|
Travelling Alone in Australia
Although I had travelled alone previously around Ireland and Europe, I was still nervous and
apprehensive about the whole thing. Picking up and heading off on your own to the other side of the world
is a major step, and you'd have to be a ridiculously calm person not to have a few jitters. I don't
expect to be able to solve all your worries, but hopefully you'll be a bit reassured hearing how easy a country
Australia is to travel alone in.
You'll get an indication of how well organised Australia's backpacker industry is as soon as you arrive. Most backpackers
fly into Sydney, and most hostels will send a bus to pick you up from the airport and deliver you to their front door.
All along the east coast hostel buses will be waiting for you at the town's bus station either attempting to bait you into
staying with them, or simply picking you up if you made a reservation in advance. It's a rare thing to see a traveller actually
carrying their bag anywhere because there always seems to be a bus waiting to cart you and your things around. This takes the
worry out of arriving late at night as well.
The classic solo traveller's fear is usually "Will I meet people?". I was the same even though I'd done fine all around EUrope and
Ireland. There's this strange fear that all of a sudden your personality will become crap and you'll be left talking to yourself
on long bus journeys and reading a lot of books. If you're a normal, well-adjusted person (and even if you're not) then you won't be able to help meeting people! Australia is packed
full of people doing the same thing.
You can't help but meet people, and there's a 50/50 chance they'll be going the same way as you. People generally travel either up or down the east coast. Many backpackers don't venture
beyond this well-travelled stretch of coast and if you've included Queensland on your itinery then you'll have loads of people travelling your way! It's a good
idea to keep your transportation plans flexible so you can check message boards in hostels and internet cafes for travellers with a spare seat in their cars. This is
fantastic way to, not only meet people, but also get a cheap lift to your destination.
Hostels are meeting poits for travellers all over the world and Australia has some of the best. Most seem to have backpackers bars and
will make it their goal to make sure everyone is having a great time. When in doubt, getting drunk is always a sure fire way to meet new people. Plus since
Oz is so huge, people tend to travel for longer periods of time which means you'll probably be making arrangements to meet up with people
at various different times on your trip.
Kirsty Henderson
July 2001
|
