A Backblocker's Pleasure Trip

Some folks are never contented away from home; they like to be always amid their own familiar surroundings. But the typical Australian likes to move about, especially in his young days. The wanderlust is in most of those who never travel; want of opportunity or lack of freedom keeping them continuously in the place they were born in; and there are few who do not desire to see the State's capital city.

To the people outback, Adelaide or Melbourne or Sydney is a wonderland; they picture it as something immensely more attractive than what it really is. The first visit is often a delusion--if not a snare. The bushman who has hitherto been used to a homely hotel in a quiet little country town feels lost and out of place at once, no matter what quarters he gets into. The friendliness and comradeship that exists even among strangers outback is totally wanting here. In the country every man trusts his neighbour, whether he knows him or not; he is taken to be worthy and honest until he proves himself otherwise; in the city any stranger who is disposed to be friendly is treated with suspicion until his honesty is assured.