LOVE ON THE ROAD
This week ZoË and train man
go mountain climbing
THIS WEEK ZOË AND TRAIN MAN TAKE A LIFE-CHANGING BUS TRIP
Everywhere I turn in (crusty) Australian hostels, I see backpackers who are younger, louder and more gorgeous than I am. I feel like an old fogey at 32. That said, these teens are also stupid, which helps me feel a bit better.
So it was with excitement – and trepidation – that Train Man and I embarked on a bus tour across the Great Ocean Road. As we waited to be collected by the bus at 6am in Adelaide, I had a minor panic.
"We're too old for this," I declared to Train Man. "We should grow up, go home and get proper jobs."
He didn't say anything – it was 6am after all.
So when the bus pulled up and we weren't the oldest people on it, I breathed a sigh of relief, sat back, and enjoyed a brilliant trip.
We were a mixed bag: from a 19-year-old Londoner who didn't get the "What do you get if you cross a sheep and a kangaroo?" joke (he said a wombat, not a woolly jumper) to a couple of dotty old Austrian women – but we all had a good time, and all had a surprising amount in common.
The trip was fun, without any one of us downing sambucas, lighting farts on the back row, or hopping into each other's bunks at night.
"It's been lovely," I said to Train Man as we stood watching the sun set over the Twelve Apostles. "I was starting to feel old but we get on with the teens as well as we do the retirees."
"You're not old, baby," he said. But he only says that to make himself feel better – he's a year older than me.
So I got back on the bus, put Cat Stevens on my iPod, pulled out my flask of cocoa, and had a nap. Oh my god.
Miles travelled: 863
Terse sentences exchanged: 0
Biddy barometer: Rising – I've been feeling old lately
Next week: Zoë swaps backpacking for flashpacking
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