“Hello You Legends…”

gomezhome ♦ 24/03/2022 ♦ 1 Comment

“How are you going today?!” Is not the kind of greeting you expect to get from a young man at a supermarket checkout. That was just after being asked by another lady shop assistant in the store if we needed help and then sending a young man to direct us (who thanked her for the compliment of being called a young man!). I don’t think we were looking that helpless… Service and friendliness are alive and well. At least in that Foodland supermarket in Port Augusta.

The Kindness of Strangers

I’ve already written about Dave, the ceramic lecturer and fisherman (in $200 for an Avocado!). Then, this morning, Alison (our caravan neighbour) asked if we needed help as we were struggling to put up the awning. We certainly did. Maybe we do look helpless. Alison is travelling around Australia for a year on her own – well, she has a dog. She’s been in this caravan park for 6 weeks while her 4WD got fixed. “A suicidal emu” she said.

As we were walking to the shops with our bags, a lady stopped and asked us if we’d like a lift! How kind is that?

I was walking to the showers in the Cowell Caravan Park, about 100m from Tank, arriving to find that I didn’t know the code to get in. Turning back to get the code, a man sees my dilemma, walks over, and shows me the code. He even helps me to remember it for next time.  Kindness, it didn’t take a lot, and I’ll remember it for a long time to come – unlike the code to the shower block.

People On the Journey

We drove to Clare to see our grandies. At the caravan park, there was Tegan, her partner, Adam, and two children, Iona (4 y.o.) and Cade (not quite 2). They were going to be in the park for 2 months whilst Adam worked in a winery. Our 2 grandies, Iona and Cade, wheeled around very happily together. We were soon adopted as surrogate grandparents. When we left, after 2 nights, Iona was waving furiously and said, “Please come back soon.” Ohhh!

In Port Augusta, our neighbour for 1 night was Mandy, travelling around Australia on her own, well she also had a dog. She was called Poppy. Didn’t seem to fit somehow for a British bulldog.

Then there was the couple from Northam, WA, who had sold their house and were now travelling. They had driven from Norseman, WA to Port Augusta, SA in 4 or 5 days. Not bad for 1700km. They were off early the next morning on a mission to see their daughter in Ipswich, Qld. Another 1900km which they were going to do in 3 or 4 days. Definitely on a mission!

There was the German couple in Nuriootpa. His name was Ingo (“Like bingo without the b” he told me. I could not get her name. They were in their 80’s, lived in a retirement village, yet spent around 7 months of the year touring around in a caravan. A very sweet couple who gave us lots of tips on where to go and how to save money.

Going back to the Foodland in Port Augusta – and who wouldn’t want to go back where the people are kind and service is great? Just a few words of encouragement or an act of kindness can make your day or lift your spirit, can’t it?