The land down under is still top on my list of places to go before I die. Not only is the weather ideal, the coastlines gorgeous, and the car scene incredible, but I’ve also got friends there I’d like to link up with and people I’d like to meet in person. The problem? Two-fold: flying to Australia is, at minimum, nearly a day’s worth of travel from Nashville and as for the cost…”pretty penny” is the starting point, and that’s for coach. You want to do better, pony up a couple of thousand bucks. So, until the day that I can simply throw down a few grand on an Australian vacation for the wife and I, I’ll just have to stay content watching action footage from events. What’s more expensive: eating a slice of strawberry pie at midnight while I listen to Holdens, Fords, Mazdas and whatever else got onto the track haul tail and haze tires, or a two-week vacay to Australia, plus hotels, rental, fuel, food, and so on and so forth?

The one thing I’ve seen at some events is what can best be described as corralled cruising. Since Australian road laws are at best draconian, hot rods that don’t meet the local government’s good graces get the opportunity to make laps around a road course at speeds that vary between mellow Sunday drive and “hell with the tires”. Far as I know, this is unique to Australia. What do you do…sit in the stands and get the rolling parade of hoons, or do you see how many cars you can catch a ride with?