The Journey

I read the final script, several times. I still wasn’t happy with the result. The director said, “Once again from the top, on my mark. Roll the tape in three, two, one, go.”

“The journey is long, I made my preparations and the hardest part is behind me, the first step. I travelled for a while until I met a friend, and she followed me for a while. We stopped for a rest. I got up to continue the journey, she no longer followed me but walked with me. My load was lighter and I was happier. We held hands and lived in a house where there were children in the house, a meal was cooked. All was well and happy. I turned and she walked away with another. The children were gone too they were now teenagers. They had certificates we were happy again. We ate together, she was there again, and the food was filling. The teenagers were gone. She pushed me out the door and we walked further down the road. This time there were more adults with us, and there was a great deal of happiness. I looked around there were babies and young children around us. The adults were gone but the children played. We sat on a wooden bench and watched them. We both helped each other up, the children were gone. Even more adults were watching us, this time. I held her hand, then helped her as she stumbled. I felt her get closer to me. I put my arm around her she did the same for me. We walked past more people, all looked like our kids. I stumbled and fell, she tried to pull me up. She walked on alone then I saw her fall, I pulled her to me. She held me again, we were alone, and there was no load to carry we almost flew along the road now. The journey never ends.”

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The director said, cut, that was great, good work, everyone. There was a collective sigh.

I left the studio late, it was a long session, this time. This is the last time, my contract is finished. I was doing a narration for an inspirational film for the church. I thought it was the worst script I have ever read. My wife, Shelley, followed me out, this surprised me, she said that she was going to leave me. We discussed this as we drove through the city to home. I was happy she decided I was the better bet. Maybe being reliable and willing to take a risk occasionally, is better than being self-centred and boring.

Shelley told me that her new friend was married with kids, and he didn’t tell her. So she told him she was not going to wreck his marriage.

I’ll give her credit for that. She wasn’t going to get involved with a married man. The lights seemed to be in our favour and we got home quickly.

The caravan was packed, so all we had to do was hitch it up and drive off. The two of us have a contact, in Western Australia, doing public relations advertising for a mining company, which looks good on paper.

It was the first time either of us had left Melbourne; I approached the trip with trepidation and excitement. It took so long to get to the South Australian border. We weren’t sure about the open spaces, but when we got to Adelaide we were a bit happier. We then headed off to Perth, this was a real eye-opener—nothing so far, as compared to what was about to unfold.

The drive was fairly easy at this stage, we started, into, a semi-desert region. We stopped at Pt. Wakefield for lunch, then continued to Pt Auguster, for the night.

The next day, we resumed their trip. Neither of us could get over the fact we had been driving a day and a half and still, were not halfway across Australia. The road is relentless, and the scenery, on the surface, is dry and desolate. They passed abandoned buildings. The herds of Kangaroo and Camels. Stopping for fuel at the Nullobour station, they got talking to the manager. He took them over to the old Nullobour homestead, a group of stone buildings, a reminder of the pioneers that settled this country.

Shelley and I took turns recording the trip. We had two commercial cameras and recording equipment, to make a documentary of our trip. We stopped at Border Village, right on the South Australian border for fuel and camped for the night.

We filmed a segment then started on to Eucla, to film the hotel and the telegraph station. I felt like I had done this before.

We spent two days filming the area, I even caught a fish, which was cooked by the hotel chefs, it was good. When we left, I got that Deja Vu feeling again. Shelley stopped ribbing me over it. We stopped discussing her threats to leave me. This road never ends.

At Northam, we got shots of the pieces of the Skylab that crashed over southern Western Australia. A few locals still remember that day. As we drove westward, Shelley started apologising for her affair with her friend she said she stopped it because he was married.

Shelly hit me and woke me up. She said, “You were talking in your sleep again, and no I’m not having an affair. We’ve been here in Perth for twelve months. Now wake up, we still have a radio station to run.” As I walked out the door, I looked at the caravan. It is packed and ready to go tomorrow. Next week we will start filming another safety program For a mining company. We met the actors last night and handed out the scripts. Why do I get the feeling I’ve done all this before? We hooked up the caravan and quietly left

I said, “There is something magic about this road, it never ends and holds the country together.” Shelly just looked at me. I also got the feeling this road, that circles around Australia, held us together.