Karachi at Friday prayer time. Emp-
ty!
Talking of prayers, I must tell you
about an experience I had in the out-
back. I’d spent several days riding
on the deserted Strzelecki Track with
only my thoughts. I’d been sleeping
under trees in remote spots and al-
though happy with my own company,
thought how nice it would be to chat
with another woman.
“And whilst you’re at it,” I shout-
ed at the Universe, “I’d like a nice
roast dinner and somewhere comfy
to sleep for the night. Ha! There’s a
challenge for you!”
It was time to look for a sleeping
place for the night and eat my usual
meal of tinned sardines and rice. I
dismissed a spot by a large tree which
would have been perfect for leaning
the bike up against. Something made
me ride on, even though dusk was
approaching and the onward track
was full of potholes disguised by fine
dust ready for me to ride into. It was
silly of me to go on. After a while, I
could see some white squares in the
distance. Getting nearer I could see
they were portable cabins and decid-
ed to spend the night behind them.
At my approach, the Enfield’s engine
alerted someone and a door opened.
It was a woman.
“Crikey!” she exclaimed.
“Another woman. Can you stay? I’m
roasting a chicken and vegetables.”
She owned a road-building busi-
ness and the workers were due in for
their evening meal.
“I’m sorry I haven’t got a room for
you to sleep in but how about sleep-
ing in the cosy cabin of a road-train?”
My dream came true! Every wish
I’d thrown heavenwards delivered
within the hour. I had to laugh. I’d
been visited by the outback gods be-
fore. During a long day on a bumpy
track, I got a niggling feeling that I
should check my sleeping bag which
I always tucked under the luggage
rack. It had dropped out. It could
have been many, many miles away
but was less than a kilometre back the
way I’d come. Was it all coincidence?
As a devoted Methodist, I know what
you’d say!
There is some confusion about
what constitutes a city, a town or a vil-
lage here. It does not appear to have
anything to do with the size of the
mark on the map. I refer to all plac-
es with a filling station, pub and shop
as a city and everyone seems pleased
enough.
TRAVERSE 33
Leaving a city is like leaving civili-
zation behind. You have heard of ‘the
bush’? Well, as far as I have been able
to ascertain, the bush starts about fif-
ty yards out of town. There is no ur-
ban sprawl as we have at home where
the end of one town often starts the
beginning of the next. Here, you
know instantly because that’s where
the bush begins. It can be a sparse
growth of trees, bushes or scrub.
Sometimes it’s thicker than others,
but in the places I’ve been, only in
the tropical rainforest in Queensland
is it really dense. When I first en-
countered the outskirts of Darwin
it seemed like the trees had been
thinned out. They grow apart from
each other and are spindly. There is
no undergrowth partly because it is
so dry and partly because cattle graze
on it.
The trees here are different. There
are different types of eucalyptus. Be-
fore I came here, my only experience
with eucalyptus was with the cough
sweets you used to give me when I
was small. Now, I will remember un-
til the day I die, the clean, pungent
scent of the leaves as they flare on my
campfires. I will forever recall happy
memories of camping out in the bush
here. In no other country I have ever
travelled in so far, is it possible to get
away from every other person and be
just by myself. Even in remote parts
of India, having ridden along a track
for miles and chosen a spot hidden
from public view, someone will be
walking the cows home for the eve-
ning and spot you. Before long, the
whole village comes to stare at the
funny foreigner. Probably the best
entertainment of a lifetime for them,
but disappointing and irritating if
you want to relax after an intense
day on the road. Here, the little-used
track is out of sight and a fire can be
lit without anyone seeing the smoke
and detecting your presence. There
have been times when the isolation
and silence is so overwhelming as to
be alarming. No traffic passes. There