Eco the Grey Nomad

We met Eco on the second of February 2010 as Leighton and I made our way to the Cape Nelson lighthouse.
He was admiring the wind farm that resides near the lighthouse and we stopped to give our greetings as we passed.  Eco had spent the weekend in Portland Victoria enjoying the wonderful small town and all information there was to learn there.  He had made the 10km trip out to the Cape Nelson picnic area the night before and was just on his way back to town to catch the bus back to Melbourne, his hometown.  We bid him good day and continued on to our lighthouse promising ourselves that we would offer him a ride if he was still traveling when we returned to Portland, after all 10km is not a short hike (for those of you in the US its about the same as walking from Moscow, ID to Pullman, WA).

When we met up with Eco on our return trip we stopped and offered him a cup of tea, which he gladly accepted.  Throughout our tea we talked of many things from the history of the wind turbines near us to the politics of both Australia and the US to even the saying our mothers used to say to us growing up.  One thing that Eco was amazing at was remembering information.  He knew almost as much about the United States as Leighton and myself and even more than both of us combined about other countries and histories.  He taught us how the Australia government system worked and we discussed how it was different from the American one, especially the point that Australia will fine anyone who does not vote in elections.  He also shared with us his views on Ecology, which were something of a passion for him.  When we met Eco he had a trolley (shopping cart) with him that we assumed had his belongings in it, but from talking to him learned that in fact it contained the majority of the trash he had found on his hike to and from the Cape Nelson picnic area.  Back in Melbourne Eco spent quite a bit of time picking up the rubbish that other people passed by daily without a thought.  He made a good point to Leighton and I saying, “the biggest problem facing the earth today is what?  It’s the people living on it”.  The more I think about it the more I know he’s right and the more I applaud him for doing more than his small part to help our planet.

After our cup of tea we offered Eco the ride back to town, saving his feet the long walk.  The one problem we had was that we could not fit his trolley into the van, but we solved this by sliding it in the back as far as it would go and having Eco hold on to it and prevent it from falling out.  We proceeded down the road at a moderate pace with the trolley hanging half way out our trunk and Eco laughing joyously at the picture we must have cut.  He very much enjoyed that ride back to town I believe, maybe as much as he enjoyed protecting his mother earth.

Eco will always remind me that I can be better to those things that are really important to me, and that I should never take them for granted.  Thank you Eco, I hope wherever you are you can laugh at this story like you did in the back of our van as we caravanned to Portland.