On his meandering way south in no particular hurry, Neil the swaggy had a lot to chat about on a beautiful spring morning as he took in the activity in the main street.

You may have seen him journeying on foot along the highways and back roads, carrying his rolled up swag and kit bag of essential swaggy goods. Clean and well dressed Neil almost looks as though he could have stepped from an Aussie movie set.

For the past 37 years on and off, Neil has travelled the countryside, taking in the wide open spaces, the country towns, the remote and often lonely places many of us never get to see. He’s met some good people and some bad, and he’s witnessed some amazing things. But, as with many swaggies of old, there lies behind his eyes a sadness, a loneliness, or are those eyes windows to a soul searching for answers to life and all that happens along the way, trying to make sense of past, present and future?

Neil in his own words says he has had a rough life from his days as a young boy in a family of 10 kids to the life he has now wandering Australia. A country lad he says his Scottish and Irish heritage contributed not only to his looks but he also hints it may be to blame for creating some of life’s problems for him at times. His story is a sad one if you dwell on those events that have certainly shaped his life, but there are also happy twists and turns that have contributed to Neil’s quirky sense of humour. Swaggies are notorious for their fanciful tales and references – Neil’s are no exception. His stories, too, are fanciful, tinged with intrigue, horror and mystery, and it is up to the listener as to what they choose to believe. 

Registered as the Number five swagman in an Australia-wide swaggy event more than 20 years ago in Quorn, South Australia, Neil also mentions his involvement in several of Australia’s iconic movies, his inclusion at the Winton Waltzing Matilda Centre and the Stockman’s Hall of Fame.

Neil left school at age 13 working in various jobs from station hand, drover and overseer to work on the rail lines, road gangs and farming ventures. The life of an army service man saw Neil head overseas in the early 1980s, but it was a life that dramatically lost its appeal. It’s a life that he says enabled him to travel the world and be part of adventures big and small.

Not one to hold back on a good chuckle or two, Neil recounted those days and many others in the various stages of his life.

“You have to laugh at some things,” he says, “it keeps you going when things are lookin’ pretty miserable at times.” His Scottish/Cornish Welsh with a touch of Irish heritage also tempts his blood to boil at the thoughts of what he has had to contend with in his lifetime. His eyes mist over though when he refers to his family and children, who must wonder at times about his life as a swaggy. And it’s this heritage that attracts him to the New England, where he says he feels “sort of at home”.

A car accident Neil recalls some time in 1987 almost ended his life. But he believes he is still here for a reason that has not yet presented itself. It’s a question many of us ponder.

His mind races ahead of his voice as he tries to unload as much about himself and his stories as possible. 

Neil is one of those special people who holds hidden secrets, and has an intelligence that creates a whirlpool in his mind. An obviously religious man who has his own beliefs as well, Neil often despairs at the way the world is going. 

The life of a swaggy can also be dangerous, certainly not one for the feint hearted, although Neil prefers to remember the better parts, warily storing the worst memories for reference.

“I’ve met lots of people, good and bad,” he says. “There’s also been a lot of love expressed towards me in my travels over the years.”

He throws back his head and gives one of those iconic laughs that’s often expected from a ‘jolly swagman’.

“Jolly swagman, ha. There’s no such thing,” says Neil. “It’s a myth. It’s a hard life at times, but I suppose it becomes who you are and what you do.”

 There are things he enjoys about the life, and Neil says he has also been privy to more than the average person.

This swaggy has plenty of time on his own to contemplate the world and its offerings, taking each day as it comes. As his somewhat lonely lifestyle leads Neil along many paths he continues the search for his purpose in life, taking time out occasionally to spend time with people who seek to share his insight or listen to his stories as he plants the seeds of curiosity in the mind of each person he meets.

Are the stories he tells fact or fiction or a combination of both? Well, that’s for God and Neil to know. 

Safe travels Neil. May those grey clouds forever have a silver lining.