When Doug Bower met Rae in 1980 while hiking in New Zealand, little did he realize they would find romance, become soulmates, and share an adventurous life together.

Abel Tasman National Park probably seemed exotic to the young American.  Located in the northwest part of New Zealand’s southern island, the guidebooks glowingly described this coastal paradise with its golden sandy beaches, granite cliffs, crystal clear streams, mossy valleys, and native forests as ‘Great Walks’.  Even the names of the forest birds seemed exotic—tüï, korimako/bellbirds, törea/ oystercatchers, köau/shags, and little kororä/blue penguins.

Rae and her then boyfriend met the American while walking along the sea trail.  Since they were all heading in the same direction, the couple asked Doug to join them hiking and camping for the remaining two days.  While crossing a swing bridge, Rae took Doug’s picture as he gingerly crossed over the river, capturing a treasured experience.  Once they reached the sea trail’s end, they all said “good-bye”, with Doug continuing biking and hiking around the two main New Zealand islands and the couple returning to their jobs in Melbourne, Australia.

A few months later, Doug and his motorcycle voyaged from New Zealand to explore Australia, embarking at Sydney.  Unbelievably, by serendipitous chance, he ran into Rae!

Doug tells the story:  “I came into town, we accidentally meet, she showed me around, and we kind of clicked.” He paused and continued,  “But she was still with her boyfriend.”

Doug told her he eventually was biking down to Melbourne, where Rae worked, and she suggested Doug keep her frequently informed of the next town that he would visit.  But these were the days before the ubiquitous and speedy cell phones and computers.  Getting in touch with someone traveling was extremely difficult, especially in sparsely inhabited isolated places.  There were few phones in Australia’s wilderness regions.  Even if a public phone was found, long distance phone calls cost a small fortune.  So how could they stay in touch?

Rae suggested an efficient, common, and very cheap way to communicate—via American Express.  The company actually began as an express mail business in Buffalo, New York, added a money-order business, and expanded overseas.  The process was relatively easy.  Doug owned an American Express card, which allowed free access to the company’s additional services, including collecting messages and letters at any of the company’s many offices spread around Australia.

Doug then gave Rae his traveling itinerary, hopped on his BMW bike and zoomed off to Tasmania—an island south of Melbourne.  Rae sent letters to the American Express office, Doug retrieved them, and sent her updates about his trip.

When he returned to Melbourne a short time later, Doug stayed with Rae and her boyfriend for a short time, and then he left to explore Western Australia—with its 10 expansive national parks that are famous for rich red earth, coastal water and sea cliffs, soaring sand dunes, mountains, rugged roaring waterfalls, plentiful wild flowers, natural bush land deserts with hopping kangaroos, and a rich, Aboriginal history.

As Doug traveled throughout Western Australia, he wrote Rae every day, relating adventurous stories and informing her of his next stop.  She, in turn, wrote him every day, sending the letters to the next town’s American Express office.  The letters flowed back and forth for several months.  With a reminiscent look on his face, Doug told me their romance began with those letters.

Doug knew by this time that he wanted to be with Rae so he returned to Melbourne and asked her to travel with him to Alice Springs, the third largest town in Northern Australia, to explore what the Aborigines call Uluru, an “island mountain”, and Aussies named Ayers Rock.  Still with her boyfriend, Rae needed some time to think, so Doug journeyed north alone.

The frequent letter writing continued, and after hiking and exploring the region for seven months, he returned to Melbourne to see Rae.  Blessedly she greeted him with welcoming news—she broke up with her boyfriend.  Doug soon asked her to return to the United States with him and she readily agreed—both happy and excited to begin a new adventure together.

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