“Of course I had many mechanical problems during my trips in the desert."
Anna Teneggi often laughs while recounting her adventures in the Australian outback - a journey that started in Western Australia and is now unfolding in the Northern Territory.
“I always pulled through though, thanks to my skills, the help of my passengers or the mechanics assisting me via satellite,” adds the Italian-born tour guide.
Ms Teneggi managed to make her way into an industry that traditionally has been a male playground.
“I always knew that to get the job I needed to improve my skills and my employability,” she tells SBS Italian.
Anna Teneggi and a little phyton. Source: Anna Teneggi
“I began as a local wine tour guide in Perth, as I was learning how to drive heavy vehicles and how their motors worked.”
Her Australian adventure took off over ten years ago. After graduating in Italy in 2006, Ms Teneggi decided to move to Perth, where she began her new life in Australia as a primary school teacher.
Fast forward a few years, she fell in love with the Australian outback and decided to change her career altogether to become a tour guide - a sector traditionally dominated by male workers.
Former operations manager at Wester Exposure West Coast, Steven McGrath says just four to five per cent of all guides were women in the 90s. He says the proportion of women guides has increased in recent years.
“As a rough guess, I would say that today is 20 per cent female guides.”
The numbers vary depending upon who one asks, but Ms Teneggi says they represent a bias for male guides and that she had to overcome tough odds to succeed in the industry.
It hasn’t been easy. Nobody believed in me, as a woman and a foreigner.
Her first step was taking the right driving licence to allow her to be behind the wheel of a minibus and 4X4 vehicles. Also, she was completely unaware of how the motor of a vehicle worked and had to learn how to fix if in case it broke down.
Anna Teneggi in the outback. Source: Anna Teneggi
After visiting Darwin for a holiday, she fell in love with the outdoors and decided to make the capital city of the Northern Territory her new home.
There she learned how to pilot an airboat, to cater to the transportation needs of tourists on the Top End.
“I needed something new, a new challenge,” explains Ms Teneggi.
She credits her career as a tour guide to her determination and careful planning.
Anna Teneggi driving an airboat. Source: Anna Teneggi
By upskilling as an airboat pilot and learning mechanical skills, the Italian-born guide has just landed a job at the Crocodylus Park in Darwin and is waiting for the tourist season to start again after a prolonged hiatus due to the coronavirus pandemic.
If you are wondering why a tour guide needs all these different skills, one only needs to hear Mr Teneggi's experiences.
Once she had to deal with a massive fire that threatened to burn her campsite. On many occasions, her minibus let her down in the middle of the desert, with a flat tyre or a broken gearbox.
She once had to play a nurse, with one of her clients suffering a seizure with the nearest hospital hundreds of miles away.
But she is happy with her chosen career and sees herself doing this job for many years to come.
“I see myself living in contact with nature for a while. As long as my body allows me to do it, I want to keep exploring the Australian Outback."
Listen to Anna Teneggi’s story as told to SBS Italian.
LISTEN TO
Il richiamo dell'outback: dalle classi elementari di Perth all'avventura nei deserti australiani
SBS Italian
21/09/202014:32
