Location: Yarra Bats Park

Walkabout was introduced to cruising by their first-ever gay friend. They went to a well-known park in Sydney that was under construction along the river. It was their first ever exploration, and their friend acted as the “Cruising Mother,” guiding them through the semiotics and cues. Over the years, Walkabout has found cruising to be fascinating and has thoroughly explored and learned their way of doing it. They always have exit points and space to hear approaches.

They had a visit to Manchester in the UK and found the engagement to be so high, with people being much less reserved and more free. This broadened their horizons and explorations, and they were just having fun. They are fascinated with the glory hole culture and how much it can enhance the experience.

They came into cruising around their twenties and had access to the internet, but it was dial-up. They used “Spartacus magazine,” which would explain destinations and attractions, including saunas and cruising areas. They love the community and generational knowledge passed down verbally. “You get to know the regulars and share the news, take care of each other, warnings, bashings, police activity,” fully verbal and not written down.

The pandemic has created a resurgence of cruising in the younger generations, but there are subcultures within subcultures with different semiotics. “As we’re sitting here with this interview, there are several different men walking around with different interests and goals,” at one o’clock on a Tuesday afternoon. The non-conformity, moving away from “oh, you must have sex in a bedroom,” is so fun.