I was looking forward to Australia after spending most of my time in Asia being stared at without any proper communication. I was looking forward to random chats while stopping for petrol or food. Exchanging stories with weathered farm hands and fellow travellers. Hearing stories about the odd and awkward from proprietors of gas stations. Simple human interaction that even I was craving after hours on end on the bike with only my random thoughts for company.
Iran was a feast of interaction, no matter where I stopped people would have a chat, offer you a coffee and so forth. Pakistanis are rather chatty as well, albeit a little more reserved than the Iranians. But since crossing into India, it has been mostly stares. People in India, Nepal, Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia seem to be quite reluctant of approaching me (could be my sunny disposition…). They get a bit more talkative when you instigate the conversation but almost no one starts a chat with prompting. Not that I’m a very social person but a little occasional interaction is nice.
Now, three weeks and 9,000 kilometres on the road since I arrived in Darwin, and I can count personal encounters on one hand. I had a great time in Perth meeting old friends and they all are very hospitable and talkative but meeting random people for a chat? Not so much. You would reckon that a big old adventure bike with Dubai license plates and numerous country stickers would be of – fleeting – interest. But no. I’m not asking for an in-depth interview, an occasional “Where’re you from” would have been nice but no one is talking to me alongside the road.
It’s weirding me out a little so I’m now actively seeking conversation. At every petrol stop (of which I have a lot as the range of my bike is a measly 350km) I ask about the road ahead, the weather forecast and what’s good from the healthy selection of deep-fried snacks and microwaved pies. Turns out most staff at Australia’s outback service stations are from anywhere but Oz which probably makes them reluctant striking up a casual conversation. Korean, Russian, English, Irish (oh, the joy of hearing an Irish accent in the middle of the Nullarbor…), French, Japanese and Chinese but not many locals. Can’t be much fun spending your work experience in the middle of fecking nowhere but here they are; behind cash registers and in the kitchen. Sweeping forecourts and clearing tables.
They’re all pretty keen to chat when actively approached but the language barrier and limited knowledge of the land around them, leads to interesting if not irrelevant conversations. A Korean girl asks “what National Park?” when I ask her if there’s a campground in the National Park 25km from the service station she works at. An Irish woman tells me “I wouldn’t eat here if I was you, mate”, when I asked what was good on the menu. And a French guy is convinced that he’s working in Western Australia although he’s clearly in Southern Australia. And at a fairly remote (next petrol station 350km that way…) I ask the Chinese girl at the counter if I can pay with credit card. She says “Yes, no problem”, so I fill up and come back to the counter with my heavily abused credit card. On seeing the card she says “Sorry, no cards”…
I still want to have more interaction with the locals as they can tell you where the good roads and interesting scenes are. Which the work experience girls and boys clearly don’t know. I gave up on asking for local insights after my inquiry about local sightseeing options around Adelaide was answered with “the Sydney harbour bridge is nice”… After a few futile tries, I work out the best way to get a local Australian to talk. You buy them a drink or two. Not sure why I didn’t think of this before as this is standard operating procedure all over the world (with the notable exception being Saudi Arabia…) but it sure works. Not only do I learn about great short cuts, breath-taking dirt roads and great places to camp, I also learn about the best way to fight a crocodile, how to skin a goat and that gay people are OK as long as you don’t have to sit next to one…
The average outback Australian is not much of a social animal but surely a great source of information and entertainment when well lubricated. There, a travel tip from me to you…
short stories about a rather long trip 