I experienced the same thing when travelling to USA in April.. Had an overnight stopover in Melbourne so stayed at the hotel at the airport, got breakfast the morning we were flying out at the downstairs resaurant.. $35 for cold bacon microwaved eggs and other horrible food.. got to america, first stop LA, $12 full buffet breakfast with chef cooking fresh eggs in front of you.. mmm

Pete, not sure how much you're posting that tongue in cheek, but it's a growing discrepancy. Was recently in Europe for two months. Even putting aside the cheaper locations (Turkey, Montenegro, etc) and only considering say France, Switzerland and so on, we get seriously screwed here in Australia on price. You step outside your office here to buy lunch and you're down $10 for a roll and drink in most places. Over in France, near Chamonix (not known as cheap!), we grabbed food as we started the Tour du Mont Blanc - I think it was the equivalent of $5 for a roll made in front of us with gourmet smallgoods. We had dinner at a fairly decent restaurant in Barcelona where the menu was so cheap we ordered entree, two mains and a large dessert each. Four courses would've been AU$25-28. First night at the pub when I got back to Adelaide, the cheapest schnitzel (sans salad and sauce) was something like $22. Add $2 for sauce, $3 for salad or whatever it was.

With dollar parity with the US, it's even more noticeable over there. Even with tips and tax, food and the like is dirt cheap in the US compared to here. Not to mention that I would hate being a hopeful homeowner right now, even in Adelaide. Would be tough entering the market.

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Slightly related - friend and I were talking the other day about the Silverdome 30 mins from Detroit. Was built at some point for the modern equivalent of $200m+. Sold recently for under $600k. Capacity of over 90,000. As recently as this or last year, it was holding major events (Euro soccer teams touring, boxing bouts, etc). Now, 30 minutes out of Detroit is hardly paradise, but that's a 90k seat stadium for less than many houses! Forget sea- and tree-change.

It's all relative to what you earn, and we earn a lot here in Australia. When I was last in Europe the missus and I were laughing about how cheap things were while people from some reputable European countries that we met commented on how expensive things were!

Certainly though it doesnt help the tourism industry here.

Imagine the backyard you could have with the Silverdome!

I proposed a farm with stadium seating. Could watch the grass grow in comfort.

Look at the size of the thing:





Sold for US$550k + 6% fees in late 2009. In early 2008, the city turned down $12m and $18m bids for it.

Read an article that noted $1.5m/yr in upkeep, but you wonder how much of that was essential. Also, city taxes would come into play. Still, more interesting than my place in the burbs.

i think there are ncaa regulations about when a team can start training and tour as well.

= is right I think it is once every 4 years for an overseas trip and freshman aren't allowed.

Forget about the grass growing. That would make one evil lair.

Drake College (Div 1) are touring Aus at the moment.
Played Frankston (SEABL) last night. It was a good night with lots of kids in the crowd. Frankston played without their main import and gave alot of court time to their bench. Drake came away with a 2 point win.

We will still get the odd NCAA team touring Oz...but each rpogram can only travel internationally just once every 4 years as already pointed out.

Cost is however a big thing, and the strength of the Aussie dollar does not help either.

UTSA made the NCAA tournament last season and boast promising Aussie talent Jeromie Hill and Igor Nujic.

Check out the updates on the UTSA website below:

Road Runners Down Under