Heads up for Outback drivers

While on my independent tour of Australia in March ’06, I was waiting for the Adelaide-Alice Springs train to board and got into a conversation with Lois, a lady who had lived in Alice Springs for 20 years.

When I told Lois that I was renting a car and driving in the Outback, she warned me not to stop for Aborigines if they tried to flag me down on the road. She said they would not hurt me, but they might have a group hidden in the bush waiting for me to stop who would then intimidate me into taking them wherever it was that they wanted to go, for all practical purposes commandeering my car.

From Alice Springs, I drove south on the Stuart Highway 450 kilometers to Ayers Rock. After exploring the area, I headed back toward Alice Springs. About 60 kilometers from Erldunda, in the middle of nowhere, I encountered an Aborigine standing in the middle of the road waving his arms. If I had not talked with Lois, I would have stopped the car to try and help him. Instead, I accelerated around him, trying to see his mates in the bush as I passed.

I filled up on petrol and pub grub when I arrived in Erldunda at 5 p.m. Maryann, the bartender, confirmed that what Lois had told me indeed often happened.

ROGER HEWITT
San Jose, CA