A Darwin bus stop with graffiti scribbled on its walls and chewing gum stuck to a metal bench — it's not a romantic setting for a meet-cute. But that's where two backpackers on a working holiday visa in the Northern Territory first laid eyes on each other. Only later, when the pair started working together at the ironically named Heartbreak Hotel, did their love truly blossom. "We became friends and then we just got together," Peruvian Franco Arias says. German backpacker Maree Moeller wasn't sure if she liked Mr Arias at the start. "He was actually very shy and reserved, and I'm a bit more talkative," she says. "I just kept pushing my friendship onto him and then eventually he opened up to me. That's how it started." No heartbreak at the hotel Heartbreak Hotel is a caravan park and pub at Cape Crawford, 700 kilometres south-east of Darwin, near the Gulf of Carpentaria. The hotel provides a fuel and rest stop for travellers journeying along the Carpentaria Highway and a place for the few locals in the region to relax and unwind at the end of the week. Like in many places around the Northern Territory, residents are geographically and socially isolated, making it tricky to find a partner. Mr Arias never expected to find love in the outback, let alone at a hotel called Heartbreak. Ms Moeller says if you do find a partner in the outback, it's often because you live or work with them. So you see them ALL. THE. TIME. "It was definitely challenging in the beginning because we've both never had a situation like this," she said. "We were working every day. There are not many people here, so we were basically the only people to talk to." Ms Moeller says despite the challenges, and the pub's name, working at the hotel had strengthened the couple's relationship. "In July, August, there are a lot of people coming in, so it can get quite stressful and sometimes the stress gets the better of you," she says. "But we were always good at resolving things quickly and in the end, when we got to know each other a little bit better and how we work and how we operate, it was all good, and we're a very good team now." Being so isolated, Mr Arias has to get creative when it comes to dating. "We do some mini road trips not that far away from here, we've got a couple of bikes, and we have a couple of places to visit, like Bessie, which has a little nice waterfall," he says. "Actually, we spent her last birthday there and we had a nice date just, you know, with some goodies and a couple of beers." Love going strong Mr Arias says he is happily in love. "I couldn't ask for a better partner," he says. Ms Moeller says the relationship is going well. The pair are from opposite sides of the world, but they won't let distance keep them apart. After their working holiday, Mr Franco and Ms Moeller plan to travel more and then establish themselves in Germany for a few years.