I love landscapes and wildlife and there is a lot of that to see in Aussie, but the people I am meeting along the way are a what really make the journey special. If you are a city dweller and you are heading to the outback of Australia, you better get ready for a radical adjustment. There will be no walking past someone without saying 'how's it' out here, and you will want to get your waving hand ready to, as you will be lifting your hand in acknowledgement to pretty much every vehicle that passes you on the road. People in the Outback are FRIENDLY - yes capitals there.
Not just in the shops you stop in to buy fuel for the next long leg of your journey, but pretty much anywhere you stop - even the side of the road! I've had some great road side conversations and even one or two middle-of-the-road chats when both myself and a vehicle coming the opposite direction has slowed down, wound our windows down (mine is pretty much always down) and stopped in the middle of the road for a decently long chat about the road ahead, where you headed, how you doing sort of thing. Brilliant.
After all, that person may be the only other vehicle you may see today, so stopping in middle of road to chat is perfectly normal - out here.
Let me introduce you to a few of the people I have met recently.
Ian, the 'crazy old bastard'
Ian was cycling from Port Augusta to Darwin.
We first met near Lake Eyre south when I pulled alongside him as he was cycling the Oodnadatta track. When I asked if he needed any water, he asked if I had a cold beer, sorry mate :(, I didn't.
Turns out this is not the 1st overland cycle trip Ian has done, perhaps that is why his wife calls him a crazy old bastard, although only in his early 60's I don't think 'old' is quite correct... Crazy probably is though (good crazy). He has so many funny stories to tell of his travels and I was quite envious of his tale of walking across the Simpson Desert some years ago as a part of a camel train. Wow.
You know I so want to do that, why drive across the desert when you can walk alongside a camel! Ian told me one place I definitely needed to visit is Chambers Pillar on the road between Finke and Alice, so noted. I love getting good travel tips like that.
I crossed paths with Ian again about a week later, I saw him cycling and screeched to a halt & we caught up on travel stories on the side of the road.
He was battling a head wind at the time and was looking a little sunburnt and tired...
I had camped at the Lambert Centre the previous night- which is the geodetical centre of Aussie and met Sally and Kevan there - they told me they were travelling to see Chambers Pillar. When they mentioned that name I told them how this cyclist named Ian had told me to go there too - funny enough they had also met Ian and the reason they were travelling there on his advice! Small world. When I mentioned this to Ian he laughed. I told him how I had this image in my mind of a big group of travelers all arriving at Chambers Pillar, chatting around the camp fire, all learning they were there because of Ian!
Sally and Kevan
As mentioned above, I met Sally and Kevan at the centre of Aussie. They were well set up with a small pop up camper trailer.
This friendly couple and their gorgeous dog are 2.5 years into their around Aussie journey and say there is no end in sight - they are loving it.
I can understand why and we chatted about our love of life on the road and where they are headed next etc.
We met again a couple of weeks later: I was just arriving in a campground in Alice Springs and heard my name called out... it was them! Yah.
Lovely to meet you both, I hope to see you again, again on the journey!
John Murray - convoy buddy & local 'store'
I met John at Dalhousie Springs. The 1st day I arrived at the springs their were only John, Laszlo & Maria and myself camping there, so we all got to know each other a little while telling stories as we soaked in the hot springs.
How I really got chatting to John: I had placed a handwritten sign on the wall of the ablution block offering to buy a spare gas canister of anyone with one spare.
John had a brand new portable gas cooker with 4 new canisters - I ended up buying the whole thing off him.
Later on I ended up swapping some more cash for some nuts and fresh fruit from him - hence the title 'local store'. Became a great joke between us. John is on a 3 month journey and heading over to western Aussie, towing a trailer packed fill of everything you might need for a camping mission and a few extra things I think he may ditch along the way.
He was only 1 week into his journey when I met him he was loving it.
Turns out we were going to be travelling the same direction for a few days after leaving the springs and so we travelled in convoy.. I got to use my UHF for the 1st time for inter-vehicle chats. Sweet. John, ex the Police, also provided me with a spay-at-an-attacker mix that I will keep handy as a deterrent. Better even than that was the home-made-fire-starting mix he passed onto me. Polystyrene soaked in petrol, stored in little container. Amazingly effective. Simply poke a twig into the mix, swirl it around until the goopy mix coats the end of the stick, add to your firewood pile and light... Brilliant. Thanks John!
Laszlo & Maria
This lovely couple were also camping at Dalhousie Springs the day I arrived. They have a brand new 2021 Land Rover Defender and so of course a lot of conversations followed re their new vehicle, how it handled etc etc. They were heading into the Simpson Desert when I saw them last, I am sure it will be like driving through the desert in a comfy recliner sofa.
I love this pic below of the Laszlo and I hanging out with our trucks.
This second photo is a bit more realistic... as we have our fly nets over our heads in this pic.
Posing to take a pic out here is a fine art of timing re not having your face covered in flies!
Rob & Mark
I really enjoyed meeting Rob and Mark at Coongie Lakes National Park. They were just leaving the lakes after 10 days of camping in their Defender complete with a Mulgo Roof Top conversion and took the time to stop and chat with me, pass on instructions on how to find their favourite lakeside camp spot and share with me some of the epic trails they have taken their Defender on already.
May there be many more of those to come!
Matt & Lou
I met Matt & Lou in Alice Springs, we parked next to each other and we both laughed as they told me how they seemed to have been following my vehicle around Alice all that day.
I loved seeing the excellent camping set up they have, and learning about their planned journey.
They mentioned how gorgeous 'Birthday Waterhole' was meant to be and so a couple of days later I headed up the 14kms 4x4 track to the waterhole to discover them still there! Yah.
We spent the next few days at the waterhole, sharing stories around the fire in the evening.
I was super stoked when they asked if I would be interested in travelling in convoy with them for the next stage of our journey as we were heading the same general direction -
Yes please!
A fun convoy, some technical 4x4 trails, a dingo coming into our camp and much more fun.
Matt & Lou - my wonderful memories of the West MacDonnell Ranges will forever feature my time spent with you both.
Thank you !
I have met many more people along the way than those I have mentioned here.
Enjoyed interesting conversations, learnt much and shared many stories about our adventures and life's lessons.
I am thrilled that many of those I have met I can now call 'friends'.
Thank you to all those I have met so far, for the small and large ways you have become part of this journey, my life's story.
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