The kindest and quirkiest people I’ve met travelling
In 2010 Elizabeth Gray and her husband set off on what turned out to be a five year journey by motorhome which took them to 47 countries on five continents. They returned to explore Australia late last year. Here they share three of the quirkiest stories from their worldwide motorhoming travels.
In Patagonia, Argentina two years ago, we had arrived at our GPS-guided campground location only to find a block of flats and a walking trail beside a river. Alas, no place for us to camp. We would have to find an alternative, but first we needed to obtain some diesel. We tried a few gas stations and discovered they would not accept cards, cash only. As it happened we had very few pesos.
Next stop, to find an ATM to obtain some pesos. Unfortunately the ATM's we tried would not accept our cards!
I had the bright idea of finding a supermarket, filling up the trolley with groceries and during my transaction asking for some cash as well. After paying for the groceries with my card I asked about obtaining some cash. "Not possible" was the answer to that question.
I sensed we were in a right royal predicament, when a woman behind me tapped me on the shoulder and in her best Spanglish said she had overheard my situation and if we would follow her she was sure her bank could give us some cash. So we follow her to her bank and hey presto we had cash. What a relief!
She asked where we intended staying overnight and I told her in my best Spanglish what had happened earlier. She replied that she and her family lived on a farm and if we would like to stay there we would be most welcome.
We did stay there overnight. We meandered through their huge organic garden, ate with them and sat up till late talking. The following morning we left there with new found friends and loaded up with organic fruit and veggies that lasted for quite some time. There is a silver lining to every cloud!
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While motorhoming in the Yukon Territory in Canada last year we stopped for coffee and a stroll in Dawson City, a town built on permafrost about six hours drive from the Arctic Circle. While sipping our coffee we were approached by the owner, a young Swiss man. He welcomed us and asked where we were from. We replied, Australia and to this he said, “My wife is from Australia”. I asked whereabouts in Australia and he replied Mullumbimby.
What a coincidence! It so happens that I was born and lived my all my childhood years in Mullumbimby! Which goes to prove, you can run but you can't hide.
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Since returning to Australia, we spent the best part of a morning wandering around the town of West Wyalong in central west NSW. While photographing an old aeroplane in a park we got talking to a woman who was drinking her coffee near the open door of a caravan, while watching a chicken with ginger coloured feathers pecking under rose bushes in a public garden nearby.
I asked her if the chook was hers and she said it was. "Does it travel with you? I asked.
She replied it did.
“How come?" I asked.
Her story went like this: She and her husband were parked in Margaret River, Western Australia and from there drove to Busselton a couple of hundred kilometres north. When they stopped in Busselton they were approached by a passing woman who, while pointing at the front of the caravan they had been towing asked them, "Do you always carry your livestock that way?"
They were mystified by her question and got out to have a look, only to discover a chook with red feathers perched securely on the A-frame of their caravan! It had obviously hitched a ride all the way from Margaret River to Busselton!
They coaxed it into a box, drove to a hardware/produce store, bought a cage, some bedding, a water trough and chicken feed and have been travelling with it ever since, collecting an egg each day and stopping daily for it to do it's “free range thing” in public gardens and on lawns.
Don't you just love the accepting generous nature of some people!
Do you have any quirky stories from your travels? Share your experience with us in the comments below.
To read more about Elizabeth and her husband’s moterhoming adventures, please visit their website here.
If you have a story to share please get in touch with melody@oversixty.com.au
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