How to get a sample of that famous red Aussie dirt?

[Outback in Idaho]

This make be tongue in cheek to some, but am quite serious.

Have always wanted to go to Australia ever since high school. Was really into it as a kid, and even started to fill out immigration papers to go there till my parents got wind of that. That sort of set my ideas back.

Over the years I got into boomerangs, started my own business, and was trading & selling to other parts of the world (England and Australia). Met a lot of neat fellas along the way, even had a nickname that became my business name. However I could not keep up with supply and demand, and was not making the big bucks to sneak a trip over there.
Along came an offer from Ted Bailey to perform a boomerang demonstration for Qantas airlines. I was so stoked, yet was so unprepared to give a proper demonstration for several hundred people. Fared well, bartered and traded, but no offers to go abroad.

Have never made the big bucks over the next 30 years to sneak a visit over there. Am getting old now, and the prospects of such just doesn't look good.

So, I had this crazy idea for the past decade or so. Had read an article once about an outfit selling Transylvania Dirt from the castle of Vlad Dracula. (As if.) You could have your very own vampire dirt that came in a glass vial to wear around your neck.
Well, figured if Transylvania could do that, why not Australia?? Do you know there is not one place online that sells red Australian dirt? You can get Texas red clay, but that's it.

Of the vendors and few associates have over there, not one has taken me serious on acquiring a small sample of some Australian red outback dirt. Had thought I could get a small sample that could be placed in a vial (or other non-leaky container) to carry part of Australia with me. If I got lucky, and had enough, could spread some on the ground and step barefoot on it, then proclaim I had set foot on Australia soil! (Even though I am in Idaho.)

Guess the stuff probably weighs too much to send over, and I have begged from vendors over there to just go out and take a mere pinch of red soil and put in a baggy and send over. You'd think I was asking for something nearly impossible. 

So... how does/can one obtain a small sample of red Australian dirt from the outback, desert, or opal mine? Surely there is enough to spare. They even have red dust storms! (Must be where all the Mars storm ideas come from.)



So how on earth can one (affordably) acquire a sample without traveling over there and filling up a sneaker full to bring back?

[gregozedobe]

If you want "real outback" dirt then I can't help you, as I haven't been to the "proper" outback for many years, and am unlikely to for many more (too busy travelling to dog agility competitions).

But if you want genuine red Australian dirt from the Oz bush I can probably send you some.  I have no idea whether it would make it through US customs/Quarantine or not. I have red clay in my backyard if that is of interest, or are you after red sandy soil ?

Certainly I wouldn't expect Oz quarantine to let dirt through coming into Australia.  In fact we can't take any vegetables that may have dirt on them (potatos, carrots etc) into some states.

If you are truly serious, check out with your relevant authorities and let me know what treatment and declarations etc are required, and I'll see what I can do.

[Outback in Idaho]

Hmm... never would have figured dirt or sand needing clearance. Guess would make sense. Will see what I can dig up on the subject. And thanks!     


Edit: Submitted a question to the US Customs and Border Patrol. Will see what their reply will be and let you know one way or the other.

[mvyrmnd]

Australian customs are uber-hardcore about organic items coming into the country - I have no idea whether or not the US is as strict - but if they are you may not stand much of a chance.

I don't live close enough to the middle of the country for the proper red-dirt, but I could ask around. I'm sure one of us will be able to work out something.

I can imagine the look on the US customs officer who X-rays the parcel, sees a powder-filled bag and expects drugs, and gets only dirt! 

[Outback in Idaho]

From what I gathered on an APHIS report, customs would be more concerned over micro-organisms contain in the soil or sand. Which is funny, as we here in the US can get wood from over there, hats, new clothing, and such without requiring a permit. Can even get kangaroo hides, which was something I had wanted at one time.

Was going to order a a natural wood didgeridoo from over there. Now can see why the shipping is more than the instrument. Must not all be the shipping, but also of customs. $150 didge, $175 shipping. 

Such a small planet and so many regulations. Yet we share the same water and air. /shrug

[Outback in Idaho]

I wonder... a guy I met through Leatherman's facebook page had sent me a bumper sticker from his wife's work place to here. It never arrived. I wonder if there was a customs issue there.

If there was a customs issue, wouldn't they contact both the shipper and the intended recipient?

[AimlessWanderer]

I think the nearest you'd safely get to this is if an Aussie jewelry maker (hobbyist or pro) made you a necklace with a sealed vial on it ... maybe 

[Grant Lamontagne]

I wonder... a guy I met through Leatherman's facebook page had sent me a bumper sticker from his wife's work place to here. It never arrived. I wonder if there was a customs issue there.

If there was a customs issue, wouldn't they contact both the shipper and the intended recipient?

I doubt there's any significant import/export/customs issues with a bumper sticker, so I doubt that's why. 

I believe the main issue is importing things to Oz because of their very unique ecosystem.  One only needs to look as far as the official import of rabbits or the unofficial imports of cane toads to understand why.  I would imagine that there has to be some tourist shops somewhere in Oz that would sell sealed vials of red dirt, and having an "officially" produced souvenir may help any customs issues that may arise.

Just a thought...

Def

[mvyrmnd]

That gives me an idea. I'll drop into my local visitor info center (they sell lots of souvenir's and what not) and see of they have anything like that.

[nuphoria]

[Outback in Idaho]

What now?

[nuphoria]

What now?

Just

[DaveK]

To be fair, we never had a problem exporting or importing anything to/from Australia in the past.

Prisoners in one direction, precious minerals in the other - I don't know what the world's coming to personally.

[Outback in Idaho]

What now?

Just

 Have tried other avenues way before ever bringing it here. 

[gregozedobe]

Just

Isn't this is from someone with an unhealthy passion for "rough trade" ( cheap MTs) ?    

I don't think any one on this forum is really in a position to criticize any one else's obsession/s (glass houses, stones etc).

Maybe if Xelkos moved to China he could get "red dirt" from Oz more easily - we export literally millions of tons of it every year (the red colour in Oz outback dirt mostly comes from iron oxides, that's right, rust !) 

Thinking about that, maybe the cause of LM's alleged problems with rust is that they aren't refining our high-quality Oz rust quite enough before making it in to MTs ? 

[ryan1835]

Could try the needles in Isle of Wight for some red dirt

https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=isle+of+wight+sand&hl=en&client=safari&tbo=d&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ei=Sb4JUaG5KsaX0QWs3IDgAg&ved=0CAYQ_AUoAQ&biw=1024&bih=672#biv=i|0;d|HgyiAXyCowhihM:

[enki_ck]

Do you need it for some magic experiment? Are you into witchcraft?





jk

[nuphoria]

Just

Isn't this is from someone with an unhealthy passion for "rough trade" ( cheap MTs) ?    

I don't think any one on this forum is really in a position to criticize any one else's obsession/s (glass houses, stones etc).

What?! Not me... don't have any cheap ones around that I know of! But hey, if the man wants to buy dirt, good luck to him! We've had far more bizarre requests on MTO

I've spent a bit of time in Australia and I know what iron oxide is... in fact, if I shake out a couple of my old suitcases I might be able to scrape some together, that's if LM can't help out of course

[Outback in Idaho]

Do you need it for some magic experiment? Are you into witchcraft?


jk

Oh no, just a idea I had for many years to bring part of Australia to me. May just have to settle for the wood handle scales, and the Akubra. Would think a bauble of Outback Dirt encased in a sealed container would of made for great a Aussie tourism trinket.

Worked for the Transylvanias - but that was a few decades ago. If I recall those sold for upwards if $45 for vampire dirt. Gothic folks went nuts for it. Besides, if you had a creepy relative, why not?

Maybe if Xelkos moved to China he could get "red dirt" from Oz more easily - we export literally millions of tons of it every year (the red colour in Oz outback dirt mostly comes from iron oxides, that's right, rust !) 

Thinking about that, maybe the cause of LM's alleged problems with rust is that they aren't refining our high-quality Oz rust quite enough before making it in to MTs ? 

Rust eh? So Uluru is a huge mountain of rust?? Must be one really large multitool underneath, or a UFO. 

[tattoosteve99]

I don't think the US will allow "unclean" soil to come through because of the potential hazard. However, if the soil was sterilized and certified as such, then that would work. Actually sterilized soil is just baked in an oven to kill any biohazards. This is also done in mushroom growing as not to contaminate any spores so you get what you want, not something else

[gregozedobe]

I don't think the US will allow "unclean" soil to come through because of the potential hazard.

Yep, lots of nasties can be hiding in soils.  Including some nasty fungi (google phytophthora dieback Australian timber forests), and also seeds of invasive weeds.

[nuphoria]

During the last foot and mouth outbreak here, everyone coming in and out of high risk areas, or leaving the country had to disinfect their shoes.

Soil is an extremely high risk substance as far as microorganisms go.

[PTRSAK]

As far as anything coming IN to Australia that may have dirt on it they are pretty strict.
One of the questions on the Agriculture declaration form asks if you have any used camping gear or dirty footwear.
Items that may house some bio-hazard must be either sterilized or incinerated.

Some years ago I visited a company in Sydney called Steritech. They do (among other things) Gamma Irradiation Sterilization. We actually got to go in and see how it was done.
The items to be sterilized are loaded on racks and run through the irradiation chamber where racks of Cobolt60 provide the Gamma rays.
When the system is off the racks lower down into a 30 foot deep pool of water which absorbs the Gamma rays (actually within inches) and you can safely walk into the chamber.

After visiting there and seeing the racks in the bottom of the pool I now know why that particular shade of blue is called Cobolt Blue...



The pellets of Cobolt60 have a half-life of just over 5 years and as it decays to Nickel it looses its glow.

[nuphoria]

That's pretty

I'd wondered what the irradiation process looked like.

[PTRSAK]

Our guide told us that the radiation is absorbed by the goods being sterilized, but there is no residual radiation.
He even told us that the water in the pool is completely safe to drink and you could even safely swim in the pool as long as you stayed up the top, in fact the water would be the most sterile that you could possibly get.

I took him at his word and decided not to try either.  
(they were just examples.. you couldn't actually do it)

[Wootz]

Do you need it for some magic experiment? Are you into witchcraft?


jk

Oh no, just a idea I had for many years to bring part of Australia to me. May just have to settle for the wood handle scales, and the Akubra. Would think a bauble of Outback Dirt encased in a sealed container would of made for great a Aussie tourism trinket.

Worked for the Transylvanias - but that was a few decades ago. If I recall those sold for upwards if $45 for vampire dirt. Gothic folks went nuts for it. Besides, if you had a creepy relative, why not?

Maybe if Xelkos moved to China he could get "red dirt" from Oz more easily - we export literally millions of tons of it every year (the red colour in Oz outback dirt mostly comes from iron oxides, that's right, rust !) 

Thinking about that, maybe the cause of LM's alleged problems with rust is that they aren't refining our high-quality Oz rust quite enough before making it in to MTs ? 

Rust eh? So Uluru is a huge mountain of rust?? Must be one really large multitool underneath, or a UFO. 

You definitely need an Akubra, mate!

At Bendigo (Victoria) they sell gold for tourists: little glass capsule with gold flakes.
And blue opals from the outback. Just saying
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bendigo

[Pacu]

what if you empty an hourglass and fill it up with red dirt, an ant farm, playdoh container, aquarium sand replacement?

[Grant Lamontagne]

The resulting mutated super ants would take over the world.

Def

[dks]

Boring bit:

Oh, good old Cherenkov radiation 

In irradiators the radiation destroys the living cells of any organisms in products so they cannot reproduce.

Simplifying things radiation can have no effect, cause damage which can be repaired and may lead to mutations or cause so much damage that the cell cannot recover.

Using Cobalt-60 in high doses kills all living cells so there is no possibility for mutation.

The energies of Co60 are, all, below the threshold for activation thus the materials cannot become radioactive. (In Linacs where higher energies can be produced (several Mev) some of the shielding material used to shape the beam becomes radioactive, though most of that radioactive material tends to have a short Half life and thus the dose rate goes down after a few seconds - hint never enter a linac’s room immediately after the treatment stops).

The water is very good for shielding radiation so by having the irradiating part in deep water you stop most of the radiation from reaching you.

Now, when you want to irradiate something the cobalt-60 is lifted out of the water so it can do its job and then lowered back in so that you can go close to it again.

Because Cobalt in the form used (unlike caesium that used to be used..) is not soluble in water the water stays safe, though if you swim in it when the irradiator is in it you will get a pretty high dose, from getting close to the cobalt 60.


  OK, wake up now 

[nuphoria]

I read it... just want to know if it works on teenage boys please