Yesterday I had a mini competition, asking people where in the world Starman was flying over:
Several users got it right - I guess it was a little easy for you brainiacs out there! But one person in particular - @celestal - gave a great answer:
I'll say Australia which is at about 90 degree angle to left compared to the typical map layout. On the right I can faintly see the Tasmania island. On the center, little up, I can see some of the "horn" of Queensland.
So let's have a look at roughly where the car was flying (This screenshot is a little earlier than the car image)
Perfect! So I'll send you some pathetic amount of prize money whenever I can be bothered since that's what people do on Steemit.
Oodnadatta
I couldn't help but notice the suited figure was often focussed on a particular point in Australia. Well, I decided to investigate and zoom into the Australian Outback to find out what was so interesting. It turns out it was a poxy little town with the wonderful name Oodnadatta.
The name sounds bizarre, as everywhere (and everyone) in Australia does, but it apparently originates from Arrernte utnadata, or mulga blossom, an Australian flower.
This 'town', if you can call it that, is very conveniently located:
Honestly I had no idea people actually lived anywhere but the coastlines, but apparently this town has a thriving demographic of between 200-300 people, many of them indigenous Australians.
The main attractions to this town are its pink roadhouse which is considered to be the central core of life, and its rich history. Apparently there was a telegraph pole set up there long ago which changed the direction of the line. This gave Oodnadatta the original name of 'Angle Pole'.
Fascinatingly, there is a bridge nearby, and even a train track. In fact, the town is so astonishing in nature, a crater on Mars has been named after it.
You thought I was joking
A train comes by twice a week to drop off mail and supplies and it is a celebration to behold. Presumably fireworks and memorable moments happen during these days, with the locals taking as many photos as possible for their children's children to enjoy.
Aside from this heart-pounding activity, Oodnadatta has another activity up its sleeve; The Oodnadatta Track. This is a road. It passes a couple of lakes and follows a traditional Aboriginal trade route. It bears a striking resemblance to the crater on mars that bears its name:
If we zoom out, we see that the borders of Oodnadatta are quite extensive, and the town itself only accounts for a barely visible patch of land which holds an airport that appears to be longer than the town itself.
If we zoom in further we can start seeing the main highlights in action, from the pink roadhouse, all the way to the Post Office and General store.
There's even a 'track to mount dare'. I don't know what that is, but it has some very positive reviews:
Good place to visit - Bobby Bailes
(Translated by Google) beautiful - Crazy Mad Bass
Finally, if you leave the main town, you actually find a few bits and bobs of civilisation that are too grainy to really know what they are, but I think in this case it's pretty safe to say it's an alien research base:
If you somehow grow tired of Oodnadatta, the Pink Roadhouse provides a canoe hire service. The nearest reasonable lakes appear to only be several hundreds miles away, so you could make a weekend of it before returning! I strongly advise the next SteemFest to be held here, as it's in a prime location in a central country we can all reach at a reasonable cost. What do you think?
Image Sources:
Oodnadatta Crater
Mulga Blossom
All other images CC0 Licensed/screenshots from Google Earth
I thought it was Australia too, but many already guessed my answer, so I decided to take a chill pill. Oodnadatta sounds African, looks like a pretty quiet town to retire in. Fascinating to learn about such a quiet town which already has a place on another planet named after it. We do get smarter as we steem :)
I guess it does sound kinda stereotypically African? I guess you know more than me on that subject. I would certainly NOT retire there but I would escape there for a while, for sure ^__^
Away from the "evil" civilisation. Escape from all the traps of modern living. Zero pollution. Quiet. I know by now you'd be packing your bags and booking the next train to there. Lol.
I am not sure but the lakes close by are salt lakes I think and only have water in them once every 20 years or so. Book your canoe early to beat the rush.
I'm booking my flight NOW for 2036, seems like a good year
Amazing.
Question though, whats your thought process like when coming up with something like this? xD
Not only did you find out what continent stamen was currently flashing his shiny new Tesla over, you figured out the particular region and even town, only to dissect it to a pretty in depth degree.
The thing thats so cool about this is the fact that almost nobody who lives there knows that they currently have a fly mannequin in a Tesla chilling in space right above them..
maybe you should let them know ; D
Followed, upvoted, and resteemed! If you have a moment, consider checking out my latest piece here and let me know what you think! : )
Boredom is my thought process lol. I dunno, I often just scroll around Google Earth and land somewhere randomly to learn about it. Just a... thing I do. Can be quite fascinating. So I just applied it to a post =D
Australia is pretty funny in that way. Many in the outback didn't even get colour TV until the mid 90's! Thanks for the upvote etc!
Of course! Ever heard of waitbutwhy? It's a blog I frequent that I feel like you might enjoy.
hahaha i love how you get trailed off on such things :D
"I couldn't help but notice the suited figure was often focussed on a particular point in Australia" my point exactly haha i love your brain
Yay, thank you for the price @mobbs!
Hello teamaustralia... good accuration map @mobbs