Interview With Our Tourist Mel

Hi Mel, could you tell us a little bit about you and what took you to Australia this year?

My Name is Melanie Pahnke and I am from Germany. I am 19 years old and just got my Abitur this year. This year some of my biggest dreams came true while travelling the world in 31 days with my boyfriend. One destination was Australia.

How did you find Out The Back Australia?

We didn’t want to plan the whole trip from Germany, we went to Sydney first to see where our journey would take us. We stayed in Sydney for 2 days and it was raining the whole time. So we went to a travel agency on the second day, to see how we could spend the following 5 days in Australia.

We definitely wanted to travel a bit more, get a lot of experiences and have a great adventure. But we had to keep in mind that we only had 5 more days in Australia and our wallet should not be empty after those 5 days.

After a long time of talking and calculating, the travel agent told us, that a Globetrotter just told her about an Outback Tour she made and how amazed she was about the experiences and the kindness of the people.

What adventures did you experience?

We went kajaking and made a stop on a sandy island, where we had barbecue on an open fire. We went shooting with pumpguns and slept in swags under the star filled sky and we visited to Rocky Station.

What was your best experience?

There were a lot of adventures on the Outback Tour we could experience. My favourite experience was camping in swags under the star filled sky. I did not sleep much that night, because I could not let go of the thought missing out on something when I closed my eyes.

There are so many noises that I never heard before: the rasping sound of the birds, which makes you feel like you got back in time to the stone age. The cracking noise of the campfire. The grashoppers and all the other little crawling animals of which you don’t know where they are just at that moment.

And the stars. It’s like lying under canopy of bright glowing shining dots. Not sleeping was definitely the right decision, because I would have missed out on so much. I experienced something great that night, behind all the trees and bushes the night seemed to turn into day and I thought it was the sun rising. But it was the moon.

What impressions did you have of Cunnamulla and the locals?

I am from a big city and I have to say that it is a huge differnence to go on an adventure trip to Cunnamulla. To me Cunnamulla is a little town and not a city, where everyone knows everyone and that is excatly what makes this place so special. The people are so nice and friendly.

What was it like to travel to the Outback?

This experience was overwhelming. The contrast to the our common live is so huge. You get to know how to use simple things and tools instead of going the easy way if you have to. Through this experience I learned how to take a closer look to my environment.

Would you recommend this tour to other backpackers?

I would recommend this tour to everyone. I don’t think people who never made this tour will understand what we’ve experienced unless they go on this tour and experienced it.

Do you think the tour was well priced?

The price compared to the effort you get is really fine. And the tour starts from Brisbane and Sydney!

What is your conclusion from the tour with Out The Back Australia?

It might sound really cheesy, but this tour is so wonderful and well organised with a lot of heart!

Thank you so much Mel!