Life full of opportunities

January 14

Friday. Leaving Ashfield (Sydney) at 2 p.m., it takes us three hours and several kinds of public transportation to reach the outskirts of Sydney. A kind bus driver leaves us at the entrance of the Freeway towards Adelaide, where 10 minutes later we get our first ride towards Clare valley near Adelaide. The tricky situation further on didn’t bother lively Brahim at all. He stops for us right on the highway, puts in the back gear, and drives backwards to the entrance of the highway we are standing at. “What a risky action!” says Augustas. “Risky? Everything is perfectly under control. What should happen?” And there we are, in an old rusty car, which had just become Brahim’s own.

Although the car seems ready for retirement, Brahim explains his plans to remake it in color, and do whatever it takes to make this oldie (35 y old) a shiny, desired object, for he knows that on the market it would sell like a winning lottery ticket.

The moment when Brahim states loudly, “Life is full of opportunities. It’s all here, don’t you see?” any doubt about what should come next in our lives ceases. Our feeling had brought us to Australia, and gaining confidence again, we knew from this moment that everything laying ahead will resolve by itself. “Take your chance!” Brahim continues, and so we do.

Near Eucla we spend the night under the balcony roof of Hungry Jacks (Burger King), since rain didn’t invite to pitch our tent. A lady aged about 50 appears at midnight, aiming to clean the floor. In the morning she asks anxiously the question, “Wasn’t it a bit hard to sleep on the stony ground?” We smile, feeling grateful for having found rest in the horizontal during night.

January 15

Saturday. We catch a slow ride in a big truck straight to Adelaide. There is few talk, which seems fine with all of us. Being small I take comfort in occupying the trucker’s bed while Augustas’ sleepy head is knocking for and backwards on the wobbly feathered by-drivers seat. Our concern about still having fruits and vegetables left while crossing the innerstate borders is swept away by our driver. “No worries, it’s enough to say we have nothing of that at all.” Anyway, we keep eating all ride long, and once we approach the border have left only a head of broccoli. Although we pass the border smoothly, we through the broccoli at the gas station behind it, when we are given the news that our driver has got to make a 7 hour break.

A couple on holiday, obviously above the tipsy stage, with a 5 year old girl in the back take us further. When all of a sudden they turn left about 500m after getting in, we realize our misunderstanding and decide to get out in the seemingly nowhere. Being alone in the deserted land worries another passing couple. They stop to make sure we have got enough water. At the end they takes us to the outskirts of Renmark, before heading further our way. A bit confused we continue, hitching soon our next ride, and finally catching a man, who brings us to a town about 50 km distance to Clare. We call our host Giedre to tell where we will get out. Since by then it will be already 10 p.m. she offers to pick us up.

Upon Giedre’s arrival we see her daughter Dominique (4) sleeping deeply on the back seat. We speculate that she might be dreaming about her concerned question upon leaving their house, “What am I going to talk about to these strangers?” Giedre then responded, “Well, how can I know? I don’t know them either…”, which surely required more thinking for Dominique. We smile, for it truly is the first time we ever meet.