Dear mother and father, December 23, 1986
Right now I’m sitting in my hotel room in a small town called Walkabout Creek, and I’m taking the time to write you this letter. Tomorrow it’s off on the roads again, so I won’t be able to write more.
How are you guys? And how is Mary? I’m really sorry I couldn’t be at home to be with her. Tell her I miss her a lot, and that daddy is going to come home in a few weeks.
My Australia-across trip is going very well! As I said, I’m in Walkabout Creek, a small town in the Northern Territories. The last couple of days I’ve been hitchhiking with road train drivers, who, contrary to rumors, are actually very nice and social people. They might not smell very good or be that clean, but heck, I didn’t expect this adventure to be super hygienic. They’re good people anyway.
I started out in Perth, and my goal is to get to Sydney to watch the firework show on New Year’s Eve. I’ve heard a lot about the show, only good things of course. It’s supposed to be the most spectacular show in the whole of Australia. I will tell you more about it when I get home.
The road train driver that drove me here told me that Walkabout Creek is just a small, boring dump in the Australian outback, and it’s true, Walkabout Creek is pretty small, but boy, was he mistaken about the people here. Everyone I’ve met today was really nice. Also, the entire town was on hype this day, something about Sue Charlton, a young and attractive American reporter being in town to write about Mick Dundee, a local guy who had an accident with a crocodile while out fishing.
While sitting peacefully in the pub with my beer, I suddenly heard a loud thump from behind. When I looked, I saw a guy in a hat laying on a table, knocked out. A guy called Nugget told me that this man had called Mick a poacher, which of course is illegal.
Tomorrow I’m heading further east, a trucker I met in the bar told me I can hitch a ride with him. I wish you all the best, and I’ll see you soon again. This letter will probably arrive just around New Year, so I wish you best of luck for the new year. Miss you! I will see you again soon.
Love,
David
David
