On Sat, 14 Apr 2007 14:17:27 -0400, Peter Hendra
wrote:


In all the countries we have visited so far, we have had very few
problems with officialdom. I suspect, from listening to others
stories, that some people display an "attitude problem" when in
foreign lands. I would probably give them a hard time too.

If one reads the accounts of the exorbitant Australian fines, and
Australian requirements for entry as compared to other nations,
Australia certainly looks like a place to avoid.
Every indication in these cruisers' complaints also point to a rigid,
unsympathetic crowd of goons running the maritime enforcement and
judiciary agencies.
Levying fines of many thousands of dollars against old toothless
people who took reasonable notification measures upon entry and who
mistakenly assumed the Aussies were as "normal" as other countries
speaks very poorly of those agencies. These sailors were not
neophytes - or terrorists.
An Aussie magistrate whose boat was set upon by "legal" goons was
as equally disturbed as the foreigners.
There is no way to read these accounts and not come away with an
unpleasant taste.
You noted the reliance modern sailors place upon electronic devices.
Legally entering Australia appears to demand internet access aboard,
since Australian consulates are providing outdated rules, which can in
any case capriciously change while one is at sea.
Since I have a son who lives in Sydney, I had entertained buying and
sailing a Mac 26M there for a visit.
After reading of the troubles in those waters, that plan is now on
hold. Perhaps sailing to NZ and flying to Sydney from there would
be a better approach, but to be blunt, I am now sorely disappointed
with Australia and have no desire to visit there at all.

--Vic