Travelling Australia will never be anything other than a great adventure but there is a growing sense that the spread of civilisation is beginning to take the ‘edge’ off the experience.
There are no shortage of grey nomad ‘pioneers’ who recall with fondness travelling dirt roads all the way across the Nullarbor, or a time when Broome was a sleepy little village, or a trip to Uluru didn’t involve battling crowds and paying heavy fees.
Jetstar’s announcement earlier this week that it is to start flying tourists from Melbourne to Uluru for as little as $119 means the ‘Rock’ is now a viable weekend break for Victorians. The airline is also making its Sydney-Uluru flight a daily service.
The Uluru experience has changed beyond all recognition in the past three or four decades and, much as they do about Broome and other ‘discovered’ destinations, some grey nomads say it has been over-commercialised. Some also claim that bitumenised roads and more flights to more places aren’t necessarily a good thing, arguing that it should be as much about the journey as the destination.
The tourism authorities however say it is simply ‘progress’ and should be celebrated. Respected travel industry analyst, Steve Jones, is a huge fan of budget airlines, and the fact that they make once remote destinations accessible to the masses.
“I think it is a little bit pompous for some travellers to moan about the loss of so-called adventure.” he told the GNT. “Australia is for everybody to enjoy, not just those who are lucky enough to have the time and the wherewithal to visit these superb destinations under their own steam.”
Yet there can be no doubt that more regular and more affordable flights to places like Uluru will have a negative impact on some. More flights will potentially signal the arrival of more hotels and more expensive restaurants … and therefore probably fewer budget-minded grey nomad travellers.
In 30 years, Uluru has gone from a rock in the middle of the remote Australian Outback to a luxury weekend getaway for Sydneysiders and Melbournites. It begs the question, where will ‘progress’ strike next. Would it be a good idea, for example, to build a big airport near Mitchell Falls?
“I think I would draw the line at that,” said Mr Jones. “And I do have to stress that I love my wilderness as much as the next man, and I think that all of these developments have to be very carefully managed.”
Others believe however that once the genie is out of the bottle, it will be very hard to put back in again.
