The distance from Holland to Spain is 1,574 km. Gee, he must have traveled around, and around and around and around and around.

individual,
I suppose the question is what is Australia. Your description does make things seem pretty easy going in Europe, but i know from friends in Germany and England that it is not quite as you make it sound.
Despite that the question is a good one. I can not talk of the seventies as i was really to young to notice rules but the early eighties were great. Relative freedom and no one looking over your shoulder all the time. No tax file number, minimal dole and incredible freedom of expression. This was a time when gay rights was highly motivated and women took control.

Since then it has felt like a continuous slide down hill. Every time something goes wrong we make a new law to stop it or dull it down. The fun police are certainly busy. Where the responsibility lies for this shift is another question to ask. We seem to have become a frightened community for some reason. When ever something bad happens we look for someone to blame or be responsible for our mistake. Insurance companies are running riot and the politically correct have taken over. Police behave as if they are above the community and our politicians have no vision.

In the end it's us and our attitude. If we could accept less and understand that life is a risk and not to be feared i am sure we could all have much more fun. Let's take responsibility for ourselves and understand that if something goes wrong it is not always someone else's fault

The Blue Cross,
Yeah ? what mutt put up a turn right sign & made them all go to Queensland ?

WA and Qld and Siamese twins. Each tries to outdo the other for crass stupidity.

They are both jealous of Tasmania though, who manages to excel without even trying.

Hence their official title, as Tasmaniacs.

Rudy,
you must be swiss. Did the digital revolution put you out of work winding watches ? :-)
TBC,
At our local water hole (Pub) you can look at 19 signs of don't do this & can't do that without leaving your seat. I bought a carton of beer over the bar to take home & I asked the barmaid for a stubby to drink at the bar before going home. She said I can't drink the stubby until I take the carton outside ??. You can't have a meal near the smokers but the dining area is downwind from the designated smoking area ??
I'm just so dismayed at the control freak kind of way Australia is caught up in. I mean the current affairs shows are full of the mindlessness of councils, rules, all sort of dumbar$ed regulations etc yet we seem to accept that nonsense being dished out. This is definitely not the easy going down to earth Australia that is portrayed in film & literature. I wouldn't at all be surprised to wake up one morning thinking I'm in 1936 Germany.

I understand entirely, individual.

A few years ago I used to drink in a Perth pub that kept polo-x horses.

The cellarman was a player in the game, and kept his horse near by.

One day, one Sunday, when dress rules were a little stricter, he rode his horse into the bar, as one does in Perth, to get a drink.

The landlord, a stickler for the rules, told him to leave!

Why so? you may well ask.

Indeed. It seems that although the horse had shoes on, it had no socks, and was in breach of the rules.

Really! I wouldn't be too shocked to hear that horses are no longer allowed in bars there at all.

Progress indeed!