Willis's Walkabouts Newsletter 81, December 2015

Wet Season Walks

We can't run trips without advance bookings. Every wet season (December through March) trip, which doesn't have the bookings we need to guarantee departure by the first week in January, will be cancelled. Cancellations for the February ones will begin by 8 December.

Major Expeditions — Last Chance?

The four trips listed below are among the hardest and most rewarding we offer. The first three are now definite departures. Our advance purchase discounts still apply to all but the first. We don't know which, if any, of these we'll be able to offer after 2016.

• Kakadu Super Circle No. 1: 3-23 January 2016 has only one space available. We can stretch the food in the drop to comfortably cover one more person, not two.
  This is the only trip anyone offers where you get to visit Jim Jim and Twin Falls and see them at their spectacular best.
  Note. With Australia becoming ever more risk averse, we have had to change the itinerary. We got special permission to use a helicopter for the food drop as a one off.
  Special offer — $500 discount, maybe more. Whoever gets the last spot may have to carry some of their breakfast & lunch food for the second half. Whether I can offer more than $500 off will depend on how much you have to carry.
  Probable Guide: Don Butcher.
• Bungles in the Wet: 14-27 February
  The trip notes were revised and updated with photos on 22 August. the dates were changed to suit two of the early bookings on 13 September.
  Unless someone cancels, this is now a definite departure.
  The Bungles in the Wet is very different to the Bungles in the Dry. Have a look at
  some Wet Season Bungles photos
  or the 2008 trip gallery
  or some video clips from 2008 and see just how different it is.
  Probable guide: Don Butcher.
• Kimberley Coast Explorer: 6 March - 16 April
  Note. The Kimberley Coast page was completely revised and updated on 17 October. The new page contains links to videos, photos and other information about the trip and region.
  Four sections any of which can be done on its own. This is the longest and hardest expedition we offer, an experience which we may or may not be able to offer again.If you think there is even a remote chance that you might be interested, you owe it to yourself to have a look at some of our photos and videos.
  We need only one more booking on any two of sections 1-3 to guarantee departure for all three of those sections.
  
• Baroalba - Hill 420: 6-19 March
  This walk takes you into one of the greatest concentrations of Aboriginal rock art in Kakadu. It also takes you to the top of the highest point on the edge of the Arnhem Escarpment. We know that access changes are being considered. We do not know whether or not we will be able to offer this trip in 2017 and beyond. This could be your last chance.

Easy Trips — An Introduction

I put a lot of work into designing the itineraries for these two trips. Every one who has done the first has enjoyed it. The second has never run in its current form.

• Kakadu Light: 7-20 February
  The easiest wet season trip we offer — a perfect introduction to bushwalking when the land is at its most spectacular.
  Probable guide: Rod Costigan.
• Kakadu Highlights No. 2: 21 February - 5 March
  Almost as easy as Kakadu Light. The first section eases you into the experience and the second one gets you further afield to experience how easy overnight wet season bushwalking can be.
  Probable guide: Rod Costigan.

General Information

If you have ten or twenty minutes to spare and want a better idea of what walking in the Wet is really like, have a look at our Wet Season page. When you get to the bottom, click the link to the next page. When you get to the end of that, go to the third. The three pages should be enough to dispel some of the myths about what our wet season is really like.

Facebook

I've used the last two posts on the Willis's Walkabouts Facebook page to promote some of our wet season trips. Click the 'see more' link for the full story. Click the photos for larger versions and information about each.

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Regrets and Happiness

Regrets

Regrets, I've had a few, but then again too few to mention .....

When I look back on my life, there is almost nothing I've done that I've truly regretted. It's the things I never did. A study of 90-year-olds found that no one ever regretted anything they did. They just regretted the things they didn't do. (This is a quote from the end of an article in the NY Times Alexa von Tobel of LearnVest: No, Really, What's Your Weakness? * I haven't been able to find the original reference.)

The New Daily recently had an article on The five things people most regret in life. You only have one life. Have a read and see whether your current path will leave you with those same regrets.

Happiness

Everyone wants to be happy but some are much better at it than others. Here are two interesting articles that might help you get there.

Finding happiness down to three key things. A 15 year survey found out that there is a formula for happiness and the major ingredients are within reach for most people who seek them out.

The Small, Happy Life * is an op ed piece in the NY Times where the author asked people about happiness. "In this first batch of personal takes on how some readers found purpose in life, a surprising theme emerged."

Surprise! Generation Babyless. "The rising generation of kidless couples might be onto something. They've chosen to stay childless and research shows they're happier than couples with kids.

A final point, attributed to Confucius, "Life is really simple, but we insist on making it complicated."

As for me, at least as I look back on my life, I can honestly say, "I did it my way."

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Our Other Australian Trips

Our 2016 Trip List Will Change

Our regularly updated PDF trip list lists every Australian trip we offer.

The regularly updated Availability & Specials page lists every trip which already has at least one booking. I will do my best to run every trip that makes it there, but any trip not on that list may be cancelled with no notice.

My 2015 experimental trips went well. I will include similar trips at a more realistic price in 2015. To do that, something will have to go.

We have issues with access in some areas. Trying to overcome these problems takes time. If no one is interested early on, I feel that I can use my time better on other things.

So .... If there is any trip that particularly interests you, get your name down as soon as possible or it might disappear and you'll miss out. Not sure what's on offer? Check it out. The dates on the tour pages are correct but some of the detailed pages haven't yet been updated for 2016.

• Kakadu and Top End Trip List
• Kimberley and Pilbara Trips
• Red Centre Trips

Notes

1. The overseas trip list is way out of date. Major revisions underway.
2. You can always see which trips already have bookings on our Availability and Specials page.
3. After a year of no response, I may simply give up and drop all the Mitchell Plateau trips. I will, however, replace at least one with a special trip into the Moran and/or Roe River areas in the Prince Regent Nature Reserve.
4. One trip needs a special mention. Karijini National Park: 3-16 April.
   Special offer. I'll extend the 20% advance purchase discount for two weeks following the date this newsletter goes out.
   This trip takes you to one of Australia's most remote and spectacular gorge systems. We'll have to confirm or cancel by mid January.

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Europe

A majority of Australians are descended from people who came over from Europe. We still have substantial economic ties there. Europe is big enough so things that happen there affect us here. Here are a few interesting things to think about.

Australians begin to get worried when a few hundred asylum seekers land on our shores. Think what it is like in Europe where they are arriving by the hundred thousand. The Schengen Agreement eliminated border controls between its signatories and created a common visa policy for 26 countries. Times are changing as explained in Europe Rethinks the Schengen Agreement. (The agreement eliminated border controls between member states.) This article was written before the terror attacks in Paris. The agreement has to be under even more strain now.

The political scene is changing. Euroskeptic parties are on the rise. This brings us to The Next Phase of European Power Politics.

WWII

Our societies are a product of our history. Pondering Hitler's Legacy is one of the most thought provoking pieces I've read in recent times.

The author states, "After 76 years, it seems appropriate to try to figure out what Hitler and the war he initiated genuinely changed in the world. This is not an easy question, because to arrive at an answer I had to dismiss from my mind the many acts of gratuitous evil that he committed. It is hard to dismiss those, but in a sense they left little legacy to the world except for the realization that civilization is a thin layer over humanity's beastly savagery. But truly, we didn't have to have Hitler to learn that. We humans have always sensed what is beneath our surface."

"Almost all of the consequences of his war were unexpected."

This is an article that makes you think.

Changing Times

• Europe is changing, like it or not. Some of these changes have Unintended consequences. Paris suffers baguette 'shortage'.
• From A to Z (Asteroids to Zombies), the British Just Want the Facts *
  "A decade ago, the doors were swung wide open to allow public scrutiny into agencies, bureaus and councils, and the result has been both gratifying and slightly alarming."
  How does our freedom of information legislation compare?

The Terror Attacks

Most of this newsletter had been written before the Paris attacks. The mind set of those doing the attacking is beyond the comprehension of most westerners. Our immediate reactions may cause more harm than good.

• War Between Two Worlds was published back in January. It's even more worth reading now than it was then.
  "The murders of cartoonists who made fun of Islam and of Jews shopping for their Sabbath meals by Islamists in Paris have galvanized the world. A galvanized world is always dangerous. Galvanized people can do careless things. It is in the extreme and emotion-laden moments that distance and coolness are most required."
  Read this if you want to get a sense of what governments might be able to do without making the situation worse.
• A must read. Paris, Sharm el-Sheikh, and the Resurrection of Old Europe is an Outside the Box article from John Mauldin. You'll need to scroll down a little to get to the meat of the article. There are no easy answers. The obvious responses will only play into the hands of the terrorists.
• A recent John Mauldin newsletter Thanksgiving amid the Threats contained three pieces which give a very different perspective to the mainstream media. Read it.
  "Occasional terrorist attacks in the West are virtually inevitable, and odds are, we'll see more attacks in the coming decades, not fewer. If we want to reduce the long-term risk of terrorism — and reduce its ability to twist Western societies into unrecognizable caricatures of themselves — we need to stop viewing terrorism as shocking and aberrational, and instead recognize it as an ongoing problem to be managed, rather than 'defeated'".
• The Threat Is Already Inside And nine other truths about terrorism that nobody wants to hear. This is another well thought out article, well worth a read.

A final thought about where the danger really lies. "Islamic fundamentalism was not the main cause of terrorism in the West over the last nine years. Eighty per cent of deaths by lone wolf terrorists in the West were driven by right wing extremism, nationalism, antigovernment sentiment and political extremism and other forms of supremacy." That quote is from the 2015 Global Terrorism Index. The link gives you a nice overview. The actual quote is from page 7 in the longer PDF report, link at the top right of the link above.

Wild Europe

There are wilder parts of Europe than I realised a few years ago. I hope to run more trips there in future, beginning with my Scandinavian Christmas trip next year. More on that later.

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Sex and Society

After the last newsletter, I found two more articles definitely worth including.

The World's Problem With Sex Ed *
Disputes over teaching kids about their bodies are only growing. "Enthusiasts of globalisation often confuse it with liberalization. As people and ideas move around the world, the argument goes, ideals of individual liberty will replace the strictures of inherited tradition.
"The story of sex ed suggests otherwise. Globalisation has served to curtail rather than expand school-based sexual instruction. The more the world has become interconnected, the more sex ed has come under attack."

Australia is one of many countries which have an aging population. if it weren't for immigration, our population would be declining. Based on current trends, we may find ourselves in a situation like Denmark where government sponsored ads encourage mums to pay for their kids' sex holidays so that they will be more likely to produce grandchildren. Make sure you click the link and look at the ad.

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Your Health

Your Diet

• Enough Is Enough: Stop Wasting Money on Vitamin and Mineral Supplements
  According to the article, most vitamin supplements are useless.
• How Should We Eat? *
  In America, food-industry representatives hate the recommendations in a new nutrition-panel report — a good indicator of its value — but they should become policy.
  I'm not entirely sure how we compare here in Australia. Can anyone enlighten me?
• Why drinking green tea could save your life
  I had a look at some of the links in the article. There appears to be some serious science behind the somewhat overstated claim in the title.

Miscellaneous

• Good fat vs bad. brown fat helps you lose weight.
• Young Women's Hearts at Risk *
  While many women worry about cancer, only slightly more than half realize that heart disease is their No. 1 killer.
• Why choosing the right workout could fine-tune your brain Exercise can do as much for your mind as for your body.
• The Truth About Saunas
  I enjoyed a few saunas on my trip to Scandinavia last year. Was that a good or bad idea?
• Finally, my favourite, E.O. Wilson explains why parks and nature are really good for your brain.

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Our Society

Fear

Never let the facts get in the way of a good story. "According to a Gallup poll from November 2014, despite dramatic declines in the nation's violent crime rate, a majority of Americans say "there is more crime in the U.S. than there was a year ago." The reality is that, in America, "the national crime rate is about half of what it was at its height in 1991. Violent crime has fallen by 51 percent since 1991, and property crime by 43 percent. In 2013 the violent crime rate was the lowest since 1970." That's not the message you get from watching TV or reading a newspaper. Read more at
America's Faulty Perception of Crime Rates or, if you are really keen,
check out the actual statistics. I suspect that the situation is very similar here in Australia.

Fear in Australia

• Afraid? Paranoid? Google data reveals our deepest fears explains how, "Knowingly or not, we all tell Google our most private anxieties. The search giant has now revealed what Aussies are most afraid of." The article shows just how much more we worry about things that are less likely to do us harm than things we don't pay much attention to.
• Why Australia is obsessed with anti-terror laws
  "There's a perfect storm of circumstances that make our parliament a hotbed of avid anti-terrorism legislators."
• Boom time in the big house: our obsession with jailing people
  Australia is locking people up at a staggering rate. How handing our prisons over to corporations may be behind it.
  "A 2011 report found Australia has a higher share of prisoners in private prisons than even America." That's one of he scariest Australian statistics I've seen.

Fear is affecting the trips I can offer. That's why I had problems with my January Kakadu Super Circle. That's why some of the trips we now offer may soon be a thing of the past. When I told a friend who has a long-time association with the tourist industry what was happening, he said, "I think you're right about the absurd level of risk avoidance but it's not helped by the Australian way of wanting to blame someone for everything that ever happens. Nothing is just bad luck any more. I am certainly glad I am not setting out in business in our industry today. It would be quite boring compared to 30 or so years ago eh!" Who knows, if different authorities keep getting more and more risk averse, maybe the only way I'll be able to continue to offer truly adventurous trips will be by going overseas.

Fear and Children

The Case for Free-Range Parenting * asks, "Why are Americans so afraid to give their kids room to roam?" It gives an example of just how extreme things have become.
"Just take the case of 10-year-old Rafi and 6-year-old Dvora Meitiv, siblings in Silver Spring, Md., who were picked up in December by the police because their parents had dared to allow them to walk home from the park alone. For trying to make them more independent, their parents were found guilty by the state's Child Protective Services of 'unsubstantiated child neglect.' What had been the norm a generation ago, that kids would enjoy a measure of autonomy after school, is now seen as almost a crime."
It's not quite as bad in Australia .... not quite. But we are allowing our fears to create a generation who will find it very difficult to cope with the world in which they find themselves.

Contrast this to the situation in Japan. Why Japanese Kids Can Walk to School Alone explains how, "Even in big cities like Tokyo, small children take the subway and run errands by themselves." Japan has problems but raising a generation terrified of their own neighbourhoods isn't one of them.

It gets worse. In College and Hiding From Scary Ideas * explains how, "Universities, rather than being forums for free expression, are encouraging "safe spaces" to protect delicate sensibilities." We are creating a generation scared of everything, unwilling to confront ideas that take them our of their comfort zone. The real world is messy. It is full of things that we may not like. If we can't cope, someone else will.

Social Media — The Downsides

• This is what social media is really doing to you
  "You can lose your job with a click, hours in a flash and your mind in the comments."
• FOMO — the fear of missing out — is causing problems but a few brave souls are trying to fight back.
  #FOMO leading to depression, anxiety for teenagers explains that, in Australia,"More than half of all teenagers 17 years and under access social media 15 minutes before going to bed, every day of the week, and are reporting significant difficulties relaxing or sleeping as a result." There is no way that's healthy.
  Unplugging Without FOMO * tells how, "Weary of the 24-second cycle of Internet memes and viral distractions, some willingly brave the social cost of seeming out of touch." Some day, it may be possible to stay constantly connected on even our remotest trip, but for now, it's a needed respite for many.

Boredom

The need to stay connected at all times and inability to tolerate anything that might be considered as boring leads to some remarkable results. Shocking but true: students prefer jolt of pain to being made to sit and think.

According to an article in New Scientist Being bored is stimulating — and useful, too . If we raise a generation who can't tolerate any degree of boredom, our society will pay for it later.

An Aging Society

We live in an aging society. We also live at a time when medical breakthroughs are hinting that it might be possible to add another 10, 20 or more productive years to our lives. The implications are staggering. Life Extension, Culture, and Politics begins, "Though we can only guess at the cultural impacts of societal aging, I’m quite sure they will be manifold and enormous." One simple example, if people start living longer, the money they have put aside for retirement isn't going to last unless they keep working well after the current retirement age.

Financial Insecurity

Middle Class, but Feeling Economically Insecure * explains how, "A perspective that was once characterized by comfort and optimism has increasingly been overlaid with stress and anxiety." The article is about America. We are far better off but if real estate prices were to suffer a drop like they did in the US, things would look a lot different.

America's middle class: Poorer than you think begins with a graph comparing average and median (half above, half below) wealth in different countries. The closer the two figures are, the fairer the society. Australia looks pretty good on both measures. America looks pretty poor on the median figure. If you go about half way down the page, you'll see why we look so good — real estate and superannuation. Most super funds have a lot of money in the share market so if that were to drop the way it did in 2008, things would look a lot worse. The same is true for real estate. It's been something like 25 years since our last recession. Sooner or later we'll get one. I wonder what it will look like.

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News About This Newsletter

Contents

Before I finish one newsletter, I'm already working on the next. I often find that I've got too many interesting things for a single newsletter. I'm also always looking for other interesting items I can add. I'm particularly interested in environmental issues, especially those which might affect bushwalking and in the technology which is shaping our lives. As I said in the last newsletter, Suggestions welcome.

Sending the newsletter

While I now send most of the newsletters using MailChimp, I still send about 200 newsletters using a program which is hosted on the same server that hosts our website. In both cases, the newsletters are sent from walkabout@bushwalkingholidays.com.au. This is the contact address on our website. If you would like to continue to receive these newsletters, please include this address in your "friends list" so that it isn't blocked.

For some reason, some servers block the newsletters no matter what you try and do. I send these in small groups from my normal email. It's not a simple problem. If anyone thinks they might have an idea how to overcome the problem, I'd love to hear from you.

Emails sent to walkabout@bushwalkingholidays.com.au are currently automatically forwarded to rrwillis at internode.on.net. If you want to send an email to that address, replace the word "at" with the symbol @. I am trying not to put that address any place where it can be harvested by spam bots.

We don't want to add to the mass of email spam. If you don't want our newsletter, please send us an email and let us know. We'll then delete your name from our newsletter list.

Our email address is walkabout@bushwalkingholidays.com.au.

Note. Both MailChimp and the other program we use to send some of these newsletters have an automatic delete at the bottom. Clicking that link will delete you from the mailing list on the server but it will not delete you from our main database. One of the programs will not allow the auto delete to send me an email notifying me that a deletion has been made. If you want to be sure that you are removed from all further mailings, please send an email to walkabout@bushwalkingholidays.com.au

If you know someone you think would enjoy this newsletter, please forward it to them. The more people who get it, the more likely it is that I'll be able to run the trips which might interest you.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year, to you all!!
Russell Willis

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