thank you for the fun, FrayedBear. that was hilarious; i'd just have liked to meet at least one woman "in the outback of australia"

@walklightly Can't introduce you to anything other than books:

1. In 1902 Jeannie Gunn, a Melbourne schoolteacher, went with her new husband to live on the remote Elsey cattle station near the Roper River in the Northern Territory. Though she spent little more than a year there, her experiences in the outback and her contact with the local Aborigines impressed her deeply, and on her return to Melbourne she set down her recollections in two books, We of the Never Never and the Little Black Princess.

   2. The Shiralee

   by Darcy Niland

Everyone has their cross to bear – their swag, their shiralee – and for Macauley, walking across New South Wales in search of work, it is his young daughter who has to suffer his resentment at having her in tow. But then, he discovers that the ties that bind can be as much a comfort as a burden, and what he thought of as his Shiralee could be the one thing that will save him from himself.

3.The Secret River

by Kate Grenville

In 1806 William Thornhill, a man of quick temper and deep feelings, is transported from the slums of London to New South Wales for the term of his natural life. With his wife Sal and their children he arrives in a harsh land he cannot understand.

But the colony can turn a convict into a free man. Eight years later Thornhill sails up the Hawkesbury to claim a hundred acres for himself.

4. Try also [en.m.wikipedia.org]

@FrayedBear, thanks for the suggestions of which i've read 'the shiralee' when i was 11, & again a few decades later. very raw in a minimalist & melancholic way. i'll check out the others.

i've just watched "sunday too far away" &, yeah, it's a bit feral & basically confirms what i've gleaned so far of aussie machism of the 20th century.

@walklightly I suggest that you failed to understand it. Instead simply overlaying what you wish to believe without considering the real why's.

fair enough; i'm the same. still, i think Michael Leunig is a star

thanks for the "ode less travelled" hint. i like Stephen Fry.

In Victoria they invite not.

ha! christhepiano, i have been considering moving back to europe for exactly the reasons of nanny-state aka fascist politics & intellect deprivation... so reconsider!

@walklightly
I greatly appreciate your feedback. For all the reasons that you mention, as intectuall insurance, I purchased a home in Newark, UK, two years ago. Newark is a medieval 12th century market town, an hour from London, and with regional airports that offer easy access to Europe. And, of course, the trains go everywhere. Thank you so much for your thoughts.

you're welcome, @christhepiano! very clever too!

Leunig is talented