Jim’s Quote of the Day:

“Rightful liberty is unobstructed action according to our will within limits drawn around us by the equal rights of others. I do not add “within the limits of the law” because law is often but the tyrant’s will, and always so when it violates the rights of the individual.” – Thomas Jefferson

Note from JWR:

I am seeking recommendations from SurvivalBlog readers on real estate agents in the U.S. that are “survival minded.” My goal is to be able to provide a list of licensed agents all over the U.S. that are knowledgeable about survival retreat selection. (I might even set some sort of standards for “SurvivalBlog Retreat Specialist Certified” agents.) This is mutually advantageous to all parties involved: land/house sellers, agents, and land buyers. By working with a “Retreat Specialist” that understands the unique criteria for survival retreats, there will be no wasted time showing properties that aren’t suitable. Most buyers would also appreciate working with an agent that has made a pledge of confidentiality.

Letter Re: .223 For Long Range Sniping?

JWR:
I’m a proud Ten Cent Challenge member, and enjoy reading SurvivalBlog daily. I would like to point out something that might not be readily apparent about that Blackwater Sniper incident in Najaf that gets so much press, and it leads to a greater point about the usefulness of small caliber precision rifle fire. The art of sniping is fairly new in the field of war craft, and new and creative ways to employ sharpshooters are being developed quite rapidly. The only limiting factor in sniper efficiency is the inability of infantry commanders to understand and effectively employ snipers on the modern battlefield. I would refer you to, “Shooter: The Autobiography of the Top-Ranked Marine Sniper” by Gunnery Sgt. Jack Coughlin, USMC, Capt. Casey Kuhlman, USMCR, and Donald A. Davis. With modern optics, good communications, vehicle borne mobility and tough, aggressive operators, the ability of modern snipers to completely destroy a coordinated assault is unbelievable. Sgt. Coughlin’s commanding officer certainly found it so when they employed mobile sniping during a division sized urban assault training exercise (Project Metropolis in 2001). The effect of the snipers using mobile tactics and radio communication was so lopsided that in midday the exercise planners broke the sniper elements in two and put half of them on each side simply so that they could continue the exercise. That proved even worse, with both sides being totally immobilized by precision fire, to the point that the two opposing commanders got on the radio and gave each other the coordinates of their sniper teams, who were then rolled up by strike teams so that the exercise could continue.

The relative merits of a .308 (or larger) sniper rifle are well known, but what might not be as well understood is the value of a precision .223, especially in the scenario faced by those contractors that day. An AR-based .223 can lay down fire far more rapidly, more quietly and sustainably than can a .308. The sniper can carry roughly twice the ammo that a .308 sniper can carry and the rifle should weigh about a third less, allowing the .223 sniper to shoot easily two to three times the number of precision shots that the .308 equipped sniper can fire because of the relative lack of recoil of the .223 and the reduction in fatigue and soreness. Faced with hundreds of bad guys (sound like something we worry about?) the ability to reach out consistently to 800 yards with precision fire can be unimaginably effective. With a rapid fire 800 yard precision rifle you are still 300 to 500 yards beyond the capabilities of 99.5% of all rifle armed combatants, and they won’t be very effective closing that distance when they’re leaking, or suffering from that famous “sucking head wound.” The precision rifleman thus armed has the ability to engage very rapidly and to lay down a murderous volume of precision fire (which the Blackwater operator seems to be taking advantage of) to suppress mass movement high-speed assault. Let us not forget that while the .223 performs poorly inclose quarters battle (CQB) and intermediate distance combat because of poor stopping characteristics and poor penetration. Those aren’t factors in this type of engagement. By and large, snipers don’t bother engaging through cover, and stopping power at long range is a more leisurely concern as we don’t really care whether a fatal wound stops a person in two seconds or 30 when they are hundreds of yards beyond their ability to engage you. Indeed, I would submit that many people would be better off with a well built .223 semi-auto precision rifle as they are easier and cheaper to build than their .308 counterparts and their ammo is substantially less expensive, which will lead to both greater practice and the ability to stock far more ammo for long term storage.

Depending on whose version of the back story you hear, those two precision riflemen on that roof (only one is prominently photographed, but look and listen carefully and you will notice a second rifleman working right along side the first one) fire some hundreds of rounds each that morning in keeping the attackers bottled up and ineffective. They likely neutralized hundreds of enemy fighters, and kept the rest pinned down at a distance where their rifles were unable to engage (notice how nonchalantly the Blackwater operators discuss the return fire). What you are seeing on that video is an eyewitness account of modern, skilled, properly equipped and specialized precision riflemen at work.

Just my two cents worth. I don’t think that a precision .223 takes the place of a precision .308 (or larger), but I would suggest that for most people looking for a precision rifle it might make quite a bit of sense as a place to start. – Formerflyer

JWR Replies: Here we go again! If .223 were effective at long range (such as the “800 meters” cited in the Najaf video) then it would be widely used by military snipers. But it isn’t. They almost universally use .30 caliber (and larger bore) rifles, for good reason. There are just too many drawbacks to make .223 viable at long range. First and foremost is the “wind bucking” factor. In windless or light wind conditions, small caliber bullets can indeed be accurate for point shooting past 500 yards. But in moderate winds (say, 12+ m.p.h.) at 500+ yards, .223 ceases to be a “precision” rifle. The bullets just drifts far too much under those conditions. (For example, the much-touted 62 grain SS-109 (M855) bullet has a lateral drift of 125 inches at 800 yards with just a 10 mph crosswind.) That is almost eight man-widths! (Hardly conducive to shooting with “sniper” accuracy.)

Next is the problem of residual energy at long range. Even with the “heavy” SS-109 bullet, .223 is essentially just a wounding instrument past 600 meters. That may be fine for military operations, where wounding enemy soldiers is ostensibly a desirable outcome. That was part of the McNamara doctrine during the Vietnam war, and was cited as one of the justifications for issuing M16 rifles. (The often quoted: “A wounded soldier removes three enemy soldiers from the battlefield: the wounded man himself, and the two soldiers needed to carry his stretcher.”) But let me forthright and blunt: In a post-TEOTWAWKI survival situation you will want your gunfight opponents 100% dead. In the most commonly envisioned post-TEOTWAWKI world, there will be no value in a bad guy crawling away to fight another day. In fact, it could prove downright disastrous. A post-collapse world may very well resemble the city states of Italy during the Middle Ages, complete with multigenerational blood feuds. Wounding or crippling someone is a great way to create a tenacious enemy who might just dedicate the rest of his life, and even the lifetimes of his children to getting even. Not to mention that we might still be living in a society with at least vestiges of a legal system. How would you like to face a crippled man in a wheelchair on the other side of the aisle in a courtroom, with just your word against his? No thanks!

Letter Re: The Psychology of Denial in the Information Age

Jim,
I was interested in your response to Bill H. who wrote about the Psychology of Denial. Your suggestions were excellent, and Bill’s ideas were good also, but I fear those suggestions will convince very
few people.

I just turned 60 and have been a “prepper” since about age 10. I grew up in the Cold War and my folks were scared silly about a nuke attack (we lived in the Sand Francisco Bay Area). We had a rudimentary bugout bag…in 1956!
We always maintained about a month’s worth of food and bottled water. While our preps were very inadequate by contemporary standards, being prepared left an indelible impression on me and I have been an avid prepper/survivalist ever since. After decades of trying to persuade folks to even just think about dire possibilities I have come to one conclusion:

Most folks cannot bring themselves to think about any change in their comfortable life style. Heck, we have trouble even getting most folks to think about improving their educations to get out of an unpleasant job. They have to be fired or laid off to get to that point (I teach at University of Phoenix in addition to my regular job so am involved in adult education). To ask them to consider such a complete transformation of their lives is beyond what they are prepared to do. It is beyond what they are able to do.

Also, history teaches them a different lesson. I have been through a couple of great waves of negative outlook plus a couple of significant financial downturns. “Everything has always turned out okay” and there is no reason to think things won’t continue to do so. And they are right, everything has always sort of worked out okay. (Never mind the Vikings and the Goths and the Huns and a few other assorted miscreants, they are just interesting notes in history.)

In short, I have never achieved a complete conversion of someone fully invested in the current world deciding that preparations are useful. I do not know what personality trait it is that allows someone to consider the future in such a way as to prepare but I believe many people completely lack that trait and cannot acquire it. The folks who agree with me and do prepare always indicate that different personality in some noticeable way.

Now I can hear your response already, those keys pounding on the keyboard. “They just have to understand. We have to convince them. Can’t they see?” No, I don’t think thy can and don’t think they ever will be able to. TEOTWAWKI is too much of a long-shot for these folks. – Bruce C.

Odds ‘n Sods:

Ben L. suggested posting a link to this Reason online article: Gun Control’s Twisted Outcome–Restricting firearms has helped make England more crime-ridden than the U.S.

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Today we welcome a couple of new Affiliate advertisers to our roster: SafetyGlasses.com in the U.S. (they sell shooting glasses, ear protection, Nomex/Kevlar gloves, and hydration packs), and MacWarehouse in the U.K. (Just in case a Mac iBook Laptop or an iPod is a survival priority for you. <vbg>) Whenever you use one of our Affiliate links and place an order–with more than 60 companies in nine countries–we get a little piece of the action, which helps support SurvivalBlog. (Of course please patronize our paid banner advertisers first.)

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Frequent contributor Michael Z. Williamson mentioned an interesting web page on Fire Pistons. Speaking of fire making,take a look at this Wikipedia page. Who knows when primitive skills might someday save your life? Learn bushcraft skills and pass them on to your children.

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The high bid is now up to $275 in the current SurvivalBlog benefit auction for several items (including an EMP-proof antique radio, four books, and a copy of my “Rawles Gets You Ready” preparedness course) that are being auctioned together as a lot:, with a combined retail value of around $370. The auction ends on April 15th. Just e-mail me your bid. Thanks!

Jim’s Quote of the Day:

"I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, to discover that I had not lived. I did not wish to live what was not life, living is so dear; nor did I wish to practice resignation, unless it was quite necessary. I wanted to live deep and suck out all the marrow of life, to live so sturdily and Spartan-like as to put to rout all that was not life, to cut a broad swath and shave close, to drive life into a corner, and reduce it to its lowest terms, and, if it proved to be mean, why then to get the whole and genuine meanness of it, and publish its meanness to the world; or if it were sublime, to know it by experience, and to be able to give a true account of it" – Henry David Thoreau – (1817 – 1862) – Walden or Life in the Woods

Note from JWR:

The high bid is now up to $250 in the current SurvivalBlog benefit auction for several items (including an EMP-proof antique radio, four books, and a copy of my “Rawles Gets You Ready” preparedness course) that are being auctioned together as a lot:, with a combined retail value of around $370. The auction ends on April 15th. Just e-mail me your bid. Thanks!

Letter Re: Advice On Retreat Locales in Nevada

James:

I’m a retired Christian, a widower, living on California’s central coast. I’m a ham radio enthusiast. I don’t feel safe anywhere in California. California is only going to get worse as time goes on. So I am looking for a retreat location that is away from large population areas. I now have a few resources available to do this. Please let me know if you know of anything in the $40-to-50K range. I’m thinking about Nevada. Somewhere quite remote that will not be on the “shopping list” of looters, or in the path or refugees in the event of TEOTWAWKI. Blessings, – Dave

JWR Replies: Hmmm… $40K to $50K won’t buy you much land, these days. If you don’t mind arid climates, then under your circumstances I’d recommend that you start your search in west-central Nevada. (It is a fairly straight shot for you through Yosemite National Park on Highway 120 in summer months, but the small highway passes are closed in winter, necessitating a longer trip, via I-80 through Reno. If you take the Pacheco Pass, then Highway 99, and then Highway 120, you avoid all of the major freeways.) BTW, if you are 62, you are old enough to qualify for a Forest Service “Senior Pass” (formerly called a “Golden Age Passport), for a one-time fee of $10, so you won’t have to pay to transit Yosemite National Park on each trip to Nevada.

Look first around Dyer, Nevada (the Fish Lake Valley) near Boundary Peak, just east of the California state line. There are 10 to 12 acre parcels there selling for around $50K, but it is one of those “private, gated community” type developments that has CC&Rs and allows only stick-built houses with a minimum square footage. (No manufactured homes.) And it is very likely that their CC&Rs would also frown on ham antenna arrays. (A big shiny Yagi might look like a thing of beauty to you, but probably not to the HOA busybodies.) Perhaps you could buy some land outside of the HOA development, but nearby so that you could still interact with the community for barter purposes.

Next, look farther east, around the Big Smoky Valley area, north of Tonopah, Nevada. There is some nice land on the northwestern edge of the valley–with year-round creeks and a few trees–that adjoins the Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest. Keep the faith, and proceed with prayer. If God wants you to be anywhere in particular, he will open doors for you.

Letter Re: Advice on Aftermarket Barrels for Glock Pistols

Jim,
I am contemplating purchasing the Glock 21 (.45 ACP). I am concerned that it is not a fully supported chamber, should this be a worry with the low pressure round like the .45 or is it just a factor in the higher pressure round like the .40 caliber. I have larger hands and the grip is not a problem for me. I hear that you can get a replacement barrel that fully supports the round, would you recommend this. Thanks for any help with this matter,

JWR Replies: The Glock 21 is a good choice, especially after adding tritium sights and having a grip reduction done. There are three good reasons to get an aftermarket barrel: 1.) They have traditional rifling, which is less prone to fouling than the polygonal rifling on the Austrian made originals, 2.) As you mentioned, they have a more fully supported chamber, and 3.) It leaves your original barrel available to use as a spare.

My advice: Proceed with your Glock 21 purchase, preferably from a private party at a gun show. Or you can find in-state private party sellers by searching “by state” at www.GunsAmerica.com. Once you have it in hand, have Trijicon or Meprolight tritium sights installed, and send the frame to ArizonaResponseSystems.com for a grip reduction. (Or buy the Glock’s new M21-SF variant, that comes from the factory with a reduced, M1911 contour grip.) Replacement barrels and critical spare parts are available from Lone Wolf Distributors or Glockmeister. As previously mentioned, the best source for extra magazines is probably Natchez Shooters Supply. Buy at least 8 or 9 spares!

Letter Re: Unexpected Climate Change

Dear Jim and Family,
The movie The Day After Tomorrow was on FX (cable TV channel) tonight. The first hour is entertaining weather disasters and fun science building up, the second hour was a travesty which insulted intelligent people and scientists everywhere. But it was pretty, and it’s just a movie. It’s okay for it to be half cr*p as long as its entertaining.

The reality of climate change is much more interesting, and considerably slower paced. This week I found a web site with a drought map which is updated weekly. US Drought Monitor. It is pretty darned interesting.

Another little reality is the West Coast (California, Oregon, Washington) has its entire climate based on the Longshore Drift, which is powered by the North Wind from Alaska. This wind causes upwelling of nutrient rich cold water along the coastline to several hundred miles out on the continental shelf. This water provides food for plankton, fish, and birds. It also drops summer temperatures inland and reduces evaporation along the coastline. Without this cool water current, there’s no food for the fish, no fish to catch, no salmon, and the weather starts to resemble that of Baja Mexico. That sounds pretty good until you realize that Baja has pretty dead water with not much in it. The ocean’s equivalent of a desert: oxygen poor, toxic thanks to algae blooms, and not healthy for people either. This is happening now, and has been a problem for the last 4 years, which (perhaps) coincidentally corresponds with years of drought. The North Wind has started late each summer, usually after high numbers of birds have died. Most of the Salmon are gone, for various reasons but the oxygen problem is the main culprit. You’d think this would be limited to California, since its a state which clearly offends God, but Oregon is suffering too and there’s a lot of Christians up there. Its Eugene that gives the state a bad rep.

This isn’t the best part. With warmer temperatures, the waters can support unusual weather for the area: hurricanes. I say unusual because they are such in the last few thousand years, however they’re Not unusual in the geologic record. As a geology student, I got to see the sedimentation of hurricanes, event (storm) by event (storm) in coastal sandstones called “Turbidite Sequences”. Turns out that California (and Oregon) used to get some pretty severe weather we normally associate with Southern Mexico, Florida, and the Gulf Coast. I’m talking category 4-5 hurricanes every year. Yes that seems strange, but the winds control the currents and the currents & winds control the weather. ANd the weather controls the food supply, which controls population movements and can turn a remote retreat location into a deathtrap.

Or something really weird can happen. Like summer rains and monsoons can start flowing into California, along with those hurricanes. See, normal California and Southwestern weather is brief winter rains followed by months of spring, summer, and fall drought. In the old days, Northern California got rain from October to May, and that was perfectly normal weather. Nowadays is January to February, and the rainy season is punctuated by long drying periods so the aquifers don’t fill, the streams empty, and it just resembles a desert. It sucks, but that’s how it is. This is a transitional period. Perhaps things will change back next year, but perhaps they won’t.

That leads to the weird thing. If we get summer monsoons, it changes the whole climate in the Southwest. It means lightning in a state that rarely sees any in the lowlands. It means tornados and hail. It means thunderstorms and flash floods. It means living pasture in currently dry regions, which is a real boon to ranching and dairy, but death to the orchards. It means heavy rain in the lower reaches of the Sierras and summer snowstorms. It also means rain reaching Nevada and the desert regions of California and Arizona (and Utah), with storms coming from the Southwest, via Hawaii, what we call the “Pineapple Express”. Imagine that happening a couple times a week all summer long in places where it never used to rain, so the SW, starts to get like the SE. Humid, wet, water soaking into the aquifers, rivers running, plants changing. It also means that a lot of dry lakes fill, starting at salt marshes and swamps but eventually able to host fish, deer, elk, mountain sheep, migrating birds, antelope, willows, alders, cottonwoods. Land in Nevada would become not only habitable but valuable. With the change in direction of the weather, new banana-belts would also develop, as they’re based on direction of rainfall and spots downwind from mountain ranges experience warming during storms on the far side. That’s more long-term.

In the short term, you’ll see a few storms, and a few hurricanes creeping north up Baja, a long way from Los Angeles, but as the ocean temps rise on the California and Oregon coastline, the further north the storms can go before breaking up. And like I said, there’s evidence in the geologic record of hurricanes striking the coast North of San Francisco. It could be some time before that happens, or it could happen in a dozen years, then more quiet for another dozen. Lots of factors are involved making precise prediction foolhardy. In the meantime, keep your eyes peeled for summer rain in California. It could be a harbinger of a serious change in climate, perhaps for the better. Best, – InyoKern

Odds ‘n Sods:

Many of you have already seen this video clip of a Blackwater shooter plying his trade in Najaf, Iraq. (Warning: some coarse language, but no gore.) Talk about taking the wrong rifle to a gunfight! It appeared that he was dinging Bad Guys at “800 Meters” with a .223. He surely would have been much more effective with a scoped .308 Winchester. (Such as a match grade M14.) He had the wrong tool for the job, but at least the man behind the rifle appeared fairly competent. (He was not using the traditional fire discipline of a sniper, so obviously he was either very excited and wasting ammo, or he was in a truly “target rich environment.” (It is hard to say which.) Regardless, it is an interesting video to watch. OBTW, note his fumbling during his later magazine changes, under stress. As the instructors at Front Sight are fond of saying: “Remember: In the stress of a gun fight you will only be half as good as your worst day at the range.”

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K&S dropped us a line to mention that the classic Thermette (aka “`Benghasi Boiler”) is back in production. This device was invented in 1929 by New Zealander John Ashley Hart . They are still hand made in New Zealand, from solid copper.

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French-speaking readers of SurvivalBlog should be aware that there is a new French language forum on emerging threats and survivalism, called Le Projet Olduvai.

Jim’s Quote of the Day:

“The technologies which have had the most profound effects on human life are usually simple. A good example of a simple technology with profound historical consequences is hay. Nobody knows who invented hay, the idea of cutting grass in the autumn and storing it in large enough quantities to keep horses and cows alive through the winter. All we know is that the technology of hay was unknown to the Roman Empire but was known to every village of medieval Europe. Like many other crucially important technologies, hay emerged anonymously during the so-called Dark Ages. According to the Hay Theory of History, the invention of hay was the decisive event which moved the center of gravity of urban civilization from the Mediterranean basin to Northern and Western Europe. The Roman Empire did not need hay because in a Mediterranean climate the grass grows well enough in winter for animals to graze. North of the Alps, great cities dependent on horses and oxen for motive power could not exist without hay. So it was hay that allowed populations to grow and civilizations to flourish among the forests of Northern Europe. Hay moved the greatness of Rome to Paris and London, and later to Berlin and Moscow and New York.” – Freeman Dyson, Infinite in All Directions (1988)

Note from JWR:

We had a great view of a Golden Eagle on our way home from church yesterday. It was on the ground within 10 feet of the road, snacking on a road-killed deer. (Raptors aren’t picky, this time of year.) I pulled our car to a stop on the shoulder just 25 feet away, and instead of taking wing, the eagle just hopped 20 feet up the hill and stared at us. (No doubt wondering why we had been so rude as to interrupt its meal.) I’m regularly amazed at the variety of wildlife that we see at the Rawles Ranch, and on our trips to town.

Letter Re: The Female Side of Surviving

Jim et al,
Having seen [the movie] ‘300‘ this last weekend and the cable documentaries about the Spartans, one particular concept stood out. Debates about the culture, the movie, and such aside, I was stuck by the idea that to raise strong and capable men that it was essential that they be born of strong, independent and capable women. Elite Spartan women had a level of freedom that was nearly unprecedented in the ancient world and as young girls went through much of the same training as the boys.

This is not generally the case today. As I’ve been learning about preparedness and exploring the resources on the Internet, I find there are very few women who are actively involved. When they are, they seem to either being only interested in household/cooking/supplies management, or come from the occasional family that goes counter to this trend. I am a firm believer in a well-rounded skill set and I live with a husband that has little interest in preparedness. (Thus the initiative is on my shoulders). I know how to cook from scratch, the basics of food storage, how to do just about any fiber-art and can cure most common ailments with plants growing in my local environment.

What I’m looking for now is where can I learn skills that are not as typical for my gender role, without having to suffer an undue amount of harassment? What would you suggest for someone to go from having never touched a firearm in their life to being survival-proficient? What about basic mechanics, auto repair, wood working, building, and more? Has anyone really looked into the gender issues of preparedness and survival, especially long-term, and who’s writing might you suggest? Sincerely, – Lily in Minnesota

JWR Replies: The firearms training at Front Sight is excellent and women students don’t feel intimidated there–whether travelling alone or with their spouse. There is no macho posturing or belittling there. If you are on a budget, don’t overlook the very inexpensive rifle training offered at the RWVA Appleseed Shoots. As for learning car mechanics/repair, wood working, house building, and so forth, you might make some inquiries locally about barter. In recent years, many small communities in the U.S. have introduced local currencies–essentially a tangible form of barter credits.

Letter Re: Selecting a Retreat Location in Australia, by Mike McD.

Jim,
To answer your key question: “Are there some particular towns that are well-removed from the major population centers on the east coast –perhaps up in The Wet– that would be well-suited as safe havens?” You would need to define what constituted a major population center.
There are five cities/regions with a population over a million [people]: Sydney (due to their close proximity to Sydney I would include the cities of Newcastle [pop 510,000] and Wollongong [pop 275,000] as part of Sydney), Melbourne (including the city of Geelong [pop 165,000]), Brisbane (including the Gold Coast/Tweed region [pop 485,000], the Sunshine Coast region [pop 215,000], and Toowoomba [120,000]), Adelaide, and Perth.
Once you put these aside we are left with the following cities with a population of greater than 100,000:
Canberra [pop 325,000]
Hobart [pop 203,000]
Townsville [pop 150,000]
Cairns [pop 125,000]
Darwin [pop 111,000]
Launceston [pop 105,000]
Albury-Wodonga [pop 100,000]
Of these Canberra and Albury-Wodonga are out as they are within 300 miles of Sydney and Melbourne as well as on the main line of likely advance for the respective Golden Hordes.
Launceston and Hobart are on the island of Tasmania.
Townsville is home to 3 Brigade (light infantry) and RAAF base Townsville (home of the Army’s 5th Aviation Regiment).
Darwin is home to 1 Brigade (mechanised) and RAAF base Darwin (which is a major air base used by Australian and US aircraft – including B-52s and B-2s).
Places up in The Wet (such as Townsville, Cairns, and Darwin) are cyclone prone. Retreats in these areas need to be able to withstand the worst category 5 cyclones.
On balance if I was looking for a place on the east coast of the mainland, I would be inclined to look at the coastal hinterland of Queensland north from Rockhampton up to Cairns (600 miles {1000km} north) . It is far enough north of Brisbane’s population cluster and far enough south of the Torres Strait to avoid a potential influx of people from Papua New Guinea. It has good rainfall and soil fertility. The people tend to be more independently minded, pro-gun, conservative and Christian. Think of the Bible Belt of the US with the relaxed Aussie attitude. (See map.)

The distances to get to even Rockhampton from Brisbane, Sydney, and Melbourne are huge (400 miles {650km}, 750 miles {1200km}, and 1250 miles {2000km} respectively). Living in in those cities (or on the coast between them) my first choice of G.O.O.D. vehicle would be sailing boat (which could also open up other retreat areas such as Tasmania or New Zealand).
Being in the Navy with access to (and having helped written a few) classified studies into mass illegal immigration scenarios I’m limited in exactly what I can say. I will say this: if I was looking at a retreat in the north or north-west of Australia I would locate my retreat at least 60 miles from the coastline. – Mike McD