Date #16

Date Matched: 8 March 2016

Ethnicity: Danish

Age: 26

Date Met: 10 March 2016

Icebreaker: Him

Icebreaking Message:

This was without a doubt one of the cutest icebreaking messages I’ve ever received. The bear is adorable and it made me think of home. For those of you guys out there active on Tinder, take a page out of this guy’s book and send a cute adorable GIF to that girl you really want to chat up; it will be memorable and sweet. It’s so much better than those cliche messages such as, “Sup”, “Hi”, “How are you”, “Hey gorgeous”, etc. It might seem cheesy and dopey but take it from a female serial Tinderer, it will make you stand out from the competition. If she has any sense of humour and appreciates cute gestures, she will probably be willing to take some time out of her week to let you take her out. I’m not going to lie, this GIF made me that much more keen to meet him.

In his pictures, this guy seemed a bit rough around the edges. It was mainly the fact that he had a Scandinavian company in his profile description, which made me press the heart button. I had yet to have a Tinder date with a Scandinavian man and I’ve always been curious about their culture.

I first guessed that he was Norwegian, but I was wrong, he’s Danish, whoops! But I guess I’m not as bad as some other people. He said most people usually guess that he’s German or Dutch. Since I know what the German and Dutch languages look like, I knew right away that he was from one of those countries way up north, but clearly, I don’t know the differences between the Scandinavian languages.

He had been in Tasmania for the past week and was leisurely travelling around the island in his van. I asked him where he was on the island and whether he liked hiking and had plans for his trip. He was staying in Rosebery, 150km from the dairy farm where I was. He liked hiking and didn’t have any plans. I had the next day off so I suggested he come by the farm and go hiking with me in the Great Western Tiers. I offered to give him some gas money or cook him dinner for taking me hiking. He was surprisingly cool about it and decided to come and get me. He declined my offer to fill up his vehicle and feed him, a nice day out was sufficient for him.

I gave him my number and the address of the dairy farm where I was staying and he gave me a rough estimate of when he would be arriving. He originally told me he would come around 10 or 11am, but he was running late and arrived just after noon.

That morning when I got up I went to plug my phone into the charger, nothing happened. At first, I thought my outlet was acting up so I tried a bunch of other outlets in the house and nothing was working. I was panicking and literally had less than half of my phone battery life left. It turns out there were over 70 homes in the valley without power and we were one of them, oh joy! Luckily this Date arrived before my phone died. By the time he came around my phone was at less than 10% battery life. Whew, that was close! It would have been disastrous if he arrived after my phone died and he was lost. Thankfully he was better with directions than Date #15 and found the farm with no problems.

He drove this massive white van. It was one of those typical backpacker vans that are boxy and look somewhat like a giant toaster on wheels. It smelled a little like a travelling backpacker and cigarettes. He was a medium-sized guy with blonde hair and a flat-brimmed baseball hat. He was dressed super casually in shorts and a t-shirt. Like Date #15 he wasn’t wearing shoes but there were sneakers on the ground behind his feet. Why don’t men wear shoes around these parts!?

First impression of him: He had some brown stains on his teeth, probably from all the smoking he’s done. He looked rough around the edges and gave off one of those stereotypical tradie vibes. I made my mind up instantly that there wasn’t going to be any romantic or sexual involvement with this guy. I wasn’t even sure if we would get on as friends, initially it seemed that we didn’t have much in common other than the fact we were both backpackers.

We drove down the road, which took us to the Great Western Tiers. From there I made him turn onto this other gravel road I discovered the day before. The sign from the highway told us this road led to a bunch of tracks including Higgs Track, Mother Cummings Track, and to Western Creek, to name a few. When the van wheels switched their coarse from pavement to gravel, it instantly felt rustic. We were bouncing along this road and we both had no idea where it would lead. The sound of the tires rumbling along was so loud, it was harder to speak and hear each other above the noise, so we mostly sat there in silence.

On the way down the road, we come across this vehicle that was completely burned out. It is the creepiest-looking thing I’ve seen and it made me think of those horror news stories where people get murdered in a vehicle and their remains are torched and left in a haphazard manner.

Eventually, the track wound its way up the hill and then we found a sign directing us to Higgs Track. The end of the road led to a gravel roundabout. It was the start of a hiking trail. So we parked the van. There were a couple of other cars there but for the most part, it didn’t seem like we would be encountering many people on this hike.

My Date changed into socks and shoes and he put together a backpack full of water to take with us. I just had my purse and my camera with me. With that, we entered the trail and instantly it felt as if we had stepped into another world. The first half of the walk was full of moss-covered rocks and fern-lined walkways. One of the first landmarks we came across was this lovely bridge over a creek. I have no idea which creek this is, but it’s beautiful and it’s a great spot to take pictures.

This walk was gruelling but amazing at the same time. After the bridge, the walk kept going at a continuous uphill pace. There seemed to be little to no respite for the less fit. It felt good to be hiking and getting some exercise, at the same time I was wearing my dark Buffalo jeans that I had only just recently started fitting into again and they were tight. It was a poor choice but I was wearing my baggy hippy sweater overtop but the shirt I wore underneath it kept slipping up, which was annoying to constantly pull down while hiking. I would have worn baggier pants but all of my more comfortable jeans smelled like cows and needed to be washed. So I let this Date walk ahead of me most of the time, while I nonchalantly adjusted my pants and shirt every few minutes so I wouldn’t look like a complete lovehandled mess.

The hike up was gorgeous and the whole time we didn’t encounter a single soul. It felt like we had landed in some other alternate fairytale/enchanted forest universe. It wasn’t one of those hiking trails where everything is excessively groomed and well-maintained. The path weaved up the hill organically in a way that made the hiking experience more rugged. We also came across the most colourful mushrooms I have ever seen in my life.

Even though it wasn’t the sunniest day, there was so much beautiful nature to discover and it was loads better than sitting at home in a sedentary state. We took two breaks during our hike and it took us around an hour and a half to reach the top. On the first break, we sipped from our water and talked a bit. On the second break, I accidentally sipped from his water bottle and I knew it instantly because I could taste the smoky residue from his breath. It further cemented in my mind that I certainly would not be kissing him.

We walked and walked and finally when it seemed like we couldn’t handle it anymore, we made it to the top. It was a cloudy day so the top of the mountain was covered in a misty haze. The peak of the mountain led to this long stretch of flat plateau land. It was a beautiful sight and I wanted to take a picture of it with my camera. When I tried turning on my camera it was slow and unresponsive until the notification flashed up on my camera that the batteries were exhausted. I was absolutely crushed that I couldn’t capture all these stunning sights in front of me. I was forced to do things the old-fashioned way and capture it all in my head and store it in my memories.

There was a hut close to the mouth of the trail, which we came from. In our curiosity, we walked up to the hut and had a look inside. The sign at the front of the hut said that we were in the Central Plateau Conservation Area at the Lady Lake hut.

The Lady Lake Hut (picture taken on a separate occasion)

Inside the hut was a wooden table with several chairs. There were small narrow bunk beds built into the walls with dirty small mattresses propped up against them and a large stack of dirty blankets and pillows that have been used by many people but likely have never been washed due to a lack of washing machines in the area (aka none). There was a gas-powered cooking area opposite the large table but there was no electricity in the hut. There was a rain catchment outside the hut to provide water. Everything from the heater to the stove had to be operated by gas. Signs of human habitation were seen throughout the hut. Some people left behind non-perishable foodstuffs such as tea and spices. There were several books, tea candles, and playing cards. Someone wrote a several pages of handwritten notes explaining in detail all the hikes one could do in the area and where they were in relation to the hut.

There was a map of the area as well for a visual reference.

Even though it was simple and small, it was a quaint space that offered shelter to hikers from the elements. I had never seen such a building in my life. I knew such places existed but it was my first time happening upon one.

Had there been more chemistry with this Date, I likely would have kissed him there or at least flirted. I thought to myself how lovely it would be to bring someone special up here to have a romantic moment in this hut. But since I wasn’t attracted to this Date in that way, I merely had a look around and then stepped outside and had a seat on the large porch outside. My Date sat beside me and began to roll himself a cigarette while I sipped at my water. We talked for a while and stared in awe at this beautiful expanse of moss-covered land in front of us. We both agreed that we had never seen such stunning natural beauty in our lives. It was so unique from the typical mountain scenes one comes across. It felt like we were on another planet or in some parallel Lord of the Rings universe.

The Central Plateau Conservation Area (picture taken from Date’s cellphone)

It was relaxing sitting there with him on this front deck taking a break from hiking. As I talked to this Date I got to learn more about him. We both were middle children. He had an older brother and a younger brother. I am the second of four children. Back in Denmark he was a carpenter and had been working in his craft for several years. He never bothered studying after school because he was dyslexic and chose to pick up a trade instead. The way he described his decision to travel was random but wasn’t prompted by a major incident or life-turning event as travel decisions sometimes can be. He merely decided to pause his life and leave Denmark for a spell.

He had been in Australia for over a year already and was on his second-year visa. He had a cousin in Adelaide so he spent some time in South Australia and had lived on Kangaroo Island. I was slightly jealous of him. I’ve always wanted to go to Kangaroo Island since I first saw the pictures of those crazy-looking caves. He did vegetable harvesting and tractor driving there for his regional work to get his second-year visa.

He was the type of person who was happy to be on the road and took the simple but beautiful and profound moments of life and cherished them. As I talked with him I came to realize that he was a positive sort of person who never let negativity bog him down. He loved his home, his country, his family, and his dogs. He told me that he enjoyed travelling but once his visa expired he planned on going back to Denmark. Denmark would always be his home base for his travels. He was quite the opposite of me in that sense. I don’t consider Canada my home base anymore and I choose to make my home wherever I end up.

After sitting and talking for a while, the sweat from hiking started to cool my skin and I was freezing. We decided to go for a walk around the Central Plateau to warm up our blood again and do a bit of exploring before heading back down. We came to the Lady Lake itself, it was a short walk from the Hut and there was a thin walking trail leading the way. It was wet and misty everywhere so we had to be careful where we stepped so our shoes wouldn’t get soaked. The lake itself was more like a small pond but it looked mystic and enchanting like a magical pool from another world.

Lady Lake (picture taken from Date’s cellphone)

The red flowers everywhere provided a lovely boost of colour to an otherwise muted landscape. It was such a beautiful place and it felt like I could stay there for days constantly walking around and exploring. My Date and I walked a fair distance down the flat terrain of the plateau. There were sections of small rocky mountains rising up in various places but we were so exhausted from walking uphill that we just stuck to the flat areas. We tried to walk in the most straight and direct path possible. Once we walked past Lady Lake it was evident that there were no other groomed trails and we had to choose a path that best suit us from the terrain laid out in front of us. We walked along this squishy and interesting boggy ground that made me feel like I was on a trampoline.

Eventually, the straight path led up to this large rocky hill/mountain. We decided to attempt walking up it. About halfway up we realized there wasn’t a path up this hill and it just led to a bunch of dangerous rocks. Admitting defeat, we took a break and drank some water and then make our way back down again towards the hut.

The adventurer in me wanted to keep exploring but the rational part of me knew that it was getting late and it would be best to call it a day and make it down back to the carpark before it got too dark and dangerous.

On the way back to the hut, the cloudy mist grew even thicker and we could hardly see anything in front of us. At one point we weren’t sure where to go and we had to rely on our instinct rather than the landscape because our vision was so obstructed we had no idea where we were. My gut feeling told me to go in one direction but his gut feeling told him to go another. I decided to swallow my pride and follow his lead. He didn’t seem like someone who was stupid with directions so maybe he was right. Sure enough his sense and logic trumped mine and he got us back to the lake. From the lake, we found the trail that took us back to the hut, which in turn led back to the trail that took us back to the carpark.

The start of the trail back down the mountain, with a view of the valley below (picture taken from Date’s cellphone)

The way back down was scary and dangerous. Everything was damp from the mist. the rocks were wet and slippery and there were a few times when we nearly slipped and hurt ourselves. We both agreed that hiking up this track on a cloudy and misty day probably wasn’t the smartest idea. The air was so wet that my hair was soaked. Because we were walking and actively moving, we didn’t feel cold at all.

By the end of the hike, I realized that I had made a connection with this guy and he was pleasant to be around, someone I could perhaps consider as a friend in the future. On the drive back home we both were in a good mood and smiling from ear to ear. We had done a lovely hike and saw stunning nature that blew us away. It was an amazing second Tinder date in Australia.

When he dropped me off I thanked him for driving all this way and for taking me out hiking. I didn’t invite him back to the house because I wasn’t sure if the power came back on or not. I would have cooked him a meal or something for taking me hiking. But at the same time, I didn’t want him to get the wrong idea.

However, the next day I realized I had left my camera in his van. So he had to come back to the farm to give me my camera. I decided I had to cook him some food for making him come twice around to the dairy farm. On our hike, he admitted that although he had complete independence living in a van, he rarely had hot meals anymore so I figured he would appreciate a hot breakfast as a thank you. I made him a cheesy and meaty omelette and he seemed to like it.

Since this date, we have decided to become hiking/adventure buddies. Whenever he’s in the area we usually meet up and go visit some local sights. We have this lovely friendship and when we go out I pay for my own stuff and he pays for his own stuff. He also is respectful and never tries to put the moves on me or make me feel uncomfortable. He’s a fantastic person and I’m glad that I took some time to get to know him and realize that sometimes first impressions aren’t always right. Had I met him in the real world, it’s likely that I wouldn’t have gone on a date with him or hung out with him in general. But I’m glad that our paths crossed and I was able to come across an unexpectedly good Tinder find.

Have any of you readers ever had a Tinder date, where you didn’t get the best impression of your date at the start, but later came to like them? I would love to read your stories in the comments section below.