How I can tell if you are a local or not

THERE are many fantastic facilities across Hervey Bay and one of my favourites is the walking and bike path that extends all the way from Gatakers to the Boat Harbour.

I’ve only been in Hervey Bay for fifteen years, so I cannot speak intelligently about how long it has been there, but I can dip my hat to the Council of the time, who clearly had the vision to commit to the project.

Conversely, I commend the current Council for always maintaining this important piece of community connectivity.

And that is exactly what I think it is.

I’m fortunate enough to live along the Esplanade, and I use the path every day, mostly for an early morning walk.

Along the stretch that I traverse, there is a definitive social code of human behaviour. You must say ‘Good Morning’ to everyone you pass, and they in turn, will do the same. It’s natural and flows freely. Not only does it fill the heart with a sense of the human spirit, but it’s a sense of the relaxed fabric and intrinsically kind nature of the people who call Hervey Bay home. This is where my amateur profiling kicks in. If I’m walking along the boardwalk of the Riverside in Brisbane or the path at Burleigh Heads, I don’t say good morning to people I pass. I’ve been down that track and they look at you like you’re from out of space.

During holiday times here in The Bay, if someone gives you that same look or doesn’t acknowledge you at all, I turn to my wife and voice my usual explanation.

“They are obviously not a local.”

Don’t get me wrong. I’m not expressing disdain, but rather a hope they will soon learn the Hervey Bay way.

Hervey Bay is booming, and from every report that you can lay your hands on, this city is set to explode even more over the next decade.

Let’s hope that the more things change, the more they stay the same, and the path ‘hello’ shall live long into the future.

Write in and tell me what you think…..