Geoff and I did a tough drive south from Oodnadatta to Coober Pedy – the famous underground city of opals. Tough drive, down a dry river bed road for 100km or so.
We arrived early afternoon – dying for a good coffee and a bite of lunch. I think we found the only café in the place – it was good.
We are sitting there chatting away… the magic of the Australian outback fresh in our minds, the latest tough drive still settling, the rawness of this underground desert city all around us…
And, knock me down with a head high tackle, in walks a bloke in Crusaders shirt! Crusaders – read Canterbury Crusaders, the Super Rugby team from my home town Christchurch, and without doubt THE best rugby team that has ever walked under the post of a rugby field. Second best would be the Crusaders B team… then daylight to the others.
Wtf…?? How did someone in a Crusaders shirt get to Coober Pedy, when the only other people who had even heard of the Crusaders, within 1000km, were there at the same time? (He told me later he only had Crusader or All Black shirts – nothing else. What a man!!)
What a question. Very freaky universe stuff. Let me tell you about this wonderful man.
(Warning: this is raw)
Darren is a proud New Zealander, who has lived in Australia for 35 odd years. He has 3 daughters in their 20s. Some months back his wife of 30+ years was diagnosed with brain cancer – incurable. Darren and his wife didn’t blink. Within weeks he had left work, bought a 4WD and caravan, and headed north. He and his wife toured through inland Australia for 7 months, loving each other, toasting their good fortune and celebrating their life together.
Just 7 weeks before we met Darren, he lost his wife. She succumbed to her illness. Darren kept his promise to her. He’d promised her he would take her on this road trip of a lifetime around Australia. While she was no longer physically beside him, she was with him. He was determined to finish what they had started together.
And she was there. He showed us. Darren had a Maori moko – a sleeve tattoo down his arm. This tattoo commemorated his wife. It commemorated her life, her arrival in Australia, their marriage, their children – and her passing. Darren added the last parts in the weeks after she died.
If you’re interested, I recorded a 2 min vid of Darren explaining the different elements of his moko – what they mean in relation to his wife, and how he has commemorated her.
What a gentleman he was. What a way to have his wife live on, with him. I was seriously in awe of this man.
What a privilege to meet him.