1150km completed, 25km to go. A very fruitful day!
After a somewhat rough sleep, I steeped my porridge in the strangely warm tap water at the rest spot before heading out to the highway with my new sign.
My aim today was Rockhampton, figuring on several short lifts, similar to yesterday. Fortunately the sun remained hidden the first short while as shade was in short supply on the west side of the wide road in the morning.
After about a 15 minute wait with far less traffic than yesterday I jumped in a small truck with Scott* who was headed to Emerald, via Rockhampton. Hey, that was easy!
The three hours passed too quickly with some really solid conversation. Scott was something of a wonder with his positivity for life and old-school work ethic. Some of the challenges he’s faced were slowly revealed as we passed by significant landmarks. Three toots of the horn as we passed over a river was his grief ritual, for his father and daughter who died there in a boating accident when he was just 10.
Later talk of family and dreams for the future came around to learning about the sudden passing of his wife at 51 to breast cancer, just a few months after diagnosis. And of his cousin who quietly took his own life a few months ago, without a word to anyone. A poignant reminder of the importance of reaching out to the people we care about more often.
When pressed about his intense work schedule he spoke of his sense of duty to his employer, wanting to do the right thing by them, after he had to take two months off due to health. Just earlier this year he was run down by a drug affected driver, breaking bones in his hands, his ribs, collar bone and sternum. I hope his employer sees what they have on their hands and gives him plenty of time to spend with his daughter once he’s caught up. They have only just been able to find another truck driver to share the load, with very little interest from young people in the industry.
After a short wait thumbing on the wrong side of Rockhampton I put my Mackay sign on my back and started the trek, thumb out, through town. After a couple of kilometers in the now intense midday sun a local tow truck driver pulled over and gave me a lift through to the other side of town.
He thought I would do well at the truck stop, but as I suspected the only driver who was with his truck confirmed he couldn’t take unregistered passengers, which I have read is the case for most of the bigger transport companies, managing their insurance risks.
So another short trek up to a very quiet bus stop and 15 minutes of now much more confident thumbing and a Campervan pulled in. Argentinian Tina was doing a vehicle relocation from Brisbane to Cairns, passing through Proserpine, which is just 25km from Airlie!
An industrial electrician at home, Tina left Latin America on a life- and world-changing journey, variously volunteering and working hard to send money home to her family. From her description of the situation, the cost of living in Australia has nothing on Argentina, with most of her family’s income sucked up by rent.
It was really interesting to hear some of the cultural differences and how she misses some aspects of home, even while the financial and political situation there is tenuous. Key among the aspects, largely absent in modern Australia are many of the same things we have already talked about on this blog
- Sharing is near universal. Feelings, food, time and laughter. There is a Spanish word sobremesa which is literally “over the table”. This describes the one of the most important aspects of the culture; time spent together relaxing and talking after a meal. Slowing down and building relationships with people
- People look for the best in others, trusting them, even a little naively at times, accepting the chance of betrayal as a preferred mindset over negativity or paranoia. Smiling at strangers is a norm.
- Accepting and even welcoming of some danger, with a common phrase along the lines of “if you are afraid of everything then don’t live”. Likely somewhat more eloquent in Spanish
Tina was on her way to Cairns looking for work to suit her visa conditions, endeavoring to finance a home for her mother and brother in Argentina and break the rent trap. She had wanted to work on a solar farm, but recent revelations of the impact of mining for renewable energy projects has her double guessing that. I shared the concept of degrowth with her, which seemed to resonate. Her commitment to doing the most-right thing was inspiring and encouraging. So far this value has been near universal with the drivers I’ve traveled with. I guess there’s something of a natural filter at work there.
After passing by dozens more bushfires still burning or recently extinguished, vast swathes of sugar cane and forest, freshly cleared for grazing, we finished the day with a shared camp meal in Prosperpine where we’ll part ways in the morning.
*Names changed