Amazing who is out there!
Submitted: Saturday, May 13, 2006 at 11:59
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Member - Ray ( (VIC)
Hi gang...no, not a technical post, just an interesting input, I thought.
Was camped up at a place called Snowy Creek in the high country, doing a spot of rough draft paintings, and thought I was the only person on the planet, as I had found what I thought was a fairly secluded area. However, whilst preparing my evening meal over a rough red ( love rough red!) dog started barking, and on looking up, saw a 4x4 with a camper in tow pulling into my
camp area.
The couple on board alighted and approached to ask if they could share the
campsite. Low and behold! The guy was a person that I have not seen in around 15 years! He was in the RAAF with me, and served in SE Asia at the same time as me. He was not married when I knew him then, so he introduced me to his wife, a lovely lady. Apparently they had moved to Victoria about a year ago from
Brisbane, and are now living around
Bendigo! As I live at a place called Kyneton, we are almost neighbours! Anyway, we shared a few reds that night, and relived the past for a while.
He is now retired, and he and his wife are about to head off around Australia, so we are discussing plans to meet up somewhere out there when it all happens! Small world, aint it! I mentioned this website to him in passing, so we may have another member soon! By the way, he bought one of my paintings! Good weekend for all concerned!
Regards
Bronco
Reply By: Member - Blue (VIC) - Saturday, May 13, 2006 at 13:20
Saturday, May 13, 2006 at 13:20
Yep it definitely is a small world,,, It never ceases to amaze me who you bump into in the least likely of
places... I went diving on the Barrier Reef about 10 years ago and met a Canadian woman who looked eerily familiar... After a few drinks and general "getting to know you" conversation over dinner, we realised we went to primary school together. She moved with her family to Canada in grade 3. Congrats on catching up with an old buddy, it almost always makes for a great night.
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Reply By: Member - DickyBeach - Saturday, May 13, 2006 at 14:08
Saturday, May 13, 2006 at 14:08
About ten years ago we hosted an exchange student from Tokyo. Tokyo, city of about 20 million or so,
Sydney 4 million.
After we
broke the ice she asked if we knew "so-and-so" and, blow me down, he was our neighbour at our previous
home. Now THAT's a small world.
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Reply By: Motherhen - Saturday, May 13, 2006 at 14:30
Saturday, May 13, 2006 at 14:30
What a lovely co-incidence. We often meet people who know someone we do.
A lady i used to work with met my girlfriend from primary school days at a conference in
Adelaide last year and got us back in touch (we had been in touch for many years, but lost touch a few years ago with changes to addresses). Wonderful to see her again last month while on our trip - hadn't seen each other since my wedding - long time ago.
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Reply By: Member - JohnR (Vic)&Moses - Saturday, May 13, 2006 at 18:07
Saturday, May 13, 2006 at 18:07
Heather and I went to Ireland a few years back and of course called on a guy who with his wife had been to our
farm, met the kids and went out round his
farm. We were driving our substitute Ford, a Rover diesel hire car, best 4by there is, a hire car. I suggested that his manager should know we had Seamus with us and Seamus said he would know soon enough. Pretty relaxed about it actually.
Anyway I spied his manager by the dairy and drove over towards him switching the window downwards. I put my head out the window and said that Seamus was with us. He responded that he would have found out soon enough. Sounded like a Kiwi drawl so I turned to Seamus and said it sounded like a Txxxxxx from Tauranga. (on the Bay of Plenty) Much to my surprise Seamus than said "how do you know the Txxxxxxs?"
It was the brother of our past herd manager, whom we had briefly met over a year earlier at the Kevin's wedding. Small world the international dairy industry.......
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Reply By: GaryInOz (Vic) - Saturday, May 13, 2006 at 19:02
Saturday, May 13, 2006 at 19:02
I've been recognised on the
Gold Coast sitting in a coffee
shop by someone I went to primary school with 26 yrs earlier who now lives in
Cairns. We both grew up in
Melbourne..............Bizarre!!!!
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Reply By: Jo and Mark - Saturday, May 13, 2006 at 22:23
Saturday, May 13, 2006 at 22:23
That is great Bronco. I am so happy for you that you got to meet up with him again..Life is full of suprises... I have my own story.. the short version..
Met a guy named Mark through some friends back in 1992/93. Nice guy, good to talk to, he use to come around to the flat all the time I shared with a mate, he wanted to date me but I didn't want to date him, friends was fine for me. Eventually I moved never saw him again.
6 years later In 1998 I heard some music, particularly the drums in a
brisbane band on the radio, hadn't heard of them before so I tracked them down by phone and got talking to the drummer, we met up that night and started dating straight away, 3 months into dating each other came to discover that he was the same Mark from 6 years ealier!!!!!! we talked about the same friends and all but the penny never dropped, and also we both looked completely different to what we looked like 6 years previously. Only discovered who each other was because the girl that I shared the flat with saw a photo of Mark, once she started talking every single thing came back to memory, his car, drumkit, haircut, looks the whole lot.
Then in 1999 we were married and still here today.
Our lives were definately predestined for us to be together! you just never know what is around the corner!
Jo
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Follow Up By: Trevor R (QLD) - Sunday, May 14, 2006 at 14:10
Sunday, May 14, 2006 at 14:10
Of course he looked different second time round..... second time round you didn't have the beer goggles on hahaha. So you saw his true beauty.
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Follow Up By: Jo and Mark - Sunday, May 14, 2006 at 21:26
Sunday, May 14, 2006 at 21:26
You are probably right with that Trev! Back then being a 17 year old my vision was kinda tainted by drugs and alcohol!!!!!!!!!!!
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Reply By: Shaker - Saturday, May 13, 2006 at 22:59
Saturday, May 13, 2006 at 22:59
You were indeed lucky, I am pleased that it was somebody that you knew & that you ended up having a good night reminiscing over a couple of bottles of red ......
But it never ceases to amaze me that with all the thousands of hectares in the high country, that people want to share campsites, I assume by the fact that he at least had the decency to ask, that it was a relatively small area.
We have often been tucked away in a secluded spot, only to have people come in & want to camp right on top of us, can anybody give me a reason why this happens, maybe it is the human herd instinct .........
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Follow Up By: Ruth from Birdsville Caravan Park - Sunday, May 14, 2006 at 13:59
Sunday, May 14, 2006 at 13:59
We notice this Shaker, before we put up the fence around our house (mainly to keep the sand from blowing over the lawn and garden area) - even with 30 acres to camp in, we would find campers with their tents tied up to our verandah rail.
Must be fear of the great unknown!
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Follow Up By: Trevor R (QLD) - Sunday, May 14, 2006 at 14:20
Sunday, May 14, 2006 at 14:20
Shaker,
Same thing happened to us all over
Cape York of
all places. One instance there was 15km of riverfront and they decide to camp in the same 100m2 patch of dirt I decide to call
home for a couple of days ????? I was quick to point out that were they pulled up was very close to my allready used dunny hole (it wasn't even dug but they didn't know this). Thankfully this was enough to move them on.....or was it the fact I hadn't showered for a week???? don't know or care.
Old motto of more snakes in the city than the bush should be remembered. Not so bad in isolation.
Cheers Trevor.
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Follow Up By: Shaker - Sunday, May 14, 2006 at 14:28
Sunday, May 14, 2006 at 14:28
I have actually had them put one tent on one side of us & their other tent on the other side between us & our toilet tent, so that we then had to walk through "their camp" ....... beat that!
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Follow Up By: Trevor R (QLD) - Sunday, May 14, 2006 at 14:36
Sunday, May 14, 2006 at 14:36
Ohhh that stinks Shaker,
Not as much as their front door after I have finished if they put me in the same spot. I tend to be a bit forthright in my initial conversations. When you camp in isolated spots it's generally because you want ISOLATION but some people just don't get it.
Cheers Trevor.
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Follow Up By: Jo and Mark - Sunday, May 14, 2006 at 21:28
Sunday, May 14, 2006 at 21:28
And then they turn their car radio on! That really gets my goat up!
(just saw your follow up back on my post Trev)
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Follow Up By: Ruth from Birdsville Caravan Park - Tuesday, May 16, 2006 at 07:21
Tuesday, May 16, 2006 at 07:21
And then they start up their generators right outside out house in a campground where generators are forbidden - that's why there are powered sites. And then they get dirty when you ask them to turn them off because most people are out here for the peace, quiet, birdlife etc - but they say, how will we be able to watch TV or DVDs?
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Follow Up By: Shaker - Tuesday, May 16, 2006 at 09:31
Tuesday, May 16, 2006 at 09:31
......... or unload the kids mini-bikes, who then proceed to ride round & round & round, stopping, albeit briefly, only to refuel or answer a call of nature!
We have actually been camped when most of the above has happened, & had to pull up camp & move to another location, which in my opinion, the others should have eound in the first place.
Maybe I'm getting old & cranky, but I can remember when, even if you were on foot, it was 'camp etiquette' to ask if you could 'pass through' another camp site.
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