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“There is no easy walk to freedom anywhere, and many of us will have to pass through the valley of the shadow of death again and again before we reach the mountaintop of our desires? - Nelson Mandela

Voyage to a wealthy land, a cyclone and a haircut

Rob Lilwall
2007-12-01 15:16:47

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the long, flat, empty roads. I was surrounded by a rolling barrenness of scrubby hills and stubby fields. Cows ran for cover as I pedaled past, whilst the highlight of my days were the marvellous kangaroos who hopped across the road in front of me. I had a tight schedule of schools to visit in most of the major towns, and it was very pleasant to be hosted by an exuberant variety of pleasant hosts. In the last 7 weeks I have slept about 10 nights in my tent, whilst on the other nights I have enjoyed stimulating conversations with environmental planners, shop owners, many great teachers, spray painters, botany professors, lawyers, ex-politicians, cancer specialists, bar managers, nurses and electricians, mothers, fathers and grandparents. They consisted of Catholics, Buddhists, Agnostics, Atheists and Pentecostals. It is one of the many great privileges of this trip that I am coming into contact with such interesting people. With the exception of a "cyclist-turned-environmental planner? called Owy (who I had met in 2002 in Addis Abbaba, Ethiopia), I had not met any of these contacts before this journey.

Eventually arriving in Brisbane, I was extremely happy that Christine (the beautiful girl I had met whilst looking for a boat in Hong Kong ) came to see me for Easter. It turned out that not only were we still getting on very well after 4 months apart, but she is also very good at cutting hair! (see photos below!). I was rather sad when she had to fly back to her hard-working lawyers job in NYC. We noted, bemused, that we are living rather different lives and wondered what it would be like if we swapped professions for a week? (apart from having to look smart and work 18 hours a day, I think I would make rather a good Corporate Lawyer in New York!)

So, Australia ? it is a new and different country for me. It has been good to be able to relax bit more here and I can see why Australia is such a backpackers paradise. Indeed, it seems like ...