The kindness of strangers: In 1989 I lost a wallet with $1,000 in it. A couple went to incredible lengths to return it

It was a hot night in 1989 when my wallet – stuffed with $1,000 cash – fell out of my pocket.

After university, I left the UK and went travelling in Australia for a year. I saw the delights of the east coast – mostly from various building sites, as I worked my way around doing long hours in the blistering sun. But I loved every minute of it. After 10 months, I had saved enough to make my way slowly back home.

I was enjoying one last night out in Darwin with a gang of traveller friends with whom I was flying to Timor the next day. The intention was to island hop all the way to Singapore.

Cash was king in those days, and the $1,000 I had in my wallet was enough to last me a month on the road. The beers went down easy and I was completely unaware when, at some point in the evening, I lost my wallet. I was still none the wiser when I went to bed to get some sleep before the flight the next morning.

At 1.30am, I awoke to a loud knocking on my door. I stumbled out of bed, bleary-eyed, and opened the door to the hostel manager and an elderly couple – who were holding my wallet.

That couple had spent hours trawling every backpacker place in Darwin (they’d been to four!) before eventually finding me, care of my student ID card. Every dollar was still there.

Still half-asleep, and worse for wear after the evening’s drinks, I didn’t fully appreciate the enormity of their kindness in the moment. I thanked them and went back to bed, but it wasn’t until the next morning that I realised the incredible lengths they had gone to in order to return my wallet. Without them, my trip would have been ruined.

I’ve always wished I could thank them properly, but in lieu of that I made a pledge to myself – and in a way, to them – that I would always go that extra mile to help people when I have the chance.

When I do get the opportunity to lend someone a hand, I always tell them to pay it forward. So I like to think that kind couple in Darwin have actually helped countless others, too.