Donna and Steve's Charity Cycle Ride

In the spring of 2000 Donna and Steve were living in the UK but missing their families
and the sunshine of their home country, Australia.
Having travelled for several years, they realised that they had seen a lot of the rest of the world
but very little of Australia. Being keen cyclists, the idea was born that they should cycle from
Perth in the west to Sydney in the east. The route would follow the coast to Esperance,
move inland to cross the Nullarbor Plain which lies just north of the Great Australian Bight
and then continue through to Melbourne via Adelaide.
A final push of the pedals would take them over the Snowy Mountains and on to Sydney.
Essential detours would be required
such as refreshing themselves in the wineries surrounding Adelaide.
The whole trip would be a distance of approximately 5,500 km
- sufficiently far to bring a whole new dimension to the meaning of the term "saddle sore".

As they would be fulfilling one of their dreams,
they pondered how this journey might be used to benefit other less fortunate people.
Having fully paid for the trip themselves, they decided to raise sponsorship for two charities,
Whizz-Kidz in the UK and the Make-a-Wish Foundation of Australia.
Whizz-Kidz aims to dramatically improve the lives of disabled children by providing
tailor-made mobility aids such as trikes, walkers and wheelchairs.
The Make-a-Wish Foundation is for children under 18 years of age,
who have a life threatening illness. It organises a special event to take them out of their
day-to-day existence however briefly. At the same time it endeavours to produce precious
happy memories of the event for the families of the child.

Donna and Steve outside their flat in London.
The photograph appeared on the cover of the publicity material used to raise money for Whizz-Kidz in the UK.

In Australia, the publicity required rather more unusual attire.
Only marginally less embarrassing than removing their clothes altogether,
these outfits were worn for various newspaper publicity photographs across the country.
Tip: do not remark to Steve about his suitability for the role as a fairy or even how good
he looks in lilac. He has already tired of such observations.
This particular photograph was taken at the start in King's Park, Perth, Western Australia;
the smiles are indicative of the naive ignorance of the deprivations ahead.

This sign on the wheels of their bicycles prompted many hours of discussion
with people along the way.

Tingle Forest in the west was one of the first of many magnificent sights.
The huge, straight trees were what American friends might call awesome.
Along the journey, Donna and Steve were to see incredible differences of terrain
and they gained an appreciation for the variety that Australia contains.

Esperance on the southern coast had stunning turquoise water and amazing rock formations.
It was here that a kindly local shop owner provided a bed indoors for the night, fluffy towels,
and the opportunity to watch the Olympic Games on TV.

The Romans would have loved it had they discovered Australia.
Plenty of opportunities to build long straight roads!

Nullarbor comes from the Latin nullus arbor meaning no trees.
The rumour that it means hot, waterless hell in Aborigine
is simply a myth but very believable.
It took 11 days to cross with no hiding places to use as bathrooms!

The official end of the Nullarbor Plain is Ceduna which is famous for its Denial Bay Oysters
and, apparently, being the home of King George Whiting (Sillaginodes Punctata).
After the strains of crossing the Nullarbor this was a surprisingly welcoming sign.

Click here for the continuing story of
the Charity Cycle Ride.

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