People

One of the reasons i like travelling alone is that it gives much more space and oppotunity to talk to strangers and learn interesting things about them. Ironically, this trip brought me closer to myself yet closer to the world beyond me. In one day, i've managed to engage in a little chat with a beautiful french girl Audrey, who was heading to Torquay for the surfing competition. I was actually fortunate to bump into Audrey, who walked me to Southern Cross Station.She told me how difficult it was to look for a place to live in Melbourne CBD and that she had been trying so hard to find a part time job. However, it has been her life long dream to come to Australia, and is enjoying every second of it.

At Southern Cross, I talked to a Sri Lankan family who was coming from Prahran to Geelong. The young mother was studying corporate communication at Deakin University. Although we didn't talk much, i could feel their joy of relating to a diasporic Asian migrant, regardless of how different our social and cultural background was. Before we parted, she smiled sweetly,shyly, and with struggling English, said,' you a beautiful girl...' I blushed just as much as she did.

The next family that I talked to was a retired couple from Adelaide, who were bypassing Victoria towards Sydney and then Canberra. They're on a 3 weeks tour around Australia and were in Geelong to visit a friend. We talked about travelling, as they shared their experiences in Phuket and Bali. We talked as I sat on the grass,savouring my fish and chips. The Country Music the live band was playing filled in the silent gaps between our conversations just nicely.

It was on the Queenscliff jetty that I met Mr.Tony, an old Italian man i would live to regret not having more time to spend with. Tony was as stereotypical Italian man, with srtong Italian accent and a playful sense of humour. We must've spent no less than 20 minutes, walkng along the jetty just talking. We first started talking about fishing and cooking those mini swordfishes that could be caught easily in Queenscliff. Then our conversation shifted towards his family and life here in Australia. Interestingly, Tony married a Norwegian, Isla, and had a daughter, Heidi, who grew up in Australia. His son-in-law is originally from Malta. Tony chuckled and beamed with pride at how multi-cultured his family was. I could tell that he loved his daughter a lot too because he had a twinkle in his eyes when he spoke of her. I was then introduced to his family--wife, daughter and son-in-law, who were all friendly and... slightly embarassed that their 'old man was boring me with his stories'. But he sure wasn't! I kept laughing as Tony poked fun at Chinese, Italians and Swedish, and felt his pride as he talked about his daughter. Incidentally, we bumped into each other again later on, and he pat my cheeks in a very Italian gesture and said,'ah...we meet again!' gurgling with laughter. As mentioned, i really wished i had spent a longer time with this nice family, or at least gotten a picture of Tony, whose last name i regretabby do not know. =(

It is amazing how a simple 'So, where are you heading to?' or a blatant comment about the weather can lead to interesting conversations. I've always wished I could create a montage of these people and their stories, a collection or archive that might be resourceful from time to time.