Erik Skye Travel Blog

23 Dec 2011

Most take L. Frank Baum's work "The Wizard of Oz" on face value - a children's fantasy story, without the horror.  Some believe it a vehicle for political statement.  But I think its really a book on Australia. I don't know if there are munchkins, tin men, or flying monkeys there (could be).  However, I'm fairly certain they have scarecrows, witches, and sweet little girls like Dorothy.  The book's use of the term "Oz", it's strange creatures & settings, and the general good nature of it's characters are dead give-aways that The Land of Oz is Australia.

“Hour after hour passed away, and slowly Dorothy got over her fright… At last she crawled over the swaying floor to her bed, and lay down upon it; and Toto followed and lay down beside her. In spite of the swaying of the house and the wailing of the wind, Dorothy soon closed her eyes and fell fast asleep.”^1  Its conceivable, given the amount of time indicated here, that she could have made it all the way to Australia.

“The cyclone had set the house down, very gently – for a cyclone – in the midst of a country of marvelous beauty. There were lovely patches of green sward all about, with stately trees bearing rich and luscious fruits. Banks of gorgeous flowers were on every hand, and birds with rare and brilliant plumage sang and fluttered in the trees and bushes. A little way off was a small brook, rushing and sparkling along between green banks, and murmuring in a voice very grateful…”^2  I've seen many a setting such as this in Australia.

Dorothy was raised to believe that all witches had been dead for many years, while the good Witch of the North had never heard of Kansas. "I do not know where Kansas is, for I have never heard that country mentioned before. But tell me, is it a civilized country?”^3 asked the witch. “Oh, yes;”^3 replied Dorothy. “Then that accounts for it,”^4 replied the witch. “In the civilized countries I believe there are no witches left; nor wizards, nor sorceresses, nor magicians. But, you see, the Land of Oz has never been civilized, for we are cut off from all the rest of the world. Therefore we still have witches and wizards amongst us.”^4  In the past 100-plus years since the book was written, much of Australia has become very civilized, but its still isolated and full of many strange and wonderful things.

Upon realizing she was in a faraway place, Dorothy expressed how eager she was to return home. But her new friends explained:  “At the East, not far from here,”^5 said a munchkin, “there is a great desert, and none could live to cross it.”^5  “It is the same at the South,”^5 said another, “for I have been there and seen it...”^5  “I am told”^5, said a third munchkin, “that it is the same at the West…”^5  “The north is my home,”^5 said the witch, “and at its edge is the same great desert that surrounds this Land of Oz”^5. They got it slightly wrong here however, for the great desert is actually at the center of Australia.  But you must remember that Australia lies in the southern hemisphere and things can sometimes be a bit disorienting as far as directions are concerned.

Now that I've conclusively demonstrated that "The Wizard of Oz" is about Australia, let's use it as a guide to find the Wizard.  I've got some questions for him.  I.e., Mr. Wizard, sir:  'Why do your people love cricket so (and what exactly is cricket)?'; 'Do you punish naughty Aussies by sending them to live in Darwin?';  'Are you the one responsible for unleashing the Bee Gees (rock band from the 60's) on the world?'

I've already got some ideas on where we might find our wizard.  There's the Ned Kelly Museum in Glen Rowen (my top suspect), the gold rush towns of Bendigo and Ballarat, and the Snowy and Blue Mountains.  Not there?  Well, how about the music capital of Australia - Tamsworth, or the hippie community of Nimbin, or some small coastal community like Byron Bay, Nowra, or Port Albert?  Maybe we'll follow orange mud outback tracks, climb Mt. Kosciusko (Australia's highest peak at 2228 meters), and cruise along The Great Ocean Road.  There's no end of places to look.

I've dubbed my third trip to Australia "Wizard of Oz" (sequel to Return to Oz).  Qantas Flight QF12 departs LA on Christmas Eve and arrives in Sydney the day after Christmas.  So, I miss Christmas completely, apparently.  Somehow this pleases me.  I suppose I have more faith in The Wizard than in Santa...

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Footnotes:

1.  L. Frank Baum, The Wizard of Oz (The Bobbs-Merrill Company, 1903) p. 6.

2.  L. Frank Baum, The Wizard of Oz (The Bobbs-Merrill Company, 1903) p. 8.

3.  L. Frank Baum, The Wizard of Oz (The Bobbs-Merrill Company, 1903) p. 12.

4.  L. Frank Baum, The Wizard of Oz (The Bobbs-Merrill Company, 1903) pp. 12, 13.

5.  L. Frank Baum, The Wizard of Oz (The Bobbs-Merrill Company, 1903) p. 14.