General News
12 December, 2025
From the US to Maryborough
American tourist Mike Meyer visited the Central Goldfields Shire as he explored Australia.
Maryborough may be far from the pages of an international brochure, but that didn’t stop one American tourist bringing his Australian adventure to the Central Goldfields Shire.
The iconic imagery of Australia, pristine beaches to iconic wildlife, doesn’t often include the Bristol Hill Tower or the Bull and Mouth Hotel.
Yet this will be true for 68-year-old tourist Mike Meyer, who stopped in Maryborough last week as he explored Australia.
His story begins in the desert environment of Nevada, about an hour outside Reno, where he had a realisation.
Sitting in his Lazyboy chair, watching whatever was on TV, he said life was just passing him by.
“It was like being stuck in the same four walls just talking with the same people,” he said.
So he turned his life upside down and sold everything.
Buoyed by the sale of his home, alongside pension and social security, Mr Meyer travelled Europe before setting sail down to Australia in November.
On that ship not only did he find a cardinal direction, drive south, but also an emotional one — a romance.
“We just checked off all the boxes,” he said.
She continued on to New Zealand, him to Australia, but with plans to meet again in January.
Now apart, Mr Meyer’s adventure would face the immediate challenge of driving on the left, “it took me an hour to get the courage to drive”, to a road trip down the southern coast.
But it was when he turned his van to Victoria’s interior, Australia’s historic goldfields, that he found his way to Maryborough and the Bull and Mouth Hotel.
Yet despite distance, and the excitement of travel, his nautical romance continued.
They stayed in touch, video called when they could, and soon made plans to meet before Christmas.
“It’d be the best Christmas present ever,” he said.
Whether in New Zealand, Australia, or back home in the United States, Mr Meyer said he’s searching for community.
“I’ve come to the conclusion that a beach is a beach, a mountain is a mountain, a church is a church, but it’s the people,” he said.
“People just basically want to break bread and talk.”
As a self-described “old hippie” he said reggae pioneer Bob Marley said it best.
“Just love everybody,” he said.