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Gerbie on tour 26
Jan. 19th, 2001 11:21 amAdventure
Once aclimatized in New Zealand I happen to encounter exactly the thing I have tried to avoid in Australia, The industry backpackers seemed to have become on this part of the world. Instead of the standard tourists who within two or three weeks spend buckets of money, there exists a parallel market of thousands of backpackers who travel around this continent for a longer period and during that time spent even more money.
The industry has found the niches easily. The number of hostels grow more rapidly than mushrooms in a good autumn, though the majority could hardly qualify for that name. A couple of bunkbeds in a few dorms, an old television with a secondhand couch in front of it and a kitchen where cockroaches are scared to enter and you call it hostel. The only thing now is to make sure that you get an entry in the travelguides and the backpacker will show up regardless.
Bus as in big parts of the world it remains at that, over here in Oceania the backpackers need to be completely milked, so internetcafes are the nexr step. Why these add the name cafe to it is a question without answer, then the fast majority doesn't have coffee, in a few one could encounter a fridge so a can of coke is a possibility. Nearly all these toko's are being opened by entrepeneurs who buy some second hand officecomputers, put these on some benches in a further empty building, preferably within 50 meters of aforementioned hostel and then hire a, probably cheap, Asian employee, who not only speaks very little English, but definitely hasn't got a clue about computers ("is not computer, hotmail very slow"). Connect these machines to the world wide web and the cash will flow without any problems, the backpacker has to communicate with the rest of the world.
After that we've got the transport companies. Even though the backpacker is supposingly travelling, he doesn't have to find out what time his bus or train is leaving. Worse even, he doesn't even have to go to the terminal. The buses pick him up and drop him of at the hostel of his choice. And to make it even easier for him (is that still possible? Yes it is) they make stops, en route, at the supermarket, at the touristic attractions and wherever else they consider it necessary. So any organising skills are completely superfluous, the bus will take care of it all for you. Both in Australia as in New Zealand you will find these type of buscompanies.
Then there are the excursions. While one expects that these are the cultural parts of the journey, when our friendly backpacker can learn some things about the local culture, about the history of the country and about how the indigenous population lives, the contrary seems to be true. Excursions are there for the extreme thrills. The leaflets with the exclamationmarks! One can go bungyjumping, skydiving, deep sea diving, raften, speedboat racing, snorkeling, kayaking and canoeing or trekking. I will probably have missed out on the odd one as well I suppose. And every single activity is unique again. Every single one brings out the adrenaline, everything is called adventure. We are talking once in a lifetime experiences here. And if you think that jumping off cliffs, bridges or out of airplanes is all there is, you're wrong again. Just to be sure everybody believes you you'll just have to buy the T-shirt and also the video to prove it. Or as a souvenir, so afterwards you remember where all the money went. And afterwards, in the evening they deliver you back to your hostel again offcourse. Another hole in your wallet.
The evening is not there to exchange travel experiences with fellow travellers, have a game of cards or read a good book, no at nighttime one is supposed to go out. There are bars and pubs in some plaves that can live completely on their foreign visitors with a backpack. There are villages who wouldn't be able to survive without those temporary guests anymore. Special offers, introductory offers and special events, nothing is strange to beat the, always fierce, competition. So they continue until the early hours of the day. Sleeping is less important, one can always catch up on the bus. They'll wake you up when there is something to be seen or done anyway.
Together all this makes the backpacker spent much more than he or she had anticipated. There are quite a few examples of newcomers who spent thousands in the first couple of months and have to return home prematurely. The real die-hard then goes on search for a job. Fruitpicking is an industry that thrives on backpackers. The locals are not very eager to do the hard and badly paid jobs, but our always nearly broke backpacker goes into the country for a couple of weeks of work for lowly wages and free lodging. The majority tries to find a job in the big city though. There is quite a lot of different things to do there, so obviously there will be people who smell opportunities and start working as middle man. And after the recruitment agency has found you a job, it's time to move out of the hostel. While staying for a longer time, renting an apartment is a logical step. Those apartments are barely cheaper than a hostel and usually worn, but the backpacker hasn't got the time and the knowledge that locals do, therefore end up in places where locals laugh at.
In overview there is plenty of money to be made out of backpackers, those experiencing the 'adventure of their lives'. The worst thing about it is that it has more or less become a self-fulfilling prophecy. 'Normal' buses and trains go less frequent or miss out certain parts, so one ends up in one of the moron-buses. A normal apartment can't be rented by foreigners anymore, as those renting them out don't think it's worth the effort. Finding a job on your own becomes more difficult, as the agencies have taken a big part of the market. At some points of interest one can't just enjoy the peace and tranquility of the attraction, as the hurds are there as well. Even on top of a mountain, at 6000 feet there is someone explaining how brilliant the view is through his mobile phone. In public libraries foreigners can't get computertime or some of the emailsites have been blocked. One needs to be very strong to be different after a while. And talking about adventure? However you like to experience it I guess. For many it will have turned out to be one. To comfort that thought, it is forgotten that the only decision they had to make is, who to give their money. The rest is taken care of. Adventure? Mwoah.
Once aclimatized in New Zealand I happen to encounter exactly the thing I have tried to avoid in Australia, The industry backpackers seemed to have become on this part of the world. Instead of the standard tourists who within two or three weeks spend buckets of money, there exists a parallel market of thousands of backpackers who travel around this continent for a longer period and during that time spent even more money.
The industry has found the niches easily. The number of hostels grow more rapidly than mushrooms in a good autumn, though the majority could hardly qualify for that name. A couple of bunkbeds in a few dorms, an old television with a secondhand couch in front of it and a kitchen where cockroaches are scared to enter and you call it hostel. The only thing now is to make sure that you get an entry in the travelguides and the backpacker will show up regardless.
Bus as in big parts of the world it remains at that, over here in Oceania the backpackers need to be completely milked, so internetcafes are the nexr step. Why these add the name cafe to it is a question without answer, then the fast majority doesn't have coffee, in a few one could encounter a fridge so a can of coke is a possibility. Nearly all these toko's are being opened by entrepeneurs who buy some second hand officecomputers, put these on some benches in a further empty building, preferably within 50 meters of aforementioned hostel and then hire a, probably cheap, Asian employee, who not only speaks very little English, but definitely hasn't got a clue about computers ("is not computer, hotmail very slow"). Connect these machines to the world wide web and the cash will flow without any problems, the backpacker has to communicate with the rest of the world.
After that we've got the transport companies. Even though the backpacker is supposingly travelling, he doesn't have to find out what time his bus or train is leaving. Worse even, he doesn't even have to go to the terminal. The buses pick him up and drop him of at the hostel of his choice. And to make it even easier for him (is that still possible? Yes it is) they make stops, en route, at the supermarket, at the touristic attractions and wherever else they consider it necessary. So any organising skills are completely superfluous, the bus will take care of it all for you. Both in Australia as in New Zealand you will find these type of buscompanies.
Then there are the excursions. While one expects that these are the cultural parts of the journey, when our friendly backpacker can learn some things about the local culture, about the history of the country and about how the indigenous population lives, the contrary seems to be true. Excursions are there for the extreme thrills. The leaflets with the exclamationmarks! One can go bungyjumping, skydiving, deep sea diving, raften, speedboat racing, snorkeling, kayaking and canoeing or trekking. I will probably have missed out on the odd one as well I suppose. And every single activity is unique again. Every single one brings out the adrenaline, everything is called adventure. We are talking once in a lifetime experiences here. And if you think that jumping off cliffs, bridges or out of airplanes is all there is, you're wrong again. Just to be sure everybody believes you you'll just have to buy the T-shirt and also the video to prove it. Or as a souvenir, so afterwards you remember where all the money went. And afterwards, in the evening they deliver you back to your hostel again offcourse. Another hole in your wallet.
The evening is not there to exchange travel experiences with fellow travellers, have a game of cards or read a good book, no at nighttime one is supposed to go out. There are bars and pubs in some plaves that can live completely on their foreign visitors with a backpack. There are villages who wouldn't be able to survive without those temporary guests anymore. Special offers, introductory offers and special events, nothing is strange to beat the, always fierce, competition. So they continue until the early hours of the day. Sleeping is less important, one can always catch up on the bus. They'll wake you up when there is something to be seen or done anyway.
Together all this makes the backpacker spent much more than he or she had anticipated. There are quite a few examples of newcomers who spent thousands in the first couple of months and have to return home prematurely. The real die-hard then goes on search for a job. Fruitpicking is an industry that thrives on backpackers. The locals are not very eager to do the hard and badly paid jobs, but our always nearly broke backpacker goes into the country for a couple of weeks of work for lowly wages and free lodging. The majority tries to find a job in the big city though. There is quite a lot of different things to do there, so obviously there will be people who smell opportunities and start working as middle man. And after the recruitment agency has found you a job, it's time to move out of the hostel. While staying for a longer time, renting an apartment is a logical step. Those apartments are barely cheaper than a hostel and usually worn, but the backpacker hasn't got the time and the knowledge that locals do, therefore end up in places where locals laugh at.
In overview there is plenty of money to be made out of backpackers, those experiencing the 'adventure of their lives'. The worst thing about it is that it has more or less become a self-fulfilling prophecy. 'Normal' buses and trains go less frequent or miss out certain parts, so one ends up in one of the moron-buses. A normal apartment can't be rented by foreigners anymore, as those renting them out don't think it's worth the effort. Finding a job on your own becomes more difficult, as the agencies have taken a big part of the market. At some points of interest one can't just enjoy the peace and tranquility of the attraction, as the hurds are there as well. Even on top of a mountain, at 6000 feet there is someone explaining how brilliant the view is through his mobile phone. In public libraries foreigners can't get computertime or some of the emailsites have been blocked. One needs to be very strong to be different after a while. And talking about adventure? However you like to experience it I guess. For many it will have turned out to be one. To comfort that thought, it is forgotten that the only decision they had to make is, who to give their money. The rest is taken care of. Adventure? Mwoah.
