Alan Jackson Shares Surprises From Australia

theboot.com

Posted Mar 13th 2011 by Donna Hughes

Alan Jackson wrapped up his first Australian tour in Brisbane on Saturday night (March 12), and he observed a few things about the land "Down Under," which reminded him of home.

"I've flown over parts of the country that looked like Texas and looked like Tennessee and the Northwest," says Alan. "Melbourne -- that looked like some of Texas that I've been to; outside of [Sydney], up in the wine country in Hunter Valley, that was just gorgeous. That looked like outside of San Francisco! Some of these places I've played, like Brisbane, that's a more rural kind of working area ... a lot of people coming in from other areas to come in and see me. It's pretty cool down here! I've always heard great things about it, and everybody was right -- it's a beautiful country and the people are really nice. The fans really love the kind of music I make, and I'm lucky down here to end the summer."

However, one thing did surprise the country superstar when he arrived in Sydney, the nation's largest city. "I've seen programs on it, pictures of the country. But the thing that surprised me was sitting out here on this balcony at this hotel, and these parrots and white cockatoos that you'd buy at a store just fly around down here like crows! They're everywhere!"

Alan's shows in Australia, which kicked off in Melbourne, sold out within minutes when tickets went on sale last fall. The Georgia native has scored nearly 40 Top 10 hits in the country, with 15 of them going to No. 1.

While the singer heard about the great fishing he could do while in Australia, he was not able to put his favorite hobby to the test, however, he did do a bit of sightseeing. "One day we chartered a boat," Alan explains. "[We] just rode around all of Sydney Harbor and all the rivers up here, caught some of the sights and took it easy. It's been pretty."

When Alan returns to the States, he will head down south to Texas to perform at the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo on Friday (March 18).