Midway hitchhiking escapade - Melbourne to Adelaide

Hitchkiking in Australia

Hello, my friends, it certainly has been a while since my last post. Just to fill you in, I have since finished my Amazon travel, spend some time in Santarem and Belem, went off to Rio de Janeiro, then Sao Paulo, went back to Argentina and Buenos Aires, which will forever remain my home, and passed the last month there hanging out with friends and just chilling before returning to Melbourne. Thus I have been in Melbourne for 9 months now. And while in between work and study, I got a week and a half off, I have decided to fill my pack and get back on the road, if only, temporary. But I am not dismayed! I will set off indefinitely vagabonding sometime soon! In any case, I filled my pack and went off to Adelaide.

I took a regional VLine train directly from Melbourne to Warrnambool, which is about a 2 hour trip from the city center. Not being that experienced of a hitchhiker, I am honestly baffled by how some people manage to find rides out of the city itself, but since I have no idea how, I didn’t even try. Warrnambool seemed like a good place to start, about 150km from Melbourne itself. I took an evening train, and arrived at about 11:30PM at night.

The station and the town were largely deserted but for a small local bus that was waiting, apparently for people who have recently got off the train, to take them to Heywood, as I have been able to identify by the digital sign. Heywood is on the way to Adelaide, and actually, a much better place to start hitchhiking, being a much smaller town than Warrnambool, and located directly on the highway.

As it was almost midnight, and with an idea that my prospects of finding a place to camp would be much greater in a place like Heywood, I have decided to take the bus. A mere 7 dollars and 1 hour, and we were there. The trip itself was rather typical of a regional Australian bus trip. The bus first stopped at Portland, where everybody got off except for me, and 2 Heywood locals got on, one dude with a skateboard and a cap, and another middle-aged man with white hair who looked rather drunk. As he entered, he shot me a look, so I nodded and said “Hi”.

He immediately shot back with "Where are you from?", which I just then, didn’t really feel like answering.

"Around here" - I said.

"What? I can’t understand you!" - he said, rather unkindly.

"Well, alright then..." - I muttered to myself, and said nothing more.

The guy shifted his attention to the driver now, as the bus rumbled on.

"What held you up, mate?" - he asked

"The train was 25 minutes late" - said the driver

"Ahh, ok mate, you’re alright, then" - said the drunken guy.

As we speeded on along the dark highway, the guy went on again:

"The roads are pretty shit, aren’t they mate?" - this to the bus driver.

"Yes, they certainly are" - responded the bus driver, indifferently.

The roads were perfectly fine, in my opinion, I had no idea what the guy was complaining about.

"Fucking disgraceful, mate!" - said the guy.

"Yes, indeed." - said the bus driver.

I had the impression he not paying attention at all to the drunk guy, just merely concurring whatever, with the air of ‘cool story bro’

After a while, the drunk guy spoke again:

"You’re a bloody good driver, mate!"

"Thanks, mate." - responded the driver.

After a while, we got into town.

"Ehh, can I get off here, mate?" - asked the drunk guy.

"Sure mate." - responded the bus driver, opened the doors, and let him off. In a few minutes, we rolled to a stop, and I got off with the skateboard dude, who went on and got lost among the streets. I went along the highway, looking for a good spot to make camp. It was around 1AM in the morning at this time.

I found a perfect little spot underneath an alcove, and strung my hammock. The night was chilly, but nowhere near cold, and I thought that with my alpaca poncho that I still carry from Peru, I should be ok. I have learned later in the night, to my sorrow, that this was a huge mistake, and that I would have been better off in my tent. However, the spot was so good for hammocking, I could not resist it.

Just to clarify, this photo is taken with flash. It was actually almost pitch black.

It got really cold in the night. Freezing cold. I woke up at around 3, and could sleep no more, tossing and turning, trying to get as tight under the blanket/poncho as possible, only to have the wind blow from underneath the hammock. I got out and packed up at around 5AM. It was already dawning. It was almost the summer after all...

I went across the street, in search of some breakfast. A small Milk Bar was open, and I went in, looking to get some dim-sims. However, I asked the woman in attendance if she could please be so kind and fill my thermos with hot water. She said yeah, so I went over to the counter, prepared to buy the dimsims. However, just before she took the thermos, she suddenly asked me, as though in shock:

"Wait, you’re not expecting me to do this for free, are you?"

"Ummm" - I responded - "How much would you want for it?"

"Well, I’ve got a full kettle over there, if you want I could empty it into the thermos, but I’m not gonna do it for free!" - she said, as though I had argued.

"Well, how much are you asking for it then?" - I said again.

"If you want me to empty that kettle, you’d expect to pay at least 5 dollars." - she said.

I was actually holding 5 dollars with which I was prepared to buy the dim-sims. I put them away.

"No, thank you" - I said, and walked out. Seriously, people like that don’t deserve my money. 5 dollars for a kettle of hot water!!! It seemed to me beyond outrageous.

So I walked on. I found a bakery a few blocks away, which was open too, by that time. There, the lady was kind enough to give me some hot water. I bought a meatpie. Having eaten that, and having had some tea with the freshly boiled water I now had, I thanked the lady baker and walked out, into the cool morning.

I walked on and out of the town of Heywood, and kept walking along the highway until I got around a bend, where the intersection went off into one direction, and the highway in the other, so that I would be left with traffic that only went in my direction. I set my pack on the ground, and stuck my thumb out.

The place looked like a decent hitchhiking spot, but it could be much better. However, the road ahead was very straight and flat, and I could not see a better spot. So I decided to wait for at least 30mins, before moving on and finding another spot if nobody stopped. After 30 minutes, I had walked on.

Since this was my actual very first attempt at hitchhiking in Australia, I was a little nervous. What if nobody stopped? What if hitchhiking doesn’t actually work around here? However, my doubts were quickly put to rest, as a Toyota sedan went passed me as I walked, and stopped a few meters ahead. I ran up to it, greeting the driver.

"Hello sir, thank you very much for stopping!" - I said with a smile, as he motioned for me to get in.

I stuffed my pack in the back seat and got in the front.

"I can only get you to Mt Gambier" - said the stranger, who was dressed in a business attire.

"That’s marvelous, I’m going exactly there too!" - said I.

Mt Gambier was about 150km from Heywood, on the way to Adelaide.

"My name is Brandon" - he said, as we shook hands.

Brandon, it turns out, is in the business of buying up all of the old and outdated Funeral Homes in the area around Portland (which as you will recall, I passed on the bus on the way to Heywood, and which is still in Victoria). His had 2 reasons for doing so. Firstly, most of the country funeral homes were extremely far behind, or in the 19th century, as Brandon explained.

"They are run by middle-aged to old people, who were born and raised in small towns, and are doing it only because their fathers have done it before them, and their fathers before them. As a result, most of these folk think that Google Sheets are linen you would put on your bed. They have no idea of their competition, of anything. So I offer them a reasonable price for their business, integrate technology such as faxes, emails, and internet, and the business grows in value immensely."

Now, the second reason he does this is as follows:

"Over the last 20 years, the cremation rate has increased by 70%. It is a booming industry, as buying up land becomes more and more expensive for burial. However, the only entity permitted to carry out cremation in Victoria is the local council. On the other hand, in South Australia, anyone can obtain a permit to operate a cremation house. So I am buying up all of the funeral homes I can get my hands on in this part of Victoria, and on top of improving them technologically, I offer cremation services in them. From there, I can transport bodies over to Mt Gambier (South Australia), where I operate a cremation house, and cremate them there. The process is a lot more efficient, and I offer much more reasonable prices for cremation than the local council."

We ended up talking about this all the way to Mt Gambier. I was enlightened! I never even spared thought to the funeral business before!

As we arrived to Mt Gambier, Brandon was still early for the meeting he had scheduled there, and offered to take me to the Blue Lake, the lake that is a crater on top of a volcano, which Mt Gambier is famous for. I didn’t refuse. The idea was fascinating to me! And thus we drove up about 5 more mins through the town over to the volcano. It was about then when I fell in love with Mt Gambier. The city was so incredibly clean, there were people out and about, enjoying morning exercise, walking their dogs, or watering their gardens, and the volcano wasn’t actually out of the city. It was right on the outskirt, and since this was a small town, meaning about a 15 minute walk to the center.

I was left off right on the edge where a walk starts all the way to the top and around the lake, next to a cafe which wasn’t yet open. I read some information about the Blue Lake on the signs displayed outside of the cafe. This was where the entirety of Mt Gambier got their drinking water from. Apparently, the water is purified by natural limestone deep underground, and is perfectly drinkable without the need to sterilize it by any chemical means. Sadly, upon further research, I have discovered that they still add fluoride to the drinking supply, contaminating this otherwise pure water.

After climbing the volcano, I have made a circle around the lake along the walk path. There was a perfect harmonious mixture between perfect stillness and occasional people passing by as they jogged. There was even a house right on the margin (on the extreme right of the picture above). It is not as isolated as it seems from the photo, for remember, the center of the town is only 15 minutes walking distance!

After completing the walking circuit and thoroughly enjoying the scenery, I have decided to head back into town. It was a beautiful spring morning, and the rain was lightly sprinkling from the sky, making for some refreshing climate. As I walked past the center and onward, I found a library, and decided to rent a little, so I sat outside on a bench, and read the last few remaining chapters of Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince (Yes, this is the first time I am reading the series, and I must say, it’s fucking awesome!).

I spent about half an hour just reading, and after that, I walked on. It was already past noon. I encountered a KFC, and decided to make a stopover, so I feasted there on some delicious chicken. After that, I found the the princess highway, and walked straight out of town.

On my way there, I walked past what were entrances to caves, apparently with an underground lake underneath, which actually connects with the Blue Lake, quite a fair distance away. They regularly have diving tours here all the way to the Blue Lake, and my friends, I must say, although I normally hate any kind of tours with a passion, this tour I would certainly take. However, now was not the time for it. Another time, I will certainly try it. Diving into an underground lake and swimming along the caves! Yeah, this is probably one of those things that you really shouldn’t do on your own. I did canoe down the Amazon, and scoured the jungles of Machu Picchu unguided, but even I won’t dive into an underground lake without some sort of guidance from an expert! But definitely a to-do for a later time!

As I continued along the highway, I realized that Mt Gambier was a lot bigger than I originally imagined. I was walking for well over an hour now, and I was still sort of in town. Although pretty far from the center, there were still houses and road forks on either side. And I started to get unusually tired by this point. Might’ve something to do with the fact and I almost didn’t sleep at all the night before, idiot that I was hammocking outside in freezing weather!

So I started to get this idea, as I kept on walking past fields of grassland in between houses and streets. What if I camp here? Even though it was not even 3PM, as I walked, the idea gradually warmed up to me. Why not? This is a beautiful town, and it would be best to set up the tent by daylight, seeing as I would be attempting it for the first time (I bought a new tent since my time in Argentina).

And so, I turned into a field between two rows of houses, and armed my tent (which was exceptionally easy, compared to my attempt in Argentina at 1AM, with that other tent). After the tent was set up, I stuffed everything inside, and climbed in to get a feel for it.

It was incredible. Even though the chill outside was persistent, it was warm and cozy inside. There was space for everything. The bottom was cushiony, and it was very comfortable.

So I lay there, listening to the rain, and reading Harry Potter. By the time the rain subsided, I have finished the book and even started on the other one I have brought, Mi Pais Inventado, which was the book I have snatched from a hostel (not literally snatched, it was a book swap, and I left some other book I had at the time) in Rio De Janeiro, which is about a woman called Isabel Allende, and the nostalgia she feels for her home country, Chile. It is so well written, and even I began to feel the tickle of nostalgia for Chile as I read it.

And so, as the rain finished, and I was glad to see that the tent wasn’t leaking in any part and remained perfectly dry, I got out and stretched.

It was around 6PM, and still very light outside. The instant cold hit me, and I appreciated once more how warm it had been inside the tent. I decided that it was really safe to just leave it there and go for a walk, for the place was rather hidden behind a fence of houses on either side.

I walked on back to the highway, and crossed the road to where there was a TAB, adjacent to the liquor store. I went into TAB (a place where the gaming machines suck out people’s souls), and went to the bathroom, washed my face, refilled my water bottle, and brushed my teeth. Then I went back to my tent. I was still feeling rather tired. I climbed back into the warmth, and went straight to sleep.

I woke up the following morning at about 8AM. I slept a lot. I suppose with such a comfortable sleeping environment as my tent proved to be, I was recuperating all of the sleep I did not have the night before freezing my ass off in the hammock. I felt rather refreshed!

I climbed out into the chill morning air. I was cloudy as the day before, with the serene in the air. A good day for hitchhiking. So I quickly rolled everything up, and packed my tent away, not without forgetting my harmonica in one of the inside pockets.

"I’d get it later" - I thought to myself.

So I pulled my pack across my shoulders, everything ready to go, and crossed over to TAB, which coincidentally also just opened at 8AM. I brushed my teeth and filled my water bottle, and off I went, walking along the highway.

It took me some time to get out of town, and as I was walking, I was beginning to discover the not so beautiful side of Mt Gambier, the industrial area, with the giant factory pipes pumping black clouds into the air. And in this day and age! As the drunken dude from the bus would have said: "What a disgrace, mate!"

After a while I felt like I got far enough from the town, so I stack my thumb at the passing cars. In just a few minutes, as I was still walking, a guy pulled up and told me he can drop me off about 10 kilometers up the highway, where his farm is.

Turns out he was returning home after dropping his son in Mt Gambier, who was taking a bus to go to Adelaide. After he dropped me off, I assured him I’d wave at the passing bus, and was walking on. It was the middle of nowhere. There were just a few farms on either side, and the traffic was virtually non-existent.

"What if you don’t find anyone to take you?" - asked the driver.

"Don’t worry!" - I told him - "Somebody will take me."

And sure enough, in just about 5 minutes, the first passing car, an overly large Toyota Land Cruiser stopped to my aid. Inside was an elderly guy who confessed that he was quite deaf in one ear, s o I had to yell everything. I soon discovered however, that he was really cheerful and full of enthusiasm. He said he picks up hitchhikers all the time in the area. That he has a number of farms, both crop and graze farms, and sheep sheering farms.

"My bank balance is so big that I have to go in person for a meeting to the NAB (National Australian Bank) on Elizabeth St in Melbourne this coming Monday!" - He actually did say this!

So first we went over to one of his farms to grab some equipment and chuck it in the back in order to bring it to the other farm along the way. It was quite a lot of fun. I’ve never seen reserve roads leading onto the farms like this, thin and large crop plantations or farmland without end on either side. It is exhilarating. At his farm we grabbed a bunch of extension cables and a large gas cylinder. This aforementioned gas cylinder was extremely heavy as I have made a mistake at attempting to tackle on my own.

"It’s alright, you’re a seedy boy, I got it" - said the guy, and he lifted it up with ease as though it was nothing!

In any case, we started on our way to the next farm, this one his son’s, apparently, to bring all of this stuff. It was also along the same highway I was going along, so he’d drop me off there. As we arrived on the farm, there were about 7 people, men and women, sheering sheep. I’ve never seen the process done before so it was quite interesting. A sheep was brought up onto the platform, and the sheerer would expertly hold it and cut all of its wool off with a machine not unlike the ones in a barber shop. Then the sheep was released, and off it went bleating, back to its other bold comrades.

So that was quite interesting. Before I was on my way the guy showed me a spring of pure water, right there on his land, which they use to water all of the plants as well as drink it. I tried some. It tasted amazingly pure. I would not compare it with the taste of the rain water in the Amazon, but it was really good, not to mention warm, because it comes from so deep underground. Well, I’ve never seen a natural spring before, so this was my first.

I then wondered off back onto the highway. There was no traffic to speak of, and it was quiet. Not a sound, beside the occasional fly buzzing by. The temperature had risen, since we’ve covered a lot of distance and were further north by then, just off of Kingston.

"If you can’t get a ride by tonight the boys will take you with them to Kingston" - the guy told me before I set out.

After what seemed like 2 hours of sitting in the middle of the road, during which literally not a single car passed by, a heard a motor in the distance. I stood up and got off the road, and stuck my thumb up from the side. Luckily, he stopped. So there, I got a ride!

This guy was from one of the small farms by the ocean, a fisherman by trade, who lured king crabs.

"They cost $300 a piece" - he would say.

He was on his way to Adelaide for a conference, which happens annually and is the only time he leaves his farm. I just happened to be hitchhiking on the same day! Talk about that!

"Appeasing the bureaucrats" - he said.

We conversed about all sorts of things on our way to Adelaide, which was to be about 4 hours drive. We talked about different methods for luring king crabs, conversed about his past and how he used to be a sheep sheerer, and a very good one at that.

"When you get good at sheering sheep, and I mean really good, it becomes the most boring job ever. You don’t even think it. You are on autopilot. You are daydreaming, while sheep after sheep is sheered by your hands. Literally like counting sheep for a living. Although when you are that level of sheep sheerer, they also pay you no small sum. And there is a lot of work. Normally they also provide you with board, so you don’t have to pay for accommodation. You can really make a fortune doing it. I used to do it in my youth. But I have a family now. Four kids. They are currently on the boat right now, catching king crabs."

Thus did we converse, passing some amazing scenery on the way to Adelaide.