Having emigrated from the “old country” we’d arrived in the Land of Oz harbouring those romantic colonial notions that life down under would be one round of bushwhacking and billabong traversing adventures after another.

Then the reality of life in an Adelaide suburb set in, as good as it was. Funny that Australia is one of the most urbanised countries on earth with 90% of its population, just over 26 million these days, living in the major cities. That compares to just over 80% for the US population and just over half for the Chinese.

We were determined that our city-based existence was not going to define us and we were going to utilise the great Aussie outdoors as much as possible. We came from a background of hiking, climbing and camping particularly in northern England and Scotland where some of the terrain is challenging so, perhaps apart from the heat, we thought we were ready for what Australia would throw at us on weekends and holidays.

It’s been a wild ride at times. And a learning curve especially in terms of investing in the equipment needed to satisfy our hobbies in a safe and fully functional manner. 

Perhaps epitomising this was the need for a walkie-talkie system of two-way radios. Stores on the high street that advertised “rugged” equipment looked anything but. We wanted a handheld uhf radio that wouldn’t break after one “walkabout”.

The reputable company that we dealt with had the credentials and the choice that we were after and it was clear that their commercial and government-grade two-way solutions were the bee’s knees.

They were also backed up by conforming to US Defence Department standards including more than adequate rain and dust proofing with a likely lifespan stretching not just one season but 10-15 years of EVERYDAY use.

The difference between UHF and VHF was explained by the knowledgeable salespeople. Because we envisioned using the radios not just in the outback but within the home buildings of our suburb we compromised a little on distance and went for better city functionality opting for a UHF system. UHF has better building penetration while VHF is better over longer distances.

Many high-quality brands were available such as industry leaders Motorola, ICOM, Kenwood, GME and Tait. We opted for a UHF bundle that fitted our needs and came it at well under $1K with the choice of accessories a constant temptation!

I guess it’s true that once you are happy with a company’s reputation and quality of product then you will never go anywhere else for government grade solutions. 

For our lifestyle. our walkie-talkie choice is ideal for living when we are obliged to be city slickers as well as when we buck the “most urbanised race” tag and head for what we always wanted from Australia.

The Great Outdoors.