My Journal: Tour guide in Australia

I'd never know there are such hard jobs in Australia, it's tour guide. Take the three day tour to Uluru I joined for example, besides driving all the time, the tour guide had to guide us and explain some history, fun stuffs, prepared meals for us and even took the members to the scenic spot through the walking track. If someone doesn't like the nature very much, I don't think he can do this kind of job for a long time.
原來澳洲也有非常辛苦的工作，那就是導遊。以我們這一次 Uluru 的三天行程來說，導遊除了全程開車、景點解說之外，還要幫我們準備三餐，甚至某些景點還要帶著我們走。如果不是非常喜歡大自然，我想應該很難做長久的。

From 20090601-0603_Uluru

The Uluru tour guide was driving and drinking at the same time
Uluru 導遊搞笑，邊開車邊翹腳邊喝水

From 20090603_UluruSunriseMtConner

(2009/06/02)
The Uluru tour guide pretended to be a kangaroo by attaching a dead kangaroo's tail to his bum
Uluru 導遊偽裝袋鼠

The tour guide's name is Scooter. He told me, he likes the nature, the wild life, especially Uluru. The environment keeps changing everyday, he could find new things whenever he comes back. If my memory serves me right, he's been a tour guide for more than three years. The part of being a tour guide that he doesn't like most is to drive. As to driving, I have to say honestly, the loading of his job is admirable. The roads here are straight and long with not many cars on them.
這位導遊好像是叫做Scooter，音大概是這樣，正確的拼字就不確定了。他跟我說，他很喜歡大自然，尤其是 Uluru 這邊，這裡的生態景觀每天都在改變，如果沒記錯，他做導遊已經三年多了吧。當導遊最另他不喜歡的部份就是開車。說到開車，我真的不得不佩服他。這裡的道路又長又直，往來的汽車也不多。

From 20090603_UluruSunriseMtConner

(2009/06/02)
The bus with a trailer in our Uluru tour (The trailer carried our food, and the wood we picked somewhere beside the road for fire in the first night)
Uluru 旅行團的小巴和後方的拖車（載著大家的伙食，第一晚還載著大家路邊撿的枯枝，拿來生火用）

From 20090601_CamelfarmKingsCanyon

(2009/06/01)
Here they come, the wood for fire
來了，就是這堆木材

We started off our tour at 6 in the first morning, he had to get up at around three for preparation. From Alice Spring to the Camel Farm, the camp site we stayed in the first night, Kings Canyon, he even guided us in the Kings Canyon's walking track which took us about two to three hours to finish, It was already 7 or 8 in the night when we were back to the camp site. He drove at least twelve hours.
我們第一天的行程是早上六點出發，他好像三點多就起來準備。從 Alice Spring 到第一個駱駝牧場、再到我們第一晚的營地、接著到國王峽谷，他還帶我們走了峽谷步道，印象中花了二、三個小時的時間走步道，回到營地時，已經時晚上七、八點了。算一算他開車至少開了十二小時以上。

From 20090601_CamelfarmKingsCanyon

(2009/06/01)
The Uluru tour guide guided us around the Kings Canyon
辛苦的 Uluru 導遊帶我們走國王峽谷

In the party held after our tour, he tested us, how many kilometers did he drive in the first day. I'm not sure the precise answer, sorry for my bad memory, it's around 1,000 to 1,200 kilometers. I'm used to keep awake when someone is driving for me. On the one part I can see if he fall asleep or not, on the other part It's pricey to go overseas and I have to see the views as many as I can. The tour guide didn't sleep at all while driving, as to me, I just did nothing, relaxed on the seat and sometimes dozed, To compare between us made me respect him more. I can't imagine how much willpower does he has, almost all the people on the bus were sleeping, no one talked to him and left him driving alone. I've asked him, you don't feel sleepy at all while driving? He answered "No", if he feel sleepy he'd pull over the bus to let us to have call of the nature, he'd smoke during that time. In this three day tours, he had this kind of action only once in the first day, the day he drove more than 1,000 kilometers.
在旅行團結束的餐會上，他還特別考我們，他第一天總共開了幾公里，切確的答案我不確定，大約一千至一千二百公里。我個人的習慣是，坐別人開的車，盡量不睡覺，一方面能夠監督駕駛看他有沒有他睡覺，一方面難得來到國外，當然要撈個夠本，盡可能的把所有的風景都吸收。像我這樣輕輕鬆鬆坐在坐位上看風景都會不小心偷睡一下，這讓我對導遊更加的敬佩。車上大部份的乘客都睡的死死的，也沒人和他聊天，他的毅力可想而知。我問過他，你開車不會睡著嗎？他說不會，真的想睡覺的時候，他會把車停車路邊，讓大家解放一下，他則順便哈一根煙。這三天的行程中，我只看過他做過一次這樣的動作，就是第一天，而那一天開了一千多公里。

From 20090603_UluruSunriseMtConner

(2009/06/02)
Our dinner prepared by the Uluru tour guide (A large pack of cheese and some packs of prepared meal which are eatable after boiling and the rice cooked in the pot.
Uluru 導遊幫我們準備的晚餐（一大包起司，還有幾包弄好的調理包，用水煮過即可食用以及用鍋子煮出來的白米飯）

From 20090602_UluruTrackKataTjutaUluruSunset

(2009/06/01)
The campsite we stayed in the first night, our dinner and breakfast were all from this device
第一晚所待的營地，我們的晚餐和隔天的早餐都是從這生出來的

One of the tattoos on him are two Chinese words, but the combination of these two words are meaningless, I have no idea why they were tattooed next to each other. One of them is "卒" which means "soldier" in English, I can't remember the other one. He told me that he'd asked many Han people, not all the translations were the same. I tried to explain the meaning of each word, apparently, my answer is the same as most people for who he'd ever asked.
在他身上其中之一的刺青有兩個中文字，而這兩個中文字的組合是沒有意義的，卻是被刺成相連的兩個字，其中一個是「卒」，另一個我一時記不起來。他說他問過很華人，不是所有人給他的解釋都是相同的。我也試著告訴他，嗯，顯然我的答案和大部份的人是相同的。

From 20090602_UluruTrackKataTjutaUluruSunset

(2009/06/02)
I found the Uluru tour guide sleeping on the trailer. I finished the base track around the Uluru about 1 hour earlier. That's why I got the chance to see the guide sleeping. When all the other mates came back, the lunch had already been ready
Uluru 導遊被我發現在偷睡覺，因為我腳程比較快，比其它團員提前將近一小時先回來，才有機會發現。當其它團員回來時，午餐都煮好了

I'v taken more then 5 or 6 tours in Australia, the Uluru tour guide's job is the hardest one, the second one is the tour guide for Great Ocean Road, this Chinese guide drove shorten distance from Melbourne. It's around 700 to 800 kilometers to there and back. But he got some time to take a nap on the bus when we stroll around in the scenic spots. When I met this Chinese tour guide before I met the Uluru tour guide, I thought in Australia only the Chinese boss will use their employee like that. I realized the tour guide is not easy to do in Australia until I met the Uluru tour guide.
在澳洲，前前後後大概參加了五、六團的旅行團，以辛苦程度來說，這位 Uluru 的導遊真的是居冠，再來就是跑大洋路的中國導遊，他開的車程就比較短，從墨爾本市區一直到大洋路，來回的車程大約是七、八百公里，不過呢，我們下去風景區晃的時候，他倒是有在車上瞇一陣子。當時看到這位導遊開了那麼遠的路，我一直認為，大概只有華人老闆才會這樣的使用員工，直到後來遇到 Uluru 導遊，才了解澳洲某些景點的導遊真的異常辛苦。