Countries Visited

    Australia
    Austria
    Bahamas
    Belgium
    Belize
    Bermuda
    Cambodia
    Canada
    Cayman Islands
    Costa Rica
    Czech Republic
    England
    Greece
    Guatemala
    Italy
    Japan
    Laos
    Malaysia
    Mexico
    The Netherlands
    Norway
    Singapore
    Spain
    Thailand
    United States
    The Holy See
    Vietnam

    Travel Goals

    1. Climb to Everest Base Camp.
    2. Climb Mt Kilimanjaro.
    3. Learn to Scuba Dive.
    4. Visit every continent.
    5. See the Galapagos Islands.
    6. Sail down the Amazon River.
    7. Climb Ayer's Rock.
    8. Travel on the Trans-Siberian Railroad.
    9. Go into space.
    10. Throw tomatos at La Tomintina in Spain.
    11. See the sunrise from Mt. Fuji.
    12. Try to figure out the Buddhist messages at Borobudor in Indonesia.
    13. Visit the Pyramids
    14. Safari in East Africa for 3 months.
    15. Go to the World Cup!
    16. See Macchu Picchu.
    17. Join the Century Club. (100 countries visited)
    18. Join the Mile High Club. (Hey why not?)
    19. Do development work in a 3rd world country.
    20. See Petra Jordan.
    21. Backpack the Eastern Block.
    22. Go back to Alaska and see the Northern Lights.
    23. Vegas Baby! Vegas!
    24. Greek Island hop.
    25. Cycle Tuscany.
    26. Visit India.
    27. Lounge forever in the Seychelles.
    28. See Morocco.
    29. Oktoberfest!
    30. Caravan across the Sahara.
    31. Visit Tibet.
    32. Go to the Cannes Film Festival.
    33. Go to the Sundance Film Festival.
    34. Eat a sushi meal at NOBU
    35. Pacific Island hop.
    36. Spend a night in the Ice Hotel in Sweden.
    37. Go to Israel.
    38. Carnival!!!!
    39. and it's slightly less cool cousin, Mardi Gras!
    40. See Glacier National Park before the glaciers melt.
    41. Fly first class on some long international flight!
    No Service Fees! Promo Code: NOFEE

The Real OZ Experience

May 9, 2008

It was the third time the bus broke down. Somewhere right outside a small mining community in Western Australia, our bus had enough and it wanted us to know it and, so with an explosion and plume of smoke, the bus came to a slow halt.

It was the end of a long journey that began back in Perth. I was on a backpacker bus heading up to Broome. On the outskirts of the city, during our first stop, our problems began. The bus wouldn’t start. Our driver tried again, looked under the hood, did something, and said “ok, we’re ready to go.” But not that ready. The bus still didn’t go. We were going to have to push.

Down the hill we went and on the bus went. The bus was moving, all was right in the world, and we wouldn’t have to go back to Perth. Our wise driver tried not to turn the buss off for fear of this happening again. It was a well founded fear because soon, at the Pinnacles, our bus turned off. Out we went again, pushing as hard as we could, getting our bus moving and grooving.

In the town of Geraldton, our driver stopped to fix the bus and, assured it was fixed, we continued on. I wasn’t sure what the problem was and, when he explained it in car lingo, my unmechanical ears couldn’t decipher what he was saying. I was just happy the bus was moving. I didn’t feel like going back to Perth.

Pretty soon our air conditioner stopped working and we were forced to drive in a sauna, the bus amplifying the 100 degree desert heat. This wasn’t what I had expected, though I dealt with it better than some of my other riders. Having experienced worse in Asia, I wasn’t too bothered by this and I learnt to expect the unexpected. I was still in Australia after all, about to spend 2 months traveling- nothing could be that bad.

Our bus always seemed to be on its last leg and finally, that leg gave out with a large explosion. The bus clicked and clacked, grinding sounds were made, and the stick shift bounced up with an explosion. Smoke and dust filled the front of the bus. We all knew what had happened though none dared say it. The driver pushed the bus for a bit longer but eventually, he resigned himself to the fact that we weren’t going to reach the next town. The problem with breaking down in the outback is that there aren’t many people around and, if youbreak down too far outside the last town, you’ll be stuck there for hours. We were fortunate enough that that was our case. We were stuck there until a car passed to help us.

It was early afternoon when we broke down. There was nothing around us but desert and road. We entertained ourselves by drinking, playing trivia games, and playing the occasional frisbee game. Hours passed and the sun moved further down in the sky. We were getting anxious. After a few hours, a car finally drove by. Our driver flagged it down and went over, explained the situation, and told us he was going to get help at the previous town. We would be out here for an hour by ourselves. Visions of wolf creek suddenly jumped though my head. This was going to be a long hour. Luckily, we still had plenty of beer.

True to his word, about an hour later, our driver returned with a tow truck and we all got into town. Half our problem was solved. The half we still needed to solve was how we were going to continue on with no bus. We were told that the earliest we could get our bus back was on Tuesday. Not a big deal but it was Thursday. I wouldn’t mind spending a night in this sleeply mining town but not four. None of the other passengers were keen on the idea either and, after some phone calls, our driver found a four wheel drive that we six would have to cram into. A difficult task as we had two big people and the car was meant for five people- five people without luggage. It was going to be a squished trip up to Broome but at least we were on our way now.

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Posted by NomadicMatt | Filed Under Australia 

Comments

3 Responses to “The Real OZ Experience”

  1. Christine Gilbert on May 10th, 2008 1:28 am

    Hey Matt, great site! Enjoying the blog…

  2. The Skills You Need : Nomadic Matt’s Travel Site on June 16th, 2008 4:13 pm

    [...] goes wrong. Falling into the ocean with my camera wasn’t on my list of travel goals. Neither was breaking down in Australia. Likewise about my travel companions taking me a different way then I had [...]

  3. Rita on August 13th, 2008 8:14 pm

    Hi Matt,

    great story, Australia is sure an adventurous place. I wonder how often you heard “no worries mates” during this exciting bus tour? :) No cynicism here, I love the Aussies and Australia.

    See ya, Rita

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