I love a sunburnt country,
A land of sweeping plains,
Of ragged mountain ranges,
Of droughts and flooding rains.
I love her far horizons,
I love her jewel-sea,
Her beauty and her terror –
The wide brown land for me!
– Dorothea Mackellar
In Australia, Ken was faced with a recurring setback.
After living on a dollar a day in Asia, life in Australia came as a shock. He entered at Darwin and by the time he reached Sydney he was broke.
There was only one thing for it – back to work again. The first job he could get was as a doorman in the "roughest pub in Sydney". A more suitable occupation came later as an office equipment salesman.
Sydney provided a home from home: a place to replenish energy and resources for the second half of the journey, which would eventually lead to Rio.
Sydney also provided a base from where he could strike out for other targets. It was at this time that he developed a passion for setting himself challenges.
Although he hadn't ridden a bicycle since schooldays, he decided to do a trans-Australian cycle ride taking in the Nullarbor Plain. His return to Sydney upon completion of that trip can be seen in the following video...
He also ran in a few fun runs, including the City To Surf from the centre of Sydney to Bondi beach (in the pinstripes!) and swam in the Great Lake Challenge.
After working for a period, he once again had enough money to travel.
He met with two Uruguayans living in Sydney, and arranged to cycle with them through Central America.
Oh, my ways are strange ways and new ways and old ways And deep ways and high ways and low
I'm at home and at ease on a track that I know not And restless and lost on a road that I know
– Henry Lawson
THE TRANS-AUSTRALIAN CROSSING
Getting on the right track during the cycle ride.
Ken lit out on a road that lead to the sky – all plains and distance, space
and desolation.
At first he thought that the plain was dead. But then, at sunset, a mob of kangaroos sprang through the brush close by. The plain wasn't
dead at all. It just lay dormant in the heat of the day.
As well as roos, he ended up seeing snakes,
wombats, wild camels, lizards, and a
wedge-tailed eagle soared
majestically over
his head.
Not another puncture! With so much weight on the bicycle it
was a regular occurrence.
Some of the winds were phenomenal. Here he's experiencing difficulties
pitching the tent in strong winds.
At the end of a long day's slog there's nothing like a cuppa. The fire
is made, the billy-can filled with water.
We are all visitors to this time, this place. We are just passing through. Our purpose here is to observe, to learn, to grow, to love...and then we return home.
– Australian Aboriginal Proverb
SYDNEY
The Great Lake Challenge in Sydney which was a fun swim
across the Narrabeen Lakes.
Just coming out of the water having completed the swim.
Running in the City To Surf.
Portrait of a self-styled ambassador as seen through the eyes of a seven
year old boy in New South Wales. Dad helped a little with the flag.
AFTER LEAVING SYDNEY
NEW ZEALAND. The Wizard of Christchurch, a nationally known figure in New Zealand, draws upon his magical powers to give Ken a wizard's blessing.
FIJI. Pictured with a Fijian dance troupe. Potter arrived on the island during a carnival and found it very friendly and pro-British.