[Norbert P]

  Well, the cabin fever hit early this year, so I went and bought a round trip ticket from Fridgeville, Oregon to Melbourne.  Now I'm in that low voltage shocking experience of logistics and destination options.  
   I've been going through Tom Ramsey's "Discover Australia's Golf Courses", and I'm beginning to think that I should sell the house, learn more words like 'dishlicker', 'joey', and 'mollydooker', buy a hammock, and just  move there.  (Don't worry, that's merely an idle threat.
   I'm planning on spending a few days around Barwon Head to play it, Geelong and Curlewis, then ferry over to Mornington Peninsula for a few days and rounds and then head to Tasmania, and tootle around to play Poatina, Barnbougle, Ratho (Bothwell - must play), Tasmania GC, Tasman, Port Arthur, Dover, Huon River, Tomahawk Beach (no golf - camping), etc.  (What time will allow.) More Barnbougle, then back to the sand belt to walk around Royal Melbourne and Kingston Heath, hopefully with a greens super or an assistant.
  I've got three weeks of ramblin' ahead.  Where should a bogey golfer with a shotgun drive play (publicly accessible) and hang out?

  Anyone wanting to hook up for a round of golf or beer (Boag's?), please feel free to contact me.  I will ask no favors and I'll give my best effort at shaking hands and sharing stories about GC Agents I've met -- true or not, or drunkenly embellished.   I know I haven't been around here much lately, but I'm not all bad. I haven't bitten anybody in weeks and I've had my shots.

  BTW, what do Aussies say when toasting with a drink? I've got to know that before I get off the plane.


  "How can I miss you if you won't go awayyyyy?"  
  Dan Hicks and the Hot Licks  (Playing tonight, woo -hoo!)

[Mike_Clayton]

Norbert.

There is no golf course left at Geelong - it closed a few years ago.
The first course to play when you get off the ferry is Portsea.
It's five minutes up the road from the terminal in Sorrento and it's a member/public course.Just turn up and pay the green-fee at the pro-shop.
Play Peninsula (North Course)on the way up to Melbourne -it's a five minute detour off the freeway.
Just call the club.

Curlewis is good but perhaps try 13th Beach - right next to Barwon Heads.

[Alfie]

Norbert,

I'm assuming you have a link to Greg Ramsay at Ratho / Barnbougle Dunes, but if you don't I'm sure he'll look after you mate. gregramsay@bigpond.com

3 weeks down under and golfing ? Life must be hell for a GCA.com (free) Agent  

Pity you're on the East side, otherwise I could have directed you to my bro in law in Perth. Have a great trip !

Alfie

[David_Elvins]

Norbert,

It is worth noting that since Tom Ramsay wrote that book, almost half of Australia's current Top 50 courses have been built.  Many of these are easily accessible.

If your trip is only about golf I would give Tassie a miss (except of course for Barnbougle Dunes).  It is a beautiful Island to tour though.  

Around Melbourne, there are of course the established sandbelt courses.  An hour and a half away are the Mornington Penisula courses  such as The Dunes, Portsea, The National (Trent Jones and Norman courses the picks), Moonah Links (legends course), and Tom Doak's St Andrews Beach.  

On the Bellarine Penisula 13th Beach (Beach course) and Barwon Heads are the obvious picks.  

Depending on your budget, every course in Melbourne is accessible.

[James Bennett]

Norbert

I don't know the easiest way to cross Bass straight down to Tassie - some of the melbourne guys might know.  But there are two airports used for flights to tassie.  Jet-Star (a qantas budget airline) flies from Avalon (near geelong) to launceston, whereas qantas and virgin blue fly from tullamarine, about 45 minutes north of Melbourne.  Of course, you may get the ferry across bass straight.  Plan this well and you may save yourself a half-day of travel.

Enjoy the Boag's, and the Cascade in Tasmania.  If you get a chance, try a Cooper's Pale or Sparkling Ale.  Its an Adelaide beer that is sold around the world.

And, avoid backing the dishlickers - its a dodgy race (they are greyhounds ).

James B

[Norbert P]

  Thank you gents for the valuable informaion . . . duly noted.
Shame about Geelong going away but thanks for the recommendation of option.

    Tasmania has been on my mind for some time - even before Barnbougle (and Ratho! oldest golf course in Australia and Southern Hemisphere) - I have this insatiable urge to wrestle a Tassie Devil - cage match!   Actually, after reading several books about Tassie, I don't have a choice. It's just too fascinating of a place of flora, fauna, culture, geology, history, etc. for me not to realize a venture there.  I also have a duty to do for my father as well, he was always dreaming of going to Australia but his time ran out.

  Thanks again for the leads and suggestions, Slagbert

[Bill_McBride]

Slag, you are the man!    Looking forward to seeing you in Portland in June for tales from Down Under!

[James Bennett]

Bill

I think 'Slag' will find the weather to be very similar in Tasmania as in Portland Oregon - not much to talk about there.

James B

PS  I wouldn't use the nickname in Australia.  Slag can mean :
a) the residue from smelting lead and zinc, which is also used as an alternative material to sand sgreens in remote locations (also known as scrapes, or even 'blacks')
b) spittle from the mouth,
c) and to 'slag off' about someone is to talk unfavourably about that person.

Don't know if 'slag' has the same meanings in Portland.

[Chris Kane]

James, isn't "slag" also used as a substitute for "slut"?  I agree with you that Slag should avoid it as a nickname while he's here!

[RJ_Daley]

Gentlemen, Chris and James,  

a. is the appropriate nickname because Norb did work in a steel foundry in a previous life...before going back to school to study grass.  And, he is a sort of gritty down to earth fellow - very comfortable in remote locations, or on greens.

b.  well... he takes a drink now and then - I don't know if he is chewin tobbacky lately, but the spittle has been known to flow...

c.  but no one has ever been heard to "slag off" about our esteemed slagbert.

And, that final point of sluttery... well I don't know Norby that well, but he may have had some youthful indiscretions...

[RJ_Daley]

For our Australian friends, it occurs to me that they should be properly warned about Mr. Painter...  
I thought I'd send you all some photos that you might be able to put up in your post office lobbies,
assuming you have a most wanted fugitives list.

Here is Slag focusing on making a golf shot.


Here is Slag, missing one...


Here is one of him sneakin around...


And finally, here is one of Slag happy...

[Craig Van Egmond]

You Aussie are in for a treat!   Young Norbert is good people and a great golfing companion.  I never forget him scrambling over the dunes after his tee shot on the first hole of Pacific Dunes or meeting him in Portland for a quick round at Eastmoreland.

[peter_p]

Filbert,
Check your IM.
Do rent a caravan (trailer/camper) for your time in Tassie.
If you go to Queenstown AVOID the road to Hobart. Do Cradle Mtn. The bugs are bad. Devils are piranha with legs.
Don't count on seeing anything better than a  Doak 4.

[Norbert P]

 Nice to see this thread get a second wind.  Thanks to all for help and slagestions.

 For all the kind words, right back at you a hundred times.

  Dick, I missed?  How do you know I wasn't doing the Naccarato netherworld (Devil's @#$%) shot into that bunker.  Thanks for those picts, reminded me of how much hair I'm losing. Should I take along that "hair-in-a-can" stuff so's I can go slaggin'?   I always wanted to be a slut but the women didn't.
One more thing,Dick: I was happy in all those picts.  What was the name of that golf course again, Sand something? (What a day, what a trip, thanks G)

  Craig, I was hoping everyone would forget those wayward shots of mine - it makes it harder to tell 'superhero feat' tales when the truth is out there. Move back Craig, the Northwest isn't the same, man. It's all going to H-E-double hockey sticks.

James, all those definitions describe me. BTW, it was given to me by my best friend.  (Ahhh... who needs enemies?)

Peter, My beloved Narin and Portnoo in Ireland got a Doak 4. I would be elated to find another in Tasmania. Perhaps I'll even spot a rare migratory Doak?  
 Instead of a camper, I found a jungle hammock with full skeeter netting and a roof. Even a rent-a-wreck will cost a small fortune for three weeks.(Got your IM, sounds good)

[Norbert P]

  Off Topic question ...

 A few years ago I gave a VHS video (The Yukon Passage - A Nat Geo Special), as a gift to a special Burghfieldian bartender (Euen "The Godfather" Currie, in Scotland. Later, I found out that Yankee tapes wouldn't work with Euro/Scot VCR players. I was rather floored by that - I'm such a rube.

  Anyway, do Yankee (home-burned*) CD's and DVDs play in Aussie players?

 Do Yank VHS tapes play in Aus players?

  *Not MY home, of course.

[Chris Kane]

Slag, American VHS tapes will play on most Australian players: anything sold in the last ten years has a PAL/NTSC switch.

DVD's are slightly more difficult - to play Region 4 (USA) DVD's requires a region-free player.  Some people have them, others don't.

[peter_p]

Slag,
Remember to clean all the dirt and grass off the shoes and clubs entering and leaving Australia. In fact, respike. It makes it much easier going through customs/inspections.

[Norbert P]

  Interesting couple of threads there, thanks. I will prepare.
How does one declare "used golf shoes"?
Any other concerns I should be aware of?

[RJ_Daley]

Any other concerns I should be aware of?

I here the sheep found whilst wanderin in the outback are inordinataly cute, and one must be careful not to become too attached.

[James Bennett]

Norbert

in Tassie, nothing is in fashion, or out of fashion.  It is not that sort of place.

Tassie has the 'two heads are better than one' type jokes, implying (unfairly) in-breeding.  NZ has the sheep-friendly jokes (eg Aussie to a New Zealander, 'do you shear your sheep'.  NZ response 'I'm not sharing my sheep with anybody' LOL).

Melbourne has the weather that everyone wants, and the weather that everyone doen't want most days.  

And the places you are visiting had their start as penal colonies (Sydney, Melbourne and Hobart/Port Arthur).  Unlike nearby South Australia (Adelaide) where we were all free settlers in 1836!

You will hear different aussie accents in each state, and different fashion styles, just like you do in the US.  Oh and remember, we drive on the left side of the road, we go around roundabouts in a clockwise direction, and the water goes down the plughole in a clockwise direction (I think).

James B

[ForkaB]

 Off Topic question ...

 A few years ago I gave a VHS video (The Yukon Passage - A Nat Geo Special), as a gift to a special Burghfieldian bartender (Euen "The Godfather" Currie, in Scotland. Later, I found out that Yankee tapes wouldn't work with Euro/Scot VCR players. I was rather floored by that - I'm such a rube.

  Anyway, do Yankee (home-burned*) CD's and DVDs play in Aussie players?

 Do Yank VHS tapes play in Aus players?

  *Not MY home, of course.

Norb

If you knew Euan, like I know Euan, Oh, Oh, Oh, what a guy.......

....who probably has trouble working the toaster, much less the VCR........

I may be seeing him on Boxing Day.  If so, I'll try to get to the bottom of this Yukon tape-gate thang.  And apologies in advance if it were I who first alerted you to this possible US/UK incompatibility conundrum.  As you and I know, anything that might evoke images of Robert Service will be warmly welcomed in the Currie household.

Have a great trip.

Rich

[Sean Walsh]

James,

I was just discussing with a visitor to Oz yesterday that Australians from different regions (other than SA) don't have different accents.  The only real diferentation I have found is between city and rural folk.  

Us blokes from the country are a lot more ocker (a slower sharper Aussie Twang).  

Also James, maybe my history isn't so good (I'm much better on the US Civil War or Scottish/Irish History) but I thought that Melbourne was settled for farming and the like to get away from the penal colonies in other parts of the country.

Re the friendliest people in the world comment.  It is I think a well known fact that our good cheer towards visitors is a result of insecurity.  We want you to think Australia is as good as we think it is.  We're not nearly as friendly to other locals.  e.g We are some of the worst and unfriendliest drivers in the world.  

Look forward to seeing you down here Norb.  Also it's probably better to go by Slag down here than Norb.  Norb's a bit close to Nob, as in "He's a nob."  Not complimentary.

[Norbert P]

  As you and I know, anything that might evoke images of Robert Service will be warmly welcomed in the Currie household.

Rich

 It's a great old special about four fellars that build a raft and float down (and mush! with sled dogs) the Yukon River. It is narrated by the late great Jimmy Stewart.  In it, one of the fellers recites some Robert Service, which is one reason I thought Euen might appreciate it.   Give him my best when you give him a box.  Euen and Alfie were the human highlights of my trip.

James and Sean, I just ordered (and I hope it gets here before I head out) a book of Aussie words, phrases, sayings, etc.  

  And I am in a quandary now with my names both being rather slaggish/nobbish.  Oh well, they both sorta fit me. The wifey calls me Mud.  

I've read "In a Sunburned Country" by Bill Bryson but nary a word of Tassie; "Behind the Mountain - Return to Tasmania" by Peter Conrad; a few travel  and nature books; and, of course, Tom Ramsey's Golf book and Paul Daley's Golf Architecture (Vol. 2).  

  Any other books that anyone can recommend?  (I'm taking Sterling Hayden's "The Wanderer" for the long flight.

BTW . . .  I just got my Aussie travel visa. . .  Thanks Cleveland Keith D. . .  I thought a passport and $$$ was all one needed.

  Thanks again to all, Slag/Nob ... Eureka !!! I have found it !!        SLOB !  

 

Criminy! I can't seem to modify that whole thing out of the quote box.  

[Danny Goss]

There is little discernible difference in accents in Australia. Nor was Melbourne settled as a penal colony. The early settlers from Tasmania were looking for grazing country.

And Mark - Robert Hughes' book is "The Fatal Shore".

Norbert, you will enjoy the place immensely. I think Bryson's books sums us up very well but I'm not sure you will need a phrase or sayings book!! Surely we are not that bad but plenty here do use rhyming slang on occasions. I actually think we have become more Americanised as the world has shrunk with the technology revolution so you may understand the local kids more than I do!!

[Norbert P]

 

 In Scotland they come out with a yearly magazine/guide book of golf courses with descriptions, rates, and maps. It has B&B listings, motel/hotel ads, restaurant/pub ads.  Is anything published in Australia similar to this? And where might a curious outsider find one? I tried a search but failed miserably.

 Thanks again gentlemen.

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