past life with other companies who we won't mention right here, but he hastraveled extensively down to my home country, Australia, where I was about, God, it's
almost a month ago now, four weeks ago.
So we're both gonna reminisce on our experiences in Australia and why it's such a coolplace to holiday in and to visit particularly for North Americans from the East Coast,
(01:51):
because it's much closer that way.
from the West Coast, not East Coast, a bit further from the East Coast as I found out whenI went home again the other time.
So Corey, welcome.
Thank you.
For those who may not know introduction.
Yeah, there you go.
Thank you.
For those who may not know you, can you give us a little brief about who you are, yourexperience in the industry, not so much with Australia necessarily at this stage, but just
(02:14):
where you came from in regards to travel.
Yeah, I graduated college back in the 80s, so I go back a while.
And in the winter time, I would work at a ski resort.
So you meet all kinds of people, enjoy that thoroughly.
And I was planning on going to law school.
So I was studying for law school and taking all the tests and getting ready, but I wasalso skiing and meeting all kinds of travel people.
(02:36):
So when I graduated, my parents all said, take a year off, see the world, travel.
So I did and I met somebody from the ski resort and we traveled Europe and I met a ton ofAustralians and New Zealanders So when I got back I put off law school another year and
decided to go down under so that's where I'm heading to so in the early 90s by 1990 I tookoff for six months to travel around Australia, New Zealand.
(03:02):
Just said let's go.
I had done three months in Europe.
So I was kind of into the Travel for longer
and I was also a camp counselor in the summer and that kind of stuff.
So going to Australia in the winter was perfect for me because I was leading tours withcamping tours and I was at Contiki for a while.
(03:24):
So Contiki, as you know, is very much like 80 % Australian and New Zealanders.
So I had plenty of people to visit.
had homes to, you know, they'd say come visit, but they don't really mean it.
Well, I showed up on their doorstep.
Around Sydney cuz I was there I was in New Zealand three months and three months Australiaroughly ballpark So I got a Greyhound pass back then you have Greyhounds in Australia At
(03:49):
least you did then we did and a pass for two months and just traveled all around and somany Australia's were telling me I saw more of their country than they had because they
were saving it for when they retire Which you're probably doing to see like the outbackuber pd and up through Alice Springs So I took a bus pass all around and visited
my friends.
So that's how I got to Australia the first time and then I came back and I was still atour manager with Contiki.
(04:12):
So I met Australians like crazy and then I worked for a travel company that focused mainlyon Australia and New Zealand.
So then I got to take fams to Australia and New Zealand.
the high end way.
wasn't the backpacking budget.
It was the helicopter in and land on the.
nice.
Yes, it was very nice.
So that was quite a difference.
And I'd appreciated it so much.
(04:33):
You you appreciate it a lot more when you've done the backpacking and the hitchhiking.
I hitchhiked all over different places, which is, you know, you don't see that now.
But in the early 90s, it was pretty common, especially in more and smaller towns.
So I got to see Australia quite a bit as we're focusing there, just from the like.
from the ground up, literally walking outside of a town and hitchhiking to the next one,or taking buses through the outback.
(05:01):
I remember staying up half the night because they would, you know, those bus drivers, theydrive those long.
hours wow from yeah adelaide up to alice springs is a long way with nothing so i was upkeeping them awake and they were really happy to have it so i'm kind of a talker and a
chatter and i was telling my yank stories as you call us your yanks yeah your you guyscall us i don't know you'll edit this out but you used to call us seppos and you can
(05:27):
explain why you did that because yeah
so that actually yeah, just to jump in there because I'm not gonna edit this out so TheAustralians actually were colonized by the British.
So we have a lot of connections and and rhyming slang is a big thing out of the UK or wasThis is actually a little bit about it in the go away pro travel Academy on the UK
(05:50):
modules, but rhyming slang So it was septic tank
equals yank.
as Australians will then shorten anything septic tank became seppo.
So seppo through a long connection there.
calling American septic tanks like how pleasant but I mean I get it cuz they would saythey would say go answer the dog and bone because
(06:17):
dog and you go, the rhyming saying which is the phone.
Yeah, dog and bone is the phone.
That's the more pleasant and then you call on British people palm ease because of themagistrate so it was when I was hitchhiking our sign said a palm and a yank or a palm and
a seppo Because we wanted people to know we were foreign we were I was in marketing in1990 here Marketing as I was hitchhiking because we wanted to pick up look we wanted
(06:41):
locals to give us a ride so that we could Visit their house and tell our stories.
So I was traveling with a British guy that first time
for quite a while and you see it in the photos when I sent you, when we're on a camel onthe outback.
But that was my sign, know, Palma Nacepo heading to Alice Springs and we get a ride.
(07:03):
So yeah, you're bringing back good memories.
Yeah, So again, for anyone who visits Australia, you have to remember that we do have avery dry sense of humor and we do like the nicknames and yes, often the classic one is
someone who's a redhead, we call them bluey or blondy, you know, the complete opposite.
(07:23):
But it actually means you care about the person like that.
It's actually a show kind of
No, guess.
Yeah.
And that was my point.
If you get a nickname, it's because you're liked and everyone should have a nickname oryour name is, you is cut down and abbreviated.
So Stephen is Steve.
yeah.
Or he might be Coro cause.
(07:44):
You got closer.
OK, so again, it's it's all a sign of endearment.
Just going back, though.
Most Americans and we are going to sort of focus on the American market here, becauseobviously that's your backyard.
But most Americans, for some obvious reasons, they don't get a of vacation compared to theAustralians and Europeans.
(08:06):
Yeah, the two-week things.
So most Americans, at least in their youth, not all, but most, don't travel at length, butyou obviously did.
is that something, were you bucking the system, so to speak, bucking society?
Like, did you get,
Do you get raised eyebrows when you said you're off for six months to Australia at thetime?
Because again, back in the eighties, back in the eighties, Australia, well, it dependswhen you went, but you know, it was in the eighties in Australia really came to prominence
(08:32):
with the traveling world through, you know, Kaukobah Dundee in excess, the America's Cup,whole lot, know, bands had men at work, men at work, course.
Yeah.
But so when you said you were going to Australia for, you know, and New Zealand for alength of time, you know, were eyebrows raised at the time?
Well, in that time, Americans went to Europe because of the year rail pass.
(08:53):
It was just huge.
I mean, that's what people thought of.
Australia needed that idea to kind of permeate the youth market and it just didn't.
And I always have a theory, Americans think that Australia is so far, which it reallyisn't when you're flying to Greece.
If you're flying to Greece or maybe Southern Europe, it's the same roughly, hour, give ortake, it's the same, but you're also flying to a different season.
(09:23):
So I was flying from summer to summer and that...
mentally makes Americans think that Australia is farther away.
It's just something in my mind.
I think that's the subconscious.
Like, it's winter there in July?
That's far.
You know, that's kind of what I Americans process.
(09:45):
So that was the
In my mind, people are thinking, wow, you're going far.
It's winter, everybody's skiing, and you're going to summer.
So I was bucking the trend.
But like I said, I worked for Contiki.
I had Australians over my house.
On a Contiki tour once, I pulled them up to Fresno, and the entire bus got off at myparents' house.
So my family was very used to meeting and seeing Australians as they came and visited meas well when they came back to the US.
(10:12):
They often went to see, you know, I was in California, so that's where a lot ofAustralians start when they travel to the US.
Yeah, exactly.
again, one, it's the it's easy.
I always remember growing up and my dad worked for Qantas.
So the conversations and opportunities to go L.A.
were many for me.
I was a bit spoiled.
(10:33):
But yeah, most Australians when they looked to the US actually this segues nice into makesquestions.
So most Aussies will.
Again, we're talking the younger crowd at this stage anyway.
I don't think it's changed a great deal.
After university or even after high school, they'll disappear for a year becauseeverything is so far away from Australia.
And the mindset is if I'm going to go, I'm to go for a while, enjoy myself, then I'll comeback and get into life, whatever life may be.
(10:58):
Now, one of the biggest calling cards for a young Australian is to go to the UK andEurope, because obviously the UK, the connections, et cetera, and Europe's across a very
short pond.
So they go and do that.
When we looked at the US, it was LA for a couple of reasons.
And I noticed this was there about a year and a half ago.
Disneyland was a big thing growing up.
(11:20):
And I was out there for go away doing a show, literally in the back, the on the on theback entrance of of Disneyland, the hotel I was staying in, I swear, I think three
busloads and I mean, like large groups of anywhere 20 to 40 people from Australia hadflown in and their main
destination for their trip to the US was Disneyland.
(11:44):
as an American, be it East Coast or West Coast, as Australians look to Britain, or greatto the UK for the connections there, where do Americans dream about as they're growing up,
when you were young and now, as you work in the industry, like, you know, for a first timetraveler from the States, where are they looking to go?
(12:04):
Like, where is their sort of go-to destination?
Is it
Always the Caribbean?
Is it Hawaii?
For me growing up in the ski resort and the more active community, Hawaii would be yourfirst trip maybe long haul because it's a four hour flight from LA to Hawaii.
So that was my first trip and that kind of started the edge.
(12:27):
And then it's London, Paris, Amsterdam.
That's just what the...
It was my...
that's through the 90s and through the 2000s when I talked to younger people my nieces andnephews and such it's Going to Europe going to London.
I mean, it's just what is talked about their friends have gone maybe the year before SoAustralia is the next trip kind of in their mind.
(12:50):
Okay, and I think you know the for me it was the weather You know that we were at skiresorts and so we were ready for some
It's worth it well Right, and it's worth pointing out for anyone who is a skier.
There are there are ski slopes in Australia They're not on the same.
I don't actually read about yes, very good.
(13:15):
Yes red bow and in
In what we call the snowy mountains, because as I always say, Australians form like theysee them.
they're mountains with snow on it.
So the snowy mountains.
But to Corey's point, saying, yeah, they're more hills compared to the Rockies and theAlps and stuff like that.
Yes, exactly.
But I think technically speaking, Australia gets more snow or our snowy mountains get moresnow than Europe or something like that.
(13:39):
It's some crazy stat, but it doesn't like it might be a stat that's true, but it doesn'ttruly equate to Europe.
I for the youth, the barrier reef, the surfing, diving, that was all the draw for me.
And that was one of my biggest excitements.
It was also meeting the people in their home country, because I'd met so many Australians,but they were so wanting me see them.
(14:02):
Yeah, born and raised.
Oh, you are?
Oh, can't.
Yeah, grew up on a farm in California.
So I'm farm boy, central California, raisins.
grapes to raisins, peaches, so yeah, total farm boy.
I'm not rich.
I live in Los Angeles now, but I grew up California.
So even as a rural Californian, did you go to the Californian beaches much?
Because obviously, again, a cliche for people who don't live in the States and forAustralians, if you live in California, it's beach life.
(14:29):
It's that whole thing.
That's what you see through the movies and all the TV shows.
So obviously there's more to California than just it's coastline.
So again, I guess my point is I'm interested to know you as a rural Californian, theattraction of the beaches and the Barrier Reef in Australia.
Yeah, we would go to the beaches, but in Northern, I was more central and NorthernCalifornia.
(14:52):
And if anybody knows California, they get very foggy and things in the summertime becausethe hot air, can be 40 degrees Celsius, pretty common 110 degrees Fahrenheit in the
central California and it pulls in the fog.
So the people joke the coldest winter you'll ever spend is a summer in San Francisco.
So all along that beach is fog and cold.
(15:15):
So
we want sunshine and Northern Californians didn't go to LA.
It was just, you know, when you're from the central Northern, you go, you're kind of a SanFrancisco 49er fan, all that.
Australia was a big draw because it was just pictured as sunshine and Bondi beach andsurfing and you know, and Baywatch and all that was popular on television.
(15:37):
And so that, that was a big draw for me as the growing up in California.
It just seemed like we had a.
Great relationship, you know, mean all the people I met and talked to were realdown-to-earth great people Fun enjoyed life enjoyed barbecues, you know that kind of thing
having a barbecue at Christmas.
That is cool
(15:57):
Yeah, that's that is something that there is.
But there are not a there are not a ton of cultural differences between Australia andNorth America.
Weather obviously is one of them, particularly if you're from Canada.
I'm in Toronto.
So just coming out of the winter here, which has been just it's just hanging on won't goaway.
But yeah, I think one of the people biggest shocks or cultural differences is if they if.
(16:25):
If a North American goes to Australia over Christmas time is that it's not snowing.
And yes, there is a Christmas vibe down there.
have Christmas trees, we do all that type of thing.
But yeah, our Christmas day will often be presents in the morning and then you go for awalk out of the beach in the afternoon.
because I would travel there in the winter because I'd led tours with Contiki in thesummer and then I would go to Australia quite a bit two or three times in the winter which
(16:52):
was your summer.
So that worked perfect for me.
I remember throwing out clothes in my closet that were all sweaters I hadn't used in twoyears and I was like, man, why do I have all these?
But then I realized I hadn't been home in a winter so like the third winter I had nosweaters, no jackets, no clothes because I was leading tours but it was kind of nice to
have
know constant summertime it was really works well so that's
(17:16):
I tell you what, again, I was just home recently and it was coming out of summer.
was still very hot because, you know, the world's a bit crazy with its temperatures andweather these days.
But it was, you know, the 35 mark, quite humid, beautiful.
And would be 80?
Yeah, sorry.
Yeah, around there, 80s to 90s.
(17:36):
And you'd, you know, you just put on some shorts, shirts and flip flops and you'd walk outthe door.
And I come back here to here being Toronto.
And I walk in the front door and I look to my right and we have our coat rack, which isjust like buried in coats and gloves and, like just coming out this morning.
Cause we were going through a cold snap.
was like the whole thing.
It's just, I do miss that aspect about Australia, but on the flip side, having lived herenow in North America for a while, I've come to appreciate the change of the seasons, which
(18:04):
you don't see as dramatically in Australia.
there's a lot of sort of culture.
True you can't get I remember seeing that sorry But I was there in the fall going up tothe Blue Mountains from Sydney and really thinking and it's April May and You got the
pumpkins and the fall foliage and all that sort of thing and it was like wow This is youknow, really cool.
So you do get it
(18:25):
Yeah, again, you know, there is a change of season naturally and you do see it but not tothe degree you would see up in New England and even here in Ontario where it's just
amazing.
Now that's awesome for like two or three weeks then it might be and it sucks.
Well it's cold for the next four or five months.
So you said for you when you were younger it was the beach and the barrier reef again, allthe big classics of Australia which have been very well marketed over the years.
(18:54):
you now as a professional in the industry, when you're out there talking to all our agentpartners or even consumers directly, what do you think is Australia's attraction in the
2000s?
Is it the same thing?
Is it what you've mentioned, the people, the friendliness, the barrier reef, Uluru, etcetera?
(19:14):
Well, I think the initial draw is Sydney in the Opera House and the bridge and the bridgeclimb I mean obviously that's what you see in the media and it's kind of like I want to
tick that off the box seeing the Opera House it's kind of like the Taj Mahal of thesouthern hemisphere so and it's
It's just as beautiful, I'll tell you.
(19:35):
But then meeting the people is what I promote, is places like Kangaroo Island, where I sayKangaroo Island is like all of Australia in one small island.
And it is definitely coming back after the fires.
I've seen that might be people Google it, they'll see that occurred in 2018, but it'sreally come back and the people are amazing.
(19:59):
I promote that quite a bit, Adelaide and the wine country.
You know, as you get older, you enjoy those wine countries.
So you got three of them, Yarra Valley.
Let's see if I can remember them.
The Barossa is out of Adelaide, Yarra Valley, and then Hunter is outside of Sydney.
So you've got the three wine regions to visit.
So as we get older and appreciate good wine, and I'm from California.
(20:20):
That is nice and right now with the exchange rates, wow, you can get a bottle of wine forhalf price.
So that's nice.
The exchange rate is incredible right now.
We were talking about that recently.
So time to go.
so just just on that point, we're not going to into the reasons behind it.
It's not a political podcast.
at the moment, yeah, I think our director of sales, Renee said it's close to half the USdollar at the moment, something like that.
(20:46):
Yeah, so to explain that to people, some people don't realize, so if you take 58 US cents,you can get an Australian dollar.
So 58 cents gets a dollar.
So that's pretty sweet.
And when you see an item in Australia, it's generally speaking about the same price asyou'd see here.
So a bottle of good wine, about 30 bucks.
(21:08):
But realizing you're only paying 58 cents for each one of those, everything's 40 % off.
So
It's pretty sweet, pretty sweet deal if you explain it that way.
Like when you get your credit card bill, it'll say, you know, you'll pay 30 Australian,but then it comes back and it'll only be $18 on your credit card.
Yeah, so Here's the only hard silver podcast now is a really good time to travel toAustralia take advantage of the current situation because it's in in your being Absolutely
(21:35):
Talking to our US agent partners out there.
This is definitely in your and your clients favor
And of course we've got to mention the wildlife.
think people notice, you know, they want to see a kangaroo, you know, for you it's likekangaroo I mentioned to people are like deer, you know, in California.
You're not going to see them walking down the street.
But if you go up towards where I was, Central Valley, and you head up towards themountains, towards Yosemite or anything at sunset, sunrise, you're going to see deer out
(22:01):
and about and doing their thing and eating.
it's like, cool.
We pull over and take pictures too.
of deer and it was just like that in Australia to see kangaroos.
know, you're like, yeah, they're out and about and doing their thing and no big deal whenyou're driving from Sydney to the Blue Mountains and stuff.
You're like, we pulled over for a picnic or and there's kangaroos and for an American,that's pretty sweet.
Like we were like, wow, there's kangaroos in the wild just doing that.
(22:25):
And then when I did those bus rides, seeing the big reds, they come the big reds that aresix, seven foot tall and.
You know, on those bus drives, you'd see them at sunrise just standing up full speed.
They can sit on their tail, you know, and put up their entire bodies.
It's pretty, pretty amazing.
That was, you know, and I think that was part of the draw.
So you got the weather, the beaches, the iconic picture, you know, snap, whatever kids dothese days of the opera house.
(22:51):
And then to see the wildlife, you know, you combine all those and you're like, OK, it's onthe list, man.
It's.
no, it's definitely, even for an Aussie growing up, yes you get used to seeing kangaroos.
Now again, if you grow up in a city, you're not going to see, as you just said, as we usedto say, like a lot of Americans would think you'd see a kangaroo bouncing down George
(23:13):
Street, which is our main shopping street in Sydney.
But on the flip side, it doesn't take much to see indigenous wildlife.
What we have to do is get out into the suburbs with lots of bush.
Or I went home to visit my mom many years ago and she lives in a place on central coast ofNew South Wales.
And I was with my wife and of course we were jet lagged so we were up at 4 o'clock in themorning, couldn't sleep.
(23:37):
So we drove down to the beach because I think 80 % of Australians live within 10kilometers of the coastline, something crazy like that.
And as we drove down, I can't remember the town actually, top of it, Yamber.
The town's called Yamber.
segue here, quite a lot of Australian town names and places are named after the indigenouspopulation, the aboriginal.
(23:59):
So Yamber is an aboriginal name.
So this town is quite interesting.
It's a town where a lot of Australians will retire, but it's also a beach town.
So you go into the, you know, the center and you see everything from, you know, all thesurfies, walking around barefoot, which a lot of Australians do regardless.
And then you have your retired crowd, you know, playing bowls.
But as we drove towards the beach, there was a soccer rugby pitch there and on the rugbypitch at about six in the morning.
(24:23):
there was probably 30 kangaroos because next to Yamber is an Aboriginal or not reservedbut area which is theirs and it's left unmolested.
the kangaroos bounce in from there, they eat the grass off the pitch and they disappearback in and that's like right in middle of a rather large town.
And the thing I've noticed having gone back a few times over the last couple of years isthe famed cockatoo which is the white parrot with the golden crest.
(24:50):
I live in an area where we see lots of them.
things.
get into your room.
They got into the room.
were out on Whitsundays, Hamilton Island, and you do not leave your sliding glass dooropen in Hamilton Island.
And somebody always does.
They'll just tear up the room.
Yeah, you have to sign when you check in, you know, that you'll keep that sliding glassdoor closed.
(25:15):
yeah, they're beautiful birds.
mean, they're beautiful.
Just.
That's yeah.
And they're just everywhere.
I've just noticed they're everywhere now as well.
So, wildlife will creep into.
And again, you'll see cockatoos downtown Sydney, like around Circle Key.
I saw them.
I can't remember.
think these birds are called an ibis.
They weren't there when I was growing up.
We call them bin turkeys now.
(25:39):
you.
Yeah, exactly.
I'll throw up a picture now of what they are.
they're like an ibis bird, long beak, and they're all over Sydney.
and they get into the garbages and stuff like, hence the name, turkeys.
So there is wildlife, like literally down to
driving to we went to the outback out of Sydney Wogan Valley which I believe you know inthat direction doesn't matter but the locals know where things are and he pulls over he
(26:03):
said come on come on with me mate that's my worst Australian accent
And we went out and he knew where wombats, a family of wombats lived down in littletunnels, you know, and he would say that their back ends are like a bone to cover the hole
so that they, so they go down and cover the hole with their backside, which is all bone.
that kind of protects themselves.
And so he's scurried him out.
It's not very nice, but wake him up.
(26:26):
and see wombats.
So that happened in the Kengri Island.
I saw a little echidna's, know, cruising across the street.
Koalas are a lot more difficult in my opinion.
Many times I've been there.
Pretty tricky.
You got to kind of go to a sanctuary of some sort to see a koala.
Well to be guaranteed, you do, you have to go to a sanctuary.
We don't endorse holding them, that's something that you shouldn't be doing.
(26:47):
GoAway won't allow you to hold them.
But you can get very close to them, like there's a place south of Sydney, I can't rememberits name, where you can literally put your face right next to the koala in the tree, you
don't touch it in the koala, they're very docile.
doing that up in Coranda.
If you do a Coranda, if you get a Coranda rail from Cairns up to the it's a little railway beautiful ride and you come back via the gondola up there is a really nice animal
(27:15):
sanctuary you even see the birds cassowary those dinosaur birds you can see those up theretoo in a sanctuary and the koala so you get them all I love that train trip it's one of my
favorite I recommend it all the time because you got cans of the barrier reef diving andthen you got some rainforest in that train and
gondolas is pretty cool.
Okay, I've got to compliment you on your pronunciation of cans because most Americansdon't get that right.
(27:39):
know you've been working with us in the destination and Australia for a while, but it'snot hard.
So let me ask you, how do you pronounce the capital of Victoria?
Melbourne.
Melbourne and Melbourne.
That's not bad.
Melbourne.
(27:59):
And how about how and how about our national capital?
How do you pronounce that?
Canberra
Very good!
Not Canberra, it's Canberra.
Made me quiz.
didn't write that down.
I that was on top of my head.
Thanks a lot, Don.
No worries.
get the brain cells are working.
(28:22):
So right on.
Yeah, I've been around a lot of Australians.
So the owner again, Bruce Hodge, owner of GoWay.
There was a beautiful segue.
Can you name the states that you visited in Australia?
Where have you been in Oz?
All of them.
I've been done to Taz.
Yeah, I went I sent you that picture.
(28:42):
I actually flew the first time when I went to Australia visiting family.
They wanted to go to see Perth.
They had never been there.
I not.
They weren't my family.
They feel like family, but they were very close, close friends were still very close.
And so they wanted to go to Perth and they're like, use me as an excuse.
Like, let's take the Yank to Perth.
So we went there and then we went out to Rocknest Island and we saw the Kwakas.
(29:04):
And I have a fun story.
won a contest because the camper company who creates Bounder, I mean, creates thesecampers.
This is like early 90s.
And they had a camper called a Bounder and they wanted a new name for a new camper.
So there was a contest going on and I put in submitted Kwaka because they were kind ofusing the kangaroo idea.
(29:25):
And I totally won.
Like I won like 500 bucks.
I don't know if they've ever invented, you know, created a Kwaka camper van, but.
It's pretty sweet.
So I have fond memories of rot nests and seeing these little animals.
You can post one up here.
Put it right up here, little quokka.
But yeah, so I've been to pretty much all of them.
Darwin, which is Northern Territory, South Australia, Western Australia, up intoQueensland, not to be confused with Queenstown, which is New Zealand.
(29:55):
And then New South Wales, Victoria, and Tasmania.
Is that all of them?
That's it.
if you've been to Canberra, that's a territory versus state.
So yeah, like I said, I saw a lot of Australia on that bus trip for three months.
So and then going back we went out to Western Australia and El Cuestro we went to which isa pretty iconic place where they did a lot of the filming of the movie Australia the movie
(30:24):
the big cattle ranches and Wide open plains and so I was lucky enough to go there which isreally off the beaten track.
You're like, yeah
Eatin' ants.
Yeah, so we don't call them ranches in Australia, we call them stations.
they're massive.
are a couple.
Yeah, there are a couple of stations which I think are bigger than Belgium.
(30:47):
Like they're monstrous areas of property.
Yeah, most of them of which, know,
probably 80 % desert, but you know we do have some of the most purebred and the bestbloodline camels are in Australia and that goes back to yeah back in the colonial days
they used camels obviously to transport goods and services across the deserts.
(31:09):
The camels were used in the laying of the telegraph which ran from Adelaide all the way upto Darwin which was then connected to the underwater cables that went to the UK so that
changed Australia from all communications being by a boat, by the telegraph, things thattook six months now took two or three days.
(31:29):
So what had happened is when also the railways were laid, the camels were not needinganymore, so they were just left to wander.
Camels and basically the bloodline is now so sought after that you get the Saudi Arabiansand quite a of the Middle Eastern camel breeders will come to Australia or buy camel.
(31:50):
flesh from Australia because it's such good basic good genetics that's an interestinglittle
and I heard that the gone train is named after Afghanistan because of the camels comingfrom Afghanistan and that gone train I have done through there.
So if you want a really amazing experience just doing a train ride through that outback,can do the gone is from what is it Adelaide up to Darwin.
(32:16):
to Darwin or any Pacific goes in the Pacific Ocean the Indian Ocean to the Pacific Oceantonight so from Perth to Sydney and again you don't have to do either you don't have to do
Adelaide pieces you can do it in two sections
an idea you know and I think Americans love train journeys we kind of have that in Europebe like do the train journey in Europe and people don't realize maybe that there are train
(32:39):
journeys in Australia that'll you know kind of break up the flying all around becauseAustralia's big as the US people Americans do not realize that it is five hours flight
across yeah three hours Sydney to Cairns
So you do a lot of flights.
So train journeys may be an idea to break things up.
Yeah, so just on that note, so a big country as Corey mentioned, the easiest way to getaround is flying and there is a really robust domestic network within Australia.
(33:10):
But the trains we mentioned, so you can go north, south, Adelaide to Darwin on the GAN.
You can go east, west, west, east on the Indian Pacific.
There are also train journeys that run up the famed East Coast, so from Sydney all the wayup to Queensland and further north if you want to.
And then there are short little sort of day trips, the
Coranda rail as Corey mentioned earlier.
(33:31):
It's a very famous, it's all of like 42nd rail journey or experience, not journey.
In the Blue Mountains, it's called, I think it's just.
It's like a funicular kind of thing,
Yeah.
And it's an old mining railway which got people from the top of the cliff down into thevalley.
They've now turned in.
Like I think the grade is like something like 89 percent.
(33:51):
It's real.
It's almost a vertical drop.
I think you can even see people rappelling down the mountain as you're going down.
You can do that up in the air.
the more adventurous sport.
Now one thing that we haven't touched on which I'd like to and I'm sure what experiencesyou had if any you've mentioned you know your experiences with the Australians were
(34:15):
friendly and nice which I generally think we are overall.
We have to acknowledge that we were not there first there was the indigenous populationthe Aboriginal people and
I took my family back there years ago and we did some extensive Aboriginal interactionsand immersion to us up in the Northern Territory, which is where you have the best
(34:35):
opportunity to do it.
So have you had that yourself?
Have you done any Aboriginal experiences on your own?
first there you could actually climb Ayers Rock which is now called yes Rue yeah I want toget that right
And which is an aboriginal name, which is, think, very respectful to name it or rename itor bring the name back.
(34:58):
you could find that you cannot because that's disrespectful to that.
It's kind of a spiritual gathering place for the aboriginal people.
So I respect that.
I saw, we got to go all around it and up it.
And you can see the paintings, the aboriginal paintings that are million.
I can't be millions, but.
But very, very old, like we're talking Egyptian type.
(35:22):
cave drawings that date back quite a few years.
So that was very fascinating.
And you don't realize that that was in Australia.
I was very impressed after being to Egypt and some of those places that things are just asold in Australia.
And then I also did, which I really remember fondly, is a Medicine Man day tour we did upin the outside of Cairns where an aboriginal
(35:50):
Elder if you will took us out and showed us all the plants that they had used and berriesand all even bark of the wood that they used for medicines and it was so Fascinating and
how you know much of that was lost that these plants can you know cure and heal and goodfor all kinds of they can make teas out of the different leaves and it
(36:14):
And they gave it to us and maybe it's a little psychological, but you feel the energy oryou feel the, you know, they feel better and more robust and it just, it's nice that not
everything has to be so processed, you know, it can be natural and there are, you know,people that understand the value of the roots and maybe even finding new medicines.
(36:36):
Cause that up in that area is a lot of it's untouched, which is so amazing.
probably the most famous areas you can do this will be up in Kakadu National Park.
So this is all the Northern Territory area for the most part, though there are Aboriginalcommunities and peoples all over the country.
And just going back to Corey's mentioning of the cave painting, the Aboriginal peoples arethe oldest living culture in the world.
(36:58):
you go.
Yes.
I that's in
So it's highly recommended that you speak to one of our destination specialists.
If you're going to Australia, particularly the Northern Territory, that you try and workin an Indigenous experience because as Corey just mentioned, here's I did the same thing
with the family.
We were with a lady.
used her white name, Patsy was her white name, and she actually came from an area calledArnhem Land, which is also in the Northern Territory.
(37:25):
And this is blocked off for the most part for the Aboriginal peoples.
There's no or very, very little tourism.
into Arnhem Land.
So she came from there.
you know, based what she, what Corey just mentioned, she showed us, you know, fruits andberries and roots and stuff like that.
And it's, it's amazing.
And I'm quite proud to say that Australia's finally, yeah, all the art work.
(37:48):
I love that work.
love Aboriginal.
It's almost a dot drawing people know about well just
that's probably the most famous version of it.
The dot painting, though there are other types as well.
And as I saying, I'm really pleased that Australia, White Australia is finally recognizingand truly taking on board the impact that we had on them and their culture and its impact
(38:12):
and potential future for them and for us as well, working hand in hand.
So that's a good positive step.
That's my little, I guess, political.
Yep.
And I can transition my favorite experience of all time.
Number one, easy, not difficult is diving the Barrier Reef.
And I had no idea.
(38:33):
I'd been to the Barrier Reef snorkeling and you do it, you know, as a backpacker andthings.
And it's gorgeous.
It's amazing.
You know, you see the clams and all that sort of stuff.
But we did one trip and this is way later on journeys to Australia.
I realized you can go diving, actually diving with tanks and you can go down 10 meterswith only a day like
(38:54):
two hour lesson, if you can swim and you're very comfortable in the water, you can do aresort dive as they call it.
And I had no idea.
I just figured diving's for Patty, you gotta train in three days and it's just toocomplicated.
I'll snorkel, I'm fine snorkeling.
But then it became an opportunity and I was like, okay, why not?
And if you're a little less comfortable in the water, they have cables that they take youdown.
(39:17):
So you could go down via cable slowly so you could get your ears adjusted, everything.
It's not like...
you you're on your own.
So you go a cable down and it's all protected.
So they don't want you touching the reef and everything.
So it's all done just so professionally.
And you can go down slowly and get comfortable, clear your ears.
I'd never dive dove, whatever the term went diving before.
(39:38):
And it was just an incredible experience.
I got so comfortable.
And they said it was it's a little pricey, but it's so worth it.
You know, I mean, it's just once in a lifetime.
And they were like, we have time to go again.
Would anybody like to go again?
I mean,
I paid it again, that credit card bill.
Because at first it takes a while to get comfortable with your ears and things.
(39:58):
You're enjoying it, you're experiencing it.
And I was even, get your dive meter and I was trying to get below 10 meters and boy thatdive master, he's showing me, he's like, you're not gonna, no you're not.
I've been doing this a long time.
But to actually do a dive at the Break barrier reef is just special.
It's just a life experience that.
(40:19):
you get to carry on.
mean, it really changed me.
now, that was definitely my number one experience in Australia.
Interesting.
So a point you brought up much earlier, there's a lot of Australians don't see their owncountry, which I think it's true for most people in their respective countries.
I can't speak to you on how much of the states you've seen, but when I was growing up, Idid most of my travel everywhere else but Australia.
(40:41):
So when I went back again with the family a couple of people, many years ago when the kidswere really young, my wife and I left our kids with my mother and we did that.
went up to the Barrier Reef.
We were both certified drivers and we did a three-day live aboard.
And to your point, was amazing.
There's a lot of news that the reef is in
which it is there are areas which are you know in trouble but we are working we beingAustralia working very hard to rectify that but there are still many many pristine areas
(41:07):
in of the barrier reef so even if you're not a diver you can do the resort dives as Coreymentioned or just go up and snorkel because
snuba they have this weird thing with a we I travel agents where they put like a bubblething on your head and so you're breathing naturally and then they lower you down so
you're don't mess up your hair I mean it's really bizarre seriously yeah you see it yousee like Bugs Bunny cartoons you know like if they go into space you look like a spaceman
(41:34):
but then you get to have the experience because a lot of generations go out to the barrierreef you know grandma the kids the grandkids the great grandkids you know and so grandma
wants to
be a part of the joy and the talk and all that sort of stuff.
So they have little submersibles, submarines, tiny ones, little, they're not too tiny.
You don't get too claustrophobic, but you can also do the snuba, which is I thought wasgreat so that grandma can talk with the kids.
(41:58):
Yeah, I was down there.
Yeah, how was it?
did the, you were snorkeling while I was over here.
I saw you, Johnny, you were amazing.
I saw you in there.
They're sitting there breathing just natural air.
They don't have to have a snorkel.
They don't have to worry about salt in their mouth.
And I just thought it was great for the whole family to be able to enjoy it and talk aboutit.
That's the best part.
Oh, I was there with you.
(42:19):
And they hand you like sea cucumbers so that grandma
Well, I feel like I could grab on myself.
But you know, so that the older generations can, you know, and it's not just older.
Some people are not comfortable in the water, you know, so they wasn't just all older.
just that's what was in my mind.
But some people, you know, that snorkel, you get salt water in your mouth and all that.
So there's so many ways to experience the Great Bear Reef.
(42:39):
It's just a really nice, nice way to do it.
Okay, so as we wrap things up here, let me just a bit of role play for you.
I come to you as an agent who's never sold Australia before.
You obviously have a lot of experience with it in actual being there and obviously workingwith the country for many years.
You mentioned you were just at a Tourism Australia event, I think in LA.
(43:00):
So I come to you and I say, well, I've got a client, they've got, let's say two and ahalf, three weeks.
flexible, don't worry about airfare they've got that sorted.
They want to do Australia, what are your recommendations?
This is probably their only time they're going to go that far.
that's good point.
Well I'll give you two and a half weeks, what should they hit?
Yeah, my first comment and this is so common is to pick one Tell your clients to pick oneAustralia or New Zealand because every American who goes down the down under they think
(43:33):
well I'm going that far.
I'll try to do both countries.
It's just how we all perceive things You know you figure so pick one.
That's my number one advice So like you said two and a half weeks is generally the amountof time people have so pick one Australia pick
definitely.
There's so much to see and do as you've heard.
then I love to Sydney's.
(43:55):
Some people like to end their trip in Sydney.
I kind of disagree with that.
But some people say end in Sydney, fly to Melbourne, perhaps start there.
Because Melbourne is like the San Francisco of Australia, say that's a little you know,coffee is really big and art and it's just a little more the graphic laneways.
and then you'll be over your jet lag for Sydney.
(44:15):
So it's just an idea because there is a bit of jet lag when you first get there and you'rea little fuzzy, but you're gonna end there generally too.
If you fly into Sydney, you're gonna end there.
So you'll have a day at the end to do some things.
So just realize you're gonna be pretty tired the first day in.
Some people do the bridge climb to keep them fresh and fun and as you land, cause you getin and in the mornings.
(44:36):
So spend some time in Sydney.
And then like I said, I love Melbourne.
and then picking one of the wine country regions if you're into that.
Kangaroo Island for me is a favorite, so I love doing that.
And then Cairns, so most people do Sydney, maybe Melbourne or Adelaide, Kangaroo Island,and then definitely Cairns and doing your Barrier Reef.
(45:01):
and the rainforest area.
So when you start doing three days here, maybe three and two or three Melbourne, becauseyou want to go down and see the penguins coming ashore every night.
That's Phillip Island outside of that's some more wildlife.
And then Kangaroo Island and Berry Reef is pretty sweet.
And then if you have time, if you stay in Cairns, you're on the mainland, you might wantto do an island experience.
(45:26):
And my favorite is Hamilton Island, which is in the Whitsundays.
So you're getting an island experience.
but it doesn't have to be totally high end, because many of those island experiences arepretty expensive.
But Hamilton Island has mid-range hotels and properties, so you can be on the barrierreef.
You're not on the outer barrier reef there, but you're on the barrier reef, and so you getthat island experience.
So that would be a recommendation.
(45:48):
If you're not doing Kangaroo Island, maybe add in Hamilton.
So I've kind of said a lot.
then the Outback, you know, Outback takes a little extra work, you know, fly out there andto see the Uluru and the sunset there and the Aboriginal culture.
That would be maybe a second time traveling to Australia.
But if they are into trains, like I said, or into the more cultural experience, then youmight add in Ayers Rock and Alice Springs and Uluru.
(46:17):
So it's so much to see.
yeah, that's the trouble.
It's like any country that's just so...
what do you That's why I say pick one pick one country.
Yeah, definitely do that.
I would always try and squeeze in Uluru and Katatuta, which were called the Olgas, again,back to our original name in Katatuta, which is right by Uluru, if you can on your two and
(46:39):
a half, three week trip.
Other thing I'd like to point out too is that, as Corey mentioned, most people will fly inand out of Sydney, but that doesn't have to be your only option.
You can fly into Melbourne, out of Brisbane.
Brisbane's becoming probably one of the main
Well, I don't want to say secondary, like it's equaling Sydney as an entry and exit point.
you could into Sydney out of Brisbane, into Melbourne out of Brisbane.
(47:00):
Yeah.
It's something to keep in mind.
A state which Corey didn't mention.
I know he's been there and I know he loves it as well, but I want to just throw it outthere is Tasmania.
Now it'd be difficult to squeeze.
mean, Corey mentioned Ian plus Tasmania, but Tasmania is like a country unto itself withinAustralia.
It's often forgotten, which is a big mistake by Australians.
(47:22):
as well as international.
Absolutely love it.
And if you fly into Hobart, there's one of the most impressive modern art museums in theworld there.
It's called Mona Museum of Old and New Art.
And you want to look it up.
If you're into art and you want to get off the beaten track and really experiencesomething unique and fascinating, the owner rotates the
(47:47):
exhibitions his art collection constantly so you never know what you're gonna find but Iwas just absolutely amazed so Tasmania is not just the rural farms and you know that sort
of thing is why I kind of to mention it that the museums and things like that and thewildlife is pretty cool.
It's got amazing wildlife and it's actually probably concentrated wise more colonialhistory than anywhere else in Australia because it's got some brutal pasts, it's got some
(48:13):
amazing pasts because if you were bad you were sent to Australia.
And if you're bad when you're in Australia you got sent to two places, Norfolk Islandwhich is north, and you had to be pretty bad to get sent down to Tasmania again.
No wonder they have a whiskey trail down there.
For the comics and whiskey.
There's a great whiskey trail down there.
(48:35):
They make some pretty iconic whiskeys in TesManias.
So there's another treat.
Yeah.
So I think you can hear from all of Corey's experiences that there are so many experiencesto be had in Australia, wildlife culture, First Nations history and culture.
Yeah.
Stunning beaches, of course.
Desert outback.
Sport.
(48:55):
Sporting.
I'm biased.
Yeah, I'm biased.
I Corey's a biased because of his connection with the country over the years, but it istruly a very special place.
At the moment, as we've mentioned,
with the way the dollar is working, it's in Americans' favor.
So now is the time to travel to Australia.
If you are able to, if you have the time, if you have the budget, go for it.
(49:19):
If have anything from three star to five star, soft adventure, hard adventure, high endluxury, if that's what you want as well.
So Corey, I'd like to thank you for your time today.
I really appreciate it.
That was fun.
Memory lane.
enjoyed it.
Enjoyed it going down memory lane back to the 80s and 90s.
It's, you know, things have changed, but they haven't changed that much.
That's what's great about Australia.
(49:39):
You know, you'd still down to earth kind people.
Yeah.
Absolutely amazing scenery.
It hasn't been overrun and it's just really, really amazing.
was there just maybe two years ago.
So it's just still fantastic.
It is.
I was just there about a month ago and I fell in love again with my country.
It is beautiful.
(50:00):
I do miss it dearly.
And anyone who hasn't had the opportunity to travel there should do it now, do it later,but just please at some stage do it.
On that note, thank you again, Corey, and thank you everyone for listening in today.
Really appreciate your time and we'll talk to you soon.
Yeah, thanks Don.
you
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