Jun 4, 2010

How far would you go to buy a beer?

For the series "Questions I was curious about but always afraid to ask" today we focus on the following: How far would you go to buy a beer? The answer comes from a natural experiment in Western Australia. After the only pub in Marble Bar, a small town in the Pilbara region, closed last weekend, some of the circa 300 villagers started to move to the next closest town to get a refreshing alcoholic drink (apparently Marble Bar people can not buy alcohol at the supermarkets). The next closest town , Nullagine, is though 112 Km away, so the answer to the question is: about 224 Km. A caveat though remains: since the temperature in Marble Bar can be as high as 40 degrees Celsius, the result might be applicable only at "high temperature".

PS: As expected, Nullagine is also running short of alcohol supply.

1 comment:

Cam said...

Great post!!!

There is a famous Australian song called 'The Pub With No Beer', some of the lyrics of which are:

'There's-a nothing so lonesome, morbid or drear
Than to stand in the bar of a pub with no beer'

See the following for the full lyrics:

http://alldownunder.com/oz-u/songs/pub-with-no-beer-20.htm