Comments on: Carl the hitch-hiker [not Karl] has his say!!

By: Carmine Grattan

Carmine Grattan — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 17:49:01 +0000

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By: Inga

Inga — Sun, 06 Dec 2009 22:45:47 +0000

I found your blog by looking for Karl the hitchhiker!
This time it is Karl - not Carl - and even if I cannot reconstruct his email address he has led me to your great site. My Karl was in Marin County,California, last weekend, traveling to Ukiah and then east. So if anyone who reads this knows him, please let me know. It is following up on a promise I made. Inga

By: Elly

Elly — Sun, 20 Jul 2008 08:53:08 +0000

Hi Jon & Jack,
I met Carl last Monday night down in Swifts Creek, Victoria off all places. (For once he wasn’t hitchhiking, although he did get there with my niece.) Over the washing up after a scrumptious mexican meal he told me about meeting these people that were travelling through Asia by road. I said, “He’s not an ABC radio announcer, is it?” He says, “yeah! Jon Fain, you’ve heard of him?” I said, ‘My radio alarm goes off every morning for the news, right when Red Symons is talking to him about the contents of his programme, and the last few weeks he’s talked of nothing else but his coming trip! He picked you up?!’ He wasn’t sure if you were really as famous as he thought you were, so he took it from me that most Victorians would know who you are. So from the Outback to the snowfields, you’ll find Carl. i have to agree with Annette in the blog above that he’s a really, really nice bloke. Not sure about the “Carl for PM” bit, though.
Have a safe and fun trip. God bless you both.

By: kath higgott

kath higgott — Sun, 20 Jul 2008 07:03:26 +0000

Thinking of you both. Great to hear you are now finally on your way. You for sure will have a wonderful time interacting with all those different peoples and cultures. Yes I am excited for you! Wish I was coming too!
Enjoy. Regards Kath

By: Wally & Eleanor

Wally & Eleanor — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 10:04:15 +0000

Hi J J I am following your travels and comments of your fans, which I find most interesting. Its like the old radio serials at the end of each chapter.The announcer would say Tune in next week for the continuing saga of Jon & Jack as they continue their travels. Keep on treaking Wally

By: judi

judi — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 10:02:39 +0000

Hopefully you guys are having such a good time you don’t have time to post your news for the rest of us…hope all is well

By: Neil

Neil — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 05:34:30 +0000

G’day Guys,
Heard you on the radio this morning and you’re about to head out on the ferry. A couple of friends are a little bit ahead of you, in Djakarta, doing a similar trip to yours on their motor bikes. They’ve had huge problems with internet access all through Timor and Indonesia, so expect not to get news out too readily. You will probably catch up with them as they’re not on a timetable as you are. Claudioangelini.ch. Good luck guys.

By: Diane Harold

Diane Harold — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 03:30:27 +0000

Hi Jon & Jack,

I and my then husband travelled from London to Australia in 1970 in a Fiat 124, sleeping in the car and taking five months to do the trip. We spent three months touring Europe staying in Youth Hostels and at the “young at heart” age of sixty am still a member of the YHA, and then two months travelling through Turkey, Iran, Afganistan, Pakinstan, India and putting our car on a boat from Madras to Kuala Lumpa. We then drove down to Singapore, from there on another boat to Perth and finally home to Melbourne. The only thing that happened was that we needed new brake disks in Singapore and had one day of Delly Belly in India. We had a small blue gaz bottle (we carried a few spares) and every morning we would boil the water and have a boiled egg and black coffee. I have lots of wonderful memories of that trip, such as meeting two catholic nuns in Madras who insisted that we stay at their Convent and showed us around the city. They were English and Irish nuns who looked after the poor and dieing, what wonderful women they were and we stayed in the priest’s quarters which we often laughed about later. Pakistan was quite amazing I remember men standing on top of rock formations at the Khyber Pass with guns belts across their chests and holding onto their rifles as we went through. I swapped a transistor for a beautiful old gun with ivory in the handle. Czech soldiers waking us and pointing guns as we slept in the car and telling us to move on were a kind elderly couple took us in and we stayed inside the factory walls where they were caretakers but we had to leave before sunrise as we did want to get them into trouble.

This was only the beginning of a life of travelling I’ve been to China twice catching th train from Hong Kong to Beiging which was quite an experience, Egypt and of course back to Europe as well as around Australia and mostly on my own as you meet friends along the way.

I hope you have a very happy and safe trip and my rule is always to remember that you are a guest in another persons country and leave your Australian values at home

By: Darryl

Darryl — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 00:24:58 +0000

Thanks you two for the updates. Glad all is going well and good on ya for picking up Carl. Lots of paranoia in Aust re picking up hitchhikers whereas in Europe its is just taken that is what you do, as I am sure you know. When is your first phone in to Melb.774 Jon?

By: John Elliott

John Elliott — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 23:27:25 +0000

Jon and Jack,

Follow your daikly activities - full of envy - although a I suffer a llettle from Anxiety I think it would be worth it.

Looking forward to your next report. Jon - I miss you on the radio.