Meeting Asia

I was 55 when I first visited Asia, having lived in Australia all my life. As a matter of fact, I had no interest in Asia or Asians until 2004. That was when I met the first Asian person that I had ever really got to know, or had a friendship with. Don't get me wrong, I had never disliked any nationality, it's just that I had never actually spent any time with someone from Asia.

It was April, 2004 and I was in Tasmania (a southern island state of Australia) on business when I met her. I was travelling by car from Hobart to Launceston, travelling along the highway at the speed limit of 110 kph. I saw a person riding a bicycle a long way ahead, travelling in the same direction as me. This was some miles from Hobart or Launceston, and no other vehicles or people in sight. As I drew closer it became obvious that this person was female, not much more than a girl. We were on a 4 lane highway, 2 lanes in each direction. When I was about 200 meters from her, she swerved out into the centre of the road, causing me not to brake, but to take my foot off the pedal, but with my right foot on the ready to brake. She looked over her shoulder and saw me (this was when I realised she was Asian), and corrected her steering back to the left of the road. I passed, keeping an eye on her and wondering why she had swerved on the road as she had.

I travelled a further 500 metres before deciding to go back and see if she was alright. Maybe she was not well or exhausted from the ride. After doing a U turn and travelling back I stopped the car on the road opposite her, being aware that there were no other vehicles in sight, and not wanting to alarm her. As we tried to have a conversation from opposite sides of this 4 lane highway, I became aware of her lack of English. I could also see that she wasn't frightened or alarmed and was quite friendly. She was off the bike now and walked it over towards me still sitting in my car. I asked her why she had swerved as she had, and was she alright? She then explained to me in very broken and difficult to understand English that her luggage packed onto her handle bars had moved causing her to swerve. As we were talking a number of cars passed by, and I had to summon her to move off the road, as she was standing right on the shoulder of the lane on the bitumen.


Photos to be added!














As we were talking I found out she was Japanese and had been in Australia for a short time. She was on a Backpackers Visa, allowing her to travel around Australia for 12 months. She had decided that the best way to see Tasmania was to ride a bicycle around it. I also learned that today she was riding from Hobart to Launceston, a distance of approximately 2 hours by car, possibly a 10 - 12 hour ride by bicycle. I noticed she had no lights on her bike, and explained that she would never get to Launceston before dark.

Luckily I was driving a rental 4 wheel drive and had room for her mountain bike, so I offered to take her the rest of the way, which she delightedly accepted.














I loaded her bike and luggage into the car, and we were off. We exchanged names, her name is Yukari, and had some interesting banter, made more interesting by her accent and lack of English. I found that she was 23 years old, and in Japan had worked as a rickshaw driver. This helped explain her fitness and strength, attempting to ride this trip. Along the way our discussion centred around her travels, and the more we talked the more interesting she became. Much of our talk relied on body language due to the language difficulties. She told me that she had liked shopping at "oo-orth" which after some questioning and quite some time I discovered was Woolworth's. Yukari told me her favourite singer, and it took a very long time to decipher. Upon finally realising who she was talking about, I exclaimed the name "Avril Lavigne!", she blurted, "that's what I said!" This was nothing like what she had actually said, but i have never laughed so much in my life as I did with Yukari. She had the most amazing sense of humour, and timing, and played on her accent. I think my looks of bewilderment at her pronunciations also provided amusement for her.

Once we had exchanged basic information, Yukari also told me that one of the places that she wanted to visit was a small town named Ross, because of some famous bakery there. Apparently as I was able to conclude, this bakery had been used in a well known Japanese film. Checking the map, I found that Ross was not far off the highway, and would be an easy stopover. Ross is a very small town, from memory only a few shops, so when we saw the bakery I was surprised when Yukari told me it didnt look the same. We went in and enquired, only to find that the famous (to the Japanese movie watchers) bakery was just up the road. Anyway, we got there and had cakes and also had our photos taken behind the counter, all the while having a very funny time.












When we arrived in Launceston, I took Yukari to my hotel to freshen up, and afterwards to the backpackers hostel where she would be staying. Later that evening I collected her to go to dinner.

The next day I picked Yukari up, and drove her to Devonport, with her bicycle, and was to leave her there. From there I would complete my business before driving back to Launceston to fly home to Melbourne.













Before leaving Devonport I invited Yukari to contact me when she came to Melbourne, advising that there was plenty of room for her to stay at my house with my flat mate and me. It was sad to say goodbye as I had totally enjoyed her company, and as stated earlier, had not laughed so much in years.






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