between a traveller and a tourist there’s little doubt that
strong influences on Heather come from travellers, ex-
plorers like Ted Simon and Robert Pirsig. In many ways
Heather could be seen as just as influential as these two
well-travelled and written motorcyclists, Heather’s two
books; Ubuntu: One Woman’s Motorcycle Odyssey Across
Africa and Timeless On The Silk Road could be just as
influential as those before her.
“The books are letting people know that they can do
it, especially if I can do it,” there’s an air of modesty in
that sentence yet the pride is clearly visible. “It’s not that
difficult. You don’t need a lot of money.”
Heather adds that she believes there’s two sorts of
motorcycle traveller; those that separate themselves
from their surrounds by having the expensive bike and
matching gear, the sort of gear that is well publicised in
the magazines hell bent on selling while there’s those that
just throw a few things together and go. The important
thing for Heather is to be open and accepting.
“In Africa what I found was, because I had to constant-
ly get that panier frame welded,” Heather explains that it
was constantly cracking. “it meant that from that experi-
ence I was meeting people because I had a purpose to be
there and hang out with the guys, and they’d invite me to
lunch or a beer at the end of the day.
“I was there as a customer; I wasn’t a tourist anymore.
Having to search out mechanics and things like that it
was a part of the experience.
“The people travelling right now are having that expe-
rience of the kindness of strangers, it hasn’t changed.”
And while Heather loves accepting the kindness of
strangers, she is also quick to point out that she hates the
idea of being a bludger, a term Australians use for peo-
ple who are lazy or freeload from the kindness of others.
Giving a little back needn’t be expensive it can be as sim-
ple as sharing an experience, a laugh, a memory.
“I always travelled with a little photo album,” she grins.
“And had photos in it of my family, what they did for a
living”.
“I had a horse so there was a picture of me on my
horse, photos of kangaroos, wombats, koala. The peo-
ple get a picture of where you’re from and who you
are. There’s people all over the world who think that all
Australians eat bananas, live in somewhere very green,
ride horses and have got wombats, koalas and kangaroos
hoping around everywhere.
“You have a map so that you have a something real to
look at, I could bring it out and have my route marked
on it and they would see where they live and where other
people live and other countries in the region and where I
was going. Again, if you have a bit of a language barrier
the map helped with the conversation … now we have
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