Tierney of Distance

 For many years, I did not travel to Australia and New Zealand because it was "Off the Travel Radar." It was just so far away, so expensive, and not in the travel zone. In Asia and especially Europe it was so easy to travel around from place to place by bus and train. 

The public transport in Australia is beyond disappointing when traveling from state to state or across the coasts. They are almost encouraging people to rent a car and go with a group. It seems to just make more sense than going solo and taking trains/buses. 

After learning about the "Tierney of Distance" it was clear that Australians also felt this isolation and distance from the outside world. One of the guests said it would take 2 years to properly travel through Australia and her husband never even saw the snow and he was 65 years old. It turns out that many people were missing out on the snow and other travel opportunities. 

What is the Tierney of Distance? 

From Google: 

In "The Tyranny of Distance", an Australian classic that has been continuously in print since 1967, Geoffrey Blainey describes how distance and isolation have been central to Australia's history and in shaping its national identity, and will continue to form its future.

First published in 1966, the book examines how Australia's geographical remoteness, particularly from Great Britain, has been central to shaping the country's history and identity and will continue to shape its future. The long distance between Australia and the centre of the British Empire, along with the United States, made Australians unsure of their future economic prosperity.

Blainey writes about how the tyranny had been mostly surmounted and may have even worked in Australia's favour in some ways.

In one of the book's early chapters, Blainey challenges the notion that Australia was colonised by the British in the 18th century solely to serve as a place of exile for convicts. Blainey's assertion that broader strategic and commercial factors also influenced Britain's decision to establish a penal settlement in New South Wales led to significant debate among Australian historians.^[1]

The expression "the tyranny of distance" from the book's title has become common parlance in Australia. Although Blainey is widely credited with coining the term in his 1966 work, the term appeared five years previously in the geographic research of William Bunge.^[2] Bunge uses the term in quotation marks, indicating that the phrase may have had earlier usage.

This tyranny of distance- shaped their history and culture allowing them to separate from the United States and British rule forming their own identity as a country, financially, and culturally. It is an interesting concept that is relative even today.