Willis's Walkabouts Newsletter 83, March 2016
I rushed to get this newsletter out as fast as possible after getting back from Chile so that anyone interested in trips through June can get in before they disappear.
The section on American Politics has information that most Americans don't know. If you'd like to try and make sense of what's going on In the US, I think I've got all the essentials there.
For pure fun, my favourite is the first link under 'photos' in the Photos and Videos section. There's a lot more which I hope you'll find worth browsing through over the coming weeks.
Note. The NY Times allows non-subscribers to look at ten free articles each month. I've got more links than that in this newsletter so I've marked them with a red asterisk (*) so that you can choose which are of most interest to you.
In this issue
- Last Chance — April to June
- Darwin in the Wet
- Gut
- 30 Years of Willis
- Morality — A Point to Ponder
- Water and Food
- American Politics
- Our Australian Trips from July Onwards
- Our Overseas Trips
- Flying
- Bushwalking Newsletters
- Your Health
- Innovation and Technology
- Your Money
- The World's Best Countries
- Photos and Videos
- News About this Newsletter
Last Chance — April to June
I just spent a wonderful five weeks in southern Chile. I am about to spend another five weeks in southern Africa. I will be in the US for at least three weeks in May-June. I do not have a full time office person. (That should change toward the end of the year.) That means that I've got to bring a few confirmation dates forward.
April-May
Only three trips remain available.
- Karijini National Park: 3-16 April.
Visit one of Australia's most spectacular gorge systems. Two sections, either of which can be done on its own.
Definite departure.
Guide: Annette Miller.
Special offer. We had two cancellations so we'll give the next two people who book a $1000 discount on the full trip (new price $1995) or $500 on either section. No other discounts apply with this offer. - Kakadu Highlights No. 4: 8-21 May.
This trip takes you to two of the most amazing geological formations in Kakadu. Two sections, either of which can be done on its own.
Definite departure. Only one space left on section 2.
Guide: Paul Blattman - Kimberley Highlights No. 1: 15 May - 11 June
Our ultimate taste of the Kimberley, four very different walks plus a canoe trip (which includes some walking). Any section can be done on its own.
Definite departure.
Guide: Annette Miller.
Special offer: We can give you a free ride to Kununurra before section one and a free ride back to Darwin at the end of section five.
June 1-25
Only two trips are still available. We've had to cancel the rest. Both will be confirmed or cancelled on or before 23 March.
- Kakadu Super Circle No. 2: 5-26 June.
Our longest dry season walk in Kakadu. A food drop in the middle allows you to do either half on its own.
Needs one more on the full trip plus one more on either section to become a definite departure.
Special offer. Ask us for a special deal for two or more booking together. - West Macdonnells: 12-25 June
Two different walks, either of which can be done on its own. Partly on and partly off the Larapinta Trail. Both take you to hidden places that people who stick to the trail will never find.
Needs two more to become a definite departure. Above average rain means that this is a better than average year for a visit.
Special offer. Ask us for a special deal for two or more booking together.
You can always see which trips have bookings by looking at our Availability and Specials page.
Darwin in the Wet
While we have no space available on our remaining wet season trips (that's why they are no longer listed), I recently came across the website, Darwin in the Wet. Few people who haven't experienced it, have a real idea what it is like. Have a look and see what you think.
If you ever consider a wet season trip, you need to remember just how variable it can be. While it's not likely, you could get rain every day for two weeks — or no rain at all.
Gut
"The higher the hygiene standards in a country, the higher that nation's incidence of allergies and autoimmune diseases. The more sterile a household is, the more its members will suffer from allergies and autoimmune diseases. Thirty years ago, about one person in ten had an allergy; today that figure is one in three. At the same time, the number of infections has not fallen significantly."
These statistics don't lie. Excessive cleanliness is damaging our health and the present and future health of our children. We need bacteria to live. The science isn't all there yet but more and more research is being published showing just how important the right bacteria are to our own health.
The quote that began this section is from the book Gut by Giulia Enders. I recently read it and highly recommend it to anyone interested in learning how their insides work.
For those who want more, here's a link to a Lateline interview she did for the ABC last July.
30 Years of Willis
Just after my last newsletter came out, Wild ran an article based on a phone interview they did with me. 30 Years of Willis gives you a bit of an idea where I've come from and where I hope to be going.
Morality — A Point to Ponder
Here's an interesting quote from Stalin.
"The death of one man is a tragedy, the death of millions is a statistic."
"When a tragedy claims many lives, we often care less than if a tragedy claims only a few lives. When there are many victims, we find it easier to look the other way."
Click the link. It's interesting to see how the human brain seems to be wired when it comes to mass tragedies.
Water and Food
We can't live without food or water. Here are a few stories to make you think.
- Why we should all be 'eating' more water explains how "New claims from experts challenge our basic assumptions about healthy hydration."
- In some parts of Australia, we use ground water for irrigation or drinking. This is a finite resource that can take hundreds of years to replace. Beneath California Crops, Groundwater Crisis Grows * explains how "Farmers are pumping billions of gallons of water from the ground, depleting a resource that was endangered before the drought even began.
"In some places, water tables have dropped 50 feet or more in just a few years. With less underground water to buoy it, the land surface is sinking as much as a foot a year in spots, causing roads to buckle and bridges to crack. Shallow wells have run dry, depriving several poor communities of water."
There is a lesson there for us. - The Global Farmland Rush * tells how "Agribusinesses are using land in poor countries for crops that are exported and do not improve food security." It's not just poor countries. A year or two back, when the land for the second stage of the Ord River Irrigation project in the Kimberley went to sale, the Chinese got 100%. On the other hand, the government did block a really huge sale last year.
- As Crop Prices Surge, Investment Firms and Farmers Vie for Land *
"Farmers are receiving record prices for their land — but economists and banking regulators warn this boom, like so many before it, could end badly."
This story is from America but,particularly near cities, similar things have happened in Australia. - Food issue divides Greens
"One of the main arguments against GM crops is largely centred around claims of low crop yields and the use of pesticides and herbicides. However, recent studies have not only debunked these claims but also shown that GM crops have less of an environmental impact than non-GM crops."
Personally, as long as GM foods are clearly labelled and can be grown in a way which doesn't affect nearby non-GM farms, I have no problem with them. - Cocaine is bad for Colombia's forests but big farming is worse
Agriculture is one of the biggest destroyers of the natural environment. At what point do things get so bad that the environment can never recover? - The magical thing eating chocolate does to your brain
A recently published study "found 'significant positive associations' between chocolate intake and cognitive performance, associations which held even after adjusting for various variables that might have skewed the results, including age, education, cardiovascular risk factors, and dietary habits."
"In scientific terms, eating chocolate was significantly associated with superior 'visual-spatial memory and [organization], working memory, scanning and tracking, abstract reasoning, and the mini-mental state examination.'"
American Politics
Electing a President
The reality of the American political system isn't well known in America, let alone in the rest of the world. What happens there can affect every person on this planet. It is conceivable that the next president of the US will be elected by a small group of about 600 people.
Donald Trump is the front runner for the Republican nomination. He is loathed by most of the Republican establishment. If he doesn't get a majority on the first ballot at the Republican convention, the delegates to that convention could legally choose almost anyone to be the nominee.
In early February, John Mauldin put out a newsletter called A Little Chaos is a Good Thing in which he discussed what could happen. If you are interested in how the American system actually works, it makes a good read.
Americans don't vote for a president. They vote for electors who are pledged to vote for a particular candidate. Given the way things are moving now, it is possible that a third party candidate could emerge, win some states and deny either major party a majority of the votes in the electoral college. That would get really interesting.
It is possible for an elector to vote for someone other than the person he or she had pledged to vote for. See Faithless elector. To date, this has never changed the outcome of an election, but it could. It's not likely, but this could be a really interesting year. Having said that ....
Presidential Power — Surprise!!!
In reality, "the American president is one of the least powerful national leaders in the world. This is particularly true in domestic affairs where he is a very visible, but a rather minor player in crafting policy."
If you want to understand that, read Why the President Isn't All That Important. Much of the perceived power of the American president simply doesn't exist.
Trump as a Symptom
Trump: The authoritarian's candidate of choice
"Trump's authoritarian supporters believe he can "take back America" and protect them from a scary world."
"...with or without a Trump, political scientists found that authoritarians generally, and Trump voters specifically, were highly likely to support policies such as prioritizing military force over diplomacy against countries that threaten the United States; amending the Constitution to bar citizenship for children of illegal immigrants; imposing extra airport checks on passengers who appear to be of Middle Eastern descent; and requiring all citizens to carry a national ID card to show a police officer on request."
Could something similar happen in Australia? Yes — I believe it could. The political system here would make it harder, but some of the factors are already in place.
The Washington Post article above linked to an article which was much more in depth, The rise of American authoritarianism. I found it fascinating. It's a bit long but well worth reading. Here are a few good quotes.
- "Authoritarians are a real constituency that exists independently of Trump — and will persist as a force in American politics."
- "in times when many Americans perceived imminent physical threats, the population of authoritarians could seem to swell rapidly."
- "non-authoritarians who are sufficiently frightened of physical threats such as terrorism could essentially be scared into acting like authoritarians."
- "research on authoritarianism suggests it's not just physical threats driving all this. There should be another kind of threat — larger, slower, less obvious, but potentially even more powerful — pushing authoritarians to these extremes: the threat of social change."
- authoritarians "are most willing to want to use force, to crack down on immigration, and limit civil liberties."
- "Donald Trump could be just the first of many Trumps in American politics, with potentially profound implications for the country."
The Revenge of the Lower Classes and the Rise of American Fascism suggests that, "There are tens of millions of Americans, especially lower-class whites, rightfully enraged at what has been done to them, their families and their communities. They have risen up to reject the neoliberal policies and political correctness imposed on them by college-educated elites from both political parties: Lower-class whites are embracing an American fascism."
It finishes with, "If Clinton prevails in the general election Trump may disappear, but the fascist sentiments will expand. Another Trump, perhaps more vile, will be vomited up from the bowels of the decayed political system. We are fighting for our political life. Tremendous damage has been done by corporate power and the college-educated elites to our capitalist democracy. The longer the elites, who oversaw this disembowelling of the country on behalf of corporations — who believe, as does CBS Chief Executive Officer Leslie Moonves, that however bad Trump would be for America he would at least be good for corporate profit — remain in charge, the worse it is going to get."
The TPP which I've talked about in a number of newsletters is symptomatic of how the general public is being sold out so that big corporations can benefit. If hasn't yet been ratified by the Senate. As I've said in the past, I hope it fails.
There is a saying, May you live in interesting times, which is supposedly a Chinese curse (it's not). For better or worse, we do live in interesting times. I have no idea what the changes will be but I expect that the world in ten years will have seen some truly major ones.
Our Australian Trips from 26 June Onwards
Our 2016 Trip List Has Changed Yet Again and Will Change some More
Our regularly updated PDF trip list lists every Australian trip we offer. The list has changed dramatically in the last few days.
The regularly updated Availability & Specials page list 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.
Every trip which is still in the program is still available. Some may have to be cancelled so the sooner you get in the more likely it is that a trip which interests you will run.
All of the trips below have bookings.
- Kakadu Highlights No. 5: 26 June - 9 July.
Two sections, either of which can be done on its own. - Kakadu Circle No. 3: 11-26 July.
Definite departure. This is two days longer than Kakadu Circle No. 2 to allow you to visit one more very special place.
Probable guide: Don Butcher. - Kakadu Barramundi Special: 31 July - 6 August.
Definite departure. This is a special trip created at the request of a family coming from overseas. The parents walked with us in the 1990s and now want their children to experience Kakadu. As with all our family walks, this trip is designed to run at a slower pace than our other trips to allow families with children to enjoy the Kakadu bush. That makes it equally good for adults who like children and a relatively easy paced walk. - Kakadu Highlights No. 7: 7-20 August
Two sections, either of which can be done on its own. - Kimberley Highlights No. 2: 18 August - 3 September
A shorter version of our May-June Kimberley Highlights trip, organised to match the conditions we find at this time of year.
Three sections, any of which can be done on its own.
Finally, 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.
Our Overseas Trips
We've now almost finalised our overseas trips for 2016.
- New Caledonia
When I went to New Caledonia on a private trip in 2013, I discovered that it has some great walking. Unless you speak French, you won't find much about it on the web. - Madagascar: 1-29 September
The new trip notes went online on 5 March.
2016 will be our third Madagascar trip, hopefully better than ever.
We already have bookings, but not yet enough to guarantee departure.
Tracey Dixon recently posted a video from our 2015 trip. That should give you a better feel for what it's actually like.
Probable guide: Russell Willis - Japan: 9-29 October
One of my guides, Rod Costigan, has done a number of walks there and is working on a possible trip. With the Japanese yen falling against most other currencies, Japan is becoming ever less expensive to visit. It's still not cheap. Click the link for details.
We already have bookings, but not yet enough to guarantee departure. It's worth noting that while this trip appears more expensive than our other overseas trips, it includes far more so the cost is comparable.
If you think there is any chance you might be interested, please send us an email. - South Africa — two trips on offer
- The long one: 6-8 weeks, October-November
This itinerary is based on several of the trips we have done in the past. - The Short One: About 4 weeks, October-November
This will be based on a trip I did in late 2013. It will take place entirely in the Western Cape Province or just outside it. It will definitely include
The Wellington Wine Walk and/or the Biosphere Breakerway
and all or part of the Hoerikwaggo Trail
None of the overnight walks on the shorter trip will require you to carry a full pack.. Please watch for updates.
If you think there is any chance you might be interested, please send us an email. We won't be doing any more work on the details until we know that we have a few people who are interested.
- The long one: 6-8 weeks, October-November
- Scandinavian Christmas: December 2016 - January 2017
Two of my regular clients who did a trip to Scandinavia last Christmas were recently raving about it. If you think you might be interested in a two to three week trip to Scandinavia in late December or January, please email us.
Something new. My recent trip to Chilean Patagonia included a number of day walks. IF a few people were interested, I could put together an interesting trip which was all day walks with no heavy pack carrying. If you think you might be interested in a trip like that, please let me know.
Note. None of the discounts which apply to our Australian trips apply to any of our overseas trips.
Flying
If you go on one of our overseas trips, you'll need to make a long flight. If you fly at all, here are two good articles and a personal tip. The first may make your life a bit more comfortable; the next may save you some money. The final one might do both.
- The gimmicks to avoid when buying airfares online
"Don't fall into the trap of spending more than you need to on an airfare. These are the scams, unwanted extras and mistakes to avoid." - How to survive a long haul flight in comfort
Airlines are not all the same. This article gives you some good ideas on how to make the most of a long journey. - Going to Europe? Want to go better than economy without paying for premium? Consider flying to Bangkok and flying with Norwegian Air. Their premium isn't as good as business but it's a lot better than economy for not much more than the cost of an economy ticket. I flew their premium class between New York and Sweden in 2014 for little more than the economy ticket on any other airline.
Bushwalking Newsletters
There are several bushwalking newsletters which you might find interesting.
- Wild magazine puts out a regular newsletter called Wild Updates. Here's a link to the latest one.
- Great Walks magazine also puts out a newsletter. It's not on their website so I can't give you a link but you can always subscribe and unsubscribe later if you don't want to keep receiving it.
- Bushwalking NSW has put the back issues of their quarterly magazine, The Bushwalker online. They are pretty much all there all the way back to 1978.
- The Bushwalking.com e-magazine has a number of interesting articles worth checking out. Click the link, look at the contents, then scroll on to whatever might interest you.
If you know of any others which you think I ought to mention, please let me know.
Your Health
In no particular order, here are some interesting stories.
- A run a day keeps the tumour at bay
"Exercise protects against cancer. Researchers now understand why." - Bring back the autopsy *
To identify diagnostic errors, we need more post-mortem exams. Most Americans (and, probably, most Australians) will be affected by at least one diagnostic error in their lifetime.
Strangely, diagnostic accuracy is rarely raised as a safety issue. Compared with treatment errors, such as medication overdoses or wrong-limb amputations, diagnostic errors receive little attention. Of course, they are harder to identify. Many doctors never find out about them because they never learn the outcomes of their cases.
This is where autopsies can be very useful. Even though modern testing can give us a lot of information, 10 percent to 30 percent of autopsies still reveal undiagnosed medical problems. Studies have found that patients at hospitals that perform more autopsies suffer fewer major diagnostic mistakes. - New Scientist ran an interesting article, Everyday drugs: Are we taking too many preventive pills? which looked at the advantages and disadvantages of some medications in common use. Their conclusion is that we are taking far too many.
-
The shocking health fact every woman must know
Think heart attacks and sudden cardiac arrests only kill men? Think again. They kill more women than cancer. - Want to boost your memory and mood? Take a nap, but keep it short
"A brief nap can not only reduce sleepiness but also improve cognitive functioning and psychomotor performance (the brain telling the body to move). A few minutes of shut-eye also considerably enhances short-term memory and mood." - Wearing a bicycle helmet may be useless — or worse addresses one of my pet peeves.
"A new study has cast further doubt on Australian road rules by suggesting that wearing a bicycle helmet may increase dangerous behaviour. Real-world statistics support the counterintuitive idea that helmets hinder rather than help riders."
"A study published in The British Medical Journal last year looked at hospitalisations in 11 countries with varying helmet laws, and found that requiring helmets did not lower injury rates."
Any law which forces you to do something which actually increases your chance of injury should be repealed. I'm glad I live in the one place in Australia where helmets are not compulsory for adults
Innovation and Technology
Low Tech Innovation
I live in a cyclone area. Here's proof you don't need to spend a bundle to live in a cyclone proof house. Australian man's houses outlast Cyclone Winston tells how "dwellings that cost $13,000, can be built in five days and may be cyclone proof."
To the tune of 'Santa Claus is coming to town' ... "Facebook knows when you are sleeping, it knows when you're awake,
Pretty soon it will know if you've been bad or good, so be good for goodness sake."
How Facebook knows when you're asleep explains how "A hacker discovers the social media site knows more about us than we realise." It was quite easy to do. The world envisaged in The Circle which I referred to in a previous newsletter is getting ever closer.
Smart Phones
- Upgrading your phone is costing you more for data — maybe substantially more.
- What's harder: giving up booze or your smartphone?
"Just eight years after smartphones first appeared, their obvious benefits need to be weighed against their addictive qualities."
"...they can be intrusive, counterproductive and harmfully addictive for some people." - Death Of Conversation: 22+ Images Of How Smartphones Take Over Our Lives
A bit of fun, but also a sad comment on our times.
The Downside of the Internet of Things
Car Hacking
- Why 'Smart' Objects May Be a Dumb Idea *
"Two security researchers, sitting on a couch and armed only with laptops, remotely took over a Chrysler Jeep Cherokee speeding along the highway, shutting down its engine as an 18-wheeler truck rushed toward it. They did this all while a Wired reporter was driving the car. Their expertise would allow them to hack any Jeep as long as they knew the car's I.P. address, its network address on the Internet. They turned the Jeep's entertainment dashboard into a gateway to the car's steering, brakes and transmission." - New Scientist ran a similar story last August, The cyber-mechanics who protect your car from hackers. It finished by noting that car makers are "adding attack surfaces at a rate of one a year but telling me it'll take five years to secure them."
How long can it be before the computers in a car lead to a kidnapping or a killing?
Forget cars, why not take out a whole city.
New Scientist ran a story called, Cyber attack: How easy is it to take out a smart city? The answer was that it wasn't all that hard. Terrorists who shoot a few people are insignificant amateurs compared to someone who figures out how to bring down a whole city — or country, or all of the western world. It can be done.
Your Money
Banks and Debt
Governments around the world have declared war on savers. As someone who tried to put something away for my later years, I am, to say the least, not happy with this. If you have any money to put away for your retirement (or if you are retired already), here are a few items that might be of interest.
- The Lurking Crisis of Bank Deposits explains the problems that banks face worldwide. Australia isn't there yet, but our banks have overseas links and we have an export-driven economy. What happens elsewhere will affect us. Only the degree is in question.
- A bombshell that could destroy 'Debt Star' banking
"When the global financial system nearly choked to death on too much debt, central banks decided to force-feed us more. Finally, the flaws in that thinking are being exposed."
Rental Property
-
Morrison painting a false picture of negative gearing
"...half the money handed back through this tax law goes to just 1 per cent of taxpayers."
"The 11.5 million taxpayers who don't use negative gearing pay more tax than they otherwise would to subsidise a policy that, when combined with capital gains tax discounts, will cost the budget $22 billion over the forward estimates. Every dollar they pay in extra tax is a dollar they cannot invest to 'provide for their own future'" - When rental rivers run dry, investors will be left stranded
"Property investors may soon face fewer renters, who are able to pay less, and a glut of vacant homes. Could this be the perfect storm?"
Your Super
Compare the pair attack is unfair, says ISA
"Government plans to exempt banks and retail super funds from disclosing their fees and returns have drawn fire from industry super funds."
Shouldn't you have a right to know what fees your super fund is charging you?
End Welfare as We Know It — Universal Basic Income
- It's Payback Time for Women *
"The U.B.I. gives workers less reason to loll about at home than do perversely disincentivizing policies like the one whereby a dollar earned is a dollar cut from a welfare check. Research suggests that, rather than weaken the will to work, unconditional regular disbursements let people manage their careers more wisely." - A Plan in Case Robots Take the Jobs: Give Everyone a Paycheck *
"For some technologists, machine intelligence is not seen as a job-killing catastrophe, but something like a windfall that could lead to universal basic income."
The World's Best Countries
These are the world's best countries.
Sorry, America — you're No. 4. (Australia comes in at No. 6.)
The people who did the study measured many things. The way they weighted the different things may not be the way you would weight them. As one example, in "quality of life" Australia scores 91 but the US scores a mediocre 54.To see how different countries rated on different things, see Data Explorer
I think it's fascinating to explore. I could spend hours browsing this one site.
Here's a different study which used different criteria. We're Not No. 1! We're Not No. 1! *
"For those who think America is the best at everything, here's a reality check." (The US came in at no. 16, Australia 10, New Zealand 5.)
For more details from this one, have a look at the Social Progress Index website. Can you guess which South American countries ranked ahead of several European ones?
The World's Least Religious Countries is mostly what you'd expect, but there are a few surprises. One is that, irrespective of where they live, the survey's authors found that people younger than 34 tend to be more religious than older respondents.
Photos & Videos
Videos
- Whale in gym
Too good to be true. The original, rather longer than this 9 second version, was amazingly realistic. (Scroll down for the video link. - Best of Stefan Pabst's 3D Drawings
It's hard to believe that these are real drawings on a piece of paper. Amazing to watch them being done! - Green Centre 2010
This 7½ minute video was made by Frank Whitehouse, one of the clients on our 2010 Green Centre trip. It should give you a bit of a feel for what all our Centralian trips are like.
Photos
- London Underground signs
Whoever created these is a genius. magnificent! -
Photos by Laurent Schwebel
A Power Point presentation of some of the best photos from a remarkable photographer.
If the link above doesn't work or is too slow, try French Photographer Laurent Schwebel and click the arrows at the bottom of the screen to move between photos. - 20 Pictures Showing That Nature Photographers Have The Best Jobs Ever
The photographer becomes part of the photo. I really enjoyed these. - The great walkway of China
While some of our walks do take place on footpaths, even the off track ones aren't quite as 'interesting' as this. Click the arrow on the right side of the photo to scroll through the lot. - That footpath was already built. Here are Workers build a footpath around the vertiginous slopes of Shifou Mountain in China shows a new path under construction. As above, click the arrow on the right side of the photo to scroll through the lot.
- Amazing Tree
I've seen one site that claims this tree is in South Africa, another that claims it's in India. The reality is that it is not a real tree but an articifial one in Disney World in Florida. Real or not, enjoy it anyway.
News About This Newsletter
Next Newsletter — When?
May? July? August? While I do enjoy producing these newsletters they do take time. I'm about to go to southern Africa for five weeks. I'm home for less than three before heading to before heading off to the US for my 50th uni reunion. I honestly don't know when I'll have time to do the next one.
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.
Best wishes to all from a 2016 world wanderer,
Russell Willis