A Locals Look

Any time I visit a place for an extended length of time I try to use their public transport at least once, you get a great insight into daily life for locals. This tradition began on my trip to Tasmania where my aunt popped me on the local bus from Deloraine to Launceston. They actually combined school buses and public buses. I still remember that trip vividly. So yesterday Will and I jumped on the local bus to do our shopping. It picks up right outside the NRTHF 5 times throughout the day. We chose to go in at 3 in the afternoon which meant the bus schedule had gone back to their short runs by the time our return bus would be coming back. We took that into consideration and decided it wasn't that far to walk. Hey, it couldn't be as long as some of the scenic walks we'd completed!

So off we set, $3.00 for 3 hours, no tricky Miki, just pass over some coins, take your ticket and have a seat. Then answer a few questions from the driver - Which state are you from? Which AFL team do you support? If I'd known that I'd have left you on the sidewalk! Do you tow a caravan? Do you ever park it in bus zones?  A talkative and helpful driver. (On our return trip Will pointed out the 'Don't talk to the driver' sign and we chuckled.)  "Don't get off here, cos you can't get on here. Stay on and I'll tell you where's best to get on and off." And so we did!

We noticed lots of locals sitting on sidewalks chatting together, their numbers increasing as the day grew longer.  To us this is such an unfamiliar sight so you start to replay the many stories you've heard about the local community members and the differences between their way of life and ours. Then I wondered was there much difference between them gathering to share stories and perhaps a drink to what we would be doing later, sitting around a campfire, chatting with friends and telling tales while enjoying a drink? Although I'm naive in many ways of politics and people's issues I understand from the brief conversation I listened to while visiting Parliament in Darwin that there are, unfortunately, great differences between the two because of the negative impact grog is having on a wonderful but susceptible group. 

When advised by our chatty driver, 'OK Victorians, this is your stop,' we hopped off just outside Safeway and headed in to the shopping centre where we were met with a cry 'Hey, Kenworth boy.' One of our Birdsville mates had spotted Bill. There has been lots of ribbing between John and his mate from many years, Frank  who is also staying at Birdsville and Will and Pete, the two Kenworth boys. Some of the ribbing came about as poor Will has an uncanny knack of needing the toilet when Frank is showering. The men's facilities lack the privacy of the women's which caused embarrassment to Will as he's now seen Frank naked more times than he'd ever wished for.   

After a chat with John and Dot we proceeded with our shopping, clarified directions with the young officer outside our final shopping destination and headed off as directed. The young officer had every piece of police gear hanging off her belt that you could possibly imagine - unfortunately her knowledge of bus stops was not as comprehensive!  Using commonsense and information from our helpful bus driver we found our way to the real bus stop where we had a 10 minute wait - easy! 

The bus wound its way around the main street where we noticed one of the bottle shops was clear of locals and police. On our first day there had been plenty of both!  It's likely that it was closed for some reason.  Many quiet well dressed locals travelled along with us on their way home from shopping, work or a day out.  The child shyly hiding her face when Will smiled at her.

 After our bus trip around back streets and seeing a bit more of local life we arrived at our stop. We wandered away from the bus with Will saying "Bloody Hell, we're still a long way from home' and me smirking, I'd suspected this would be the feeling once we actually got underway with groceries in hand. As we passed the local radio station a lady called from the front door  "How far are you two going?" When we told her she said "Gees, that's still a fair way, do you need a toilet break, you're welcome to come in?' A kind offer, but we plodded on.  Just short of the NRTHF a car pulled up and Dave yelled out, "Get in you two." I knew he'd stop once he recognised us, you see, he has a soft sport for Will and I,  'The Kids'.  We were mighty glad to throw the shopping in and hop in with Whiskers and Noelene. But I'm also mighty glad that I got my ride on public transport- a must in every new town