Reporter: (online story) Jane Cowan
Presenter: Peter Scott
Riding around the country on a pushbike can teach you a thing or two about endurance.
But for Brian Somerfield the personal challenge of a trip like this pales against the difference it can make to a whole culture of people half a world away.
For the 55-year-old former Telsta technician, it was the quintessential Aussie backpacking trip that changed his world view forever. “After travelling around south east and central Asia I ended up in Tibet.” What he found was a people struggling to survive under oppressive Chinese rule. He was struck by the indomitable spirit of the Tibetans, impressed enough to want to contribute somehow.
Hence his reason for being on the Gold Coast. It’s the latest leg of a cross-country ride to raise money for Tibetan children forced into exile in northern India. “A lot of people don’t know that the Indian government gave the Tibetan people an autonomous region in northern India under the auspices of the Dalai Lama and the Tibetan government in exile. But the Tibetans come up against horrendous conditions trying to trek across the Tibetan Himalayans and into India via Nepal. A lot of the parents don’t make it.” Up to 130 000 Tibetans now live in exile, with whole villages full of orphan children.
Somerfield has covered close to 9000 kilometres since setting out from Melbourne over a year ago. Along the way he accepts donations and gives talks to raise awareness of the Tibetan cause. “I feel like I’ve been sort of ‘led’. A lot of people said to me, you know, ‘Brian, what can one person do?’ But I’ve had such compassion from the people of Australia since I’ve started. Sometimes you feel a bit tired then someone will come along and give you that lift.”
The intrepid traveller also draws inspiration from the Tibetans themselves. He talks about the passion of the Tibetan people, their commitment to surviving the oppressive Chinese rule. “They seem to have this resolute character in them. It doesn’t matter how many times you kick them, they just keep coming back.”
And you can’t help but think a little of that spirit has rubbed off on the Australian. From Tasmania’s mountainous terrain (“I thought I’d get all the hills out of the way first.”) to the gentler northern NSW coast, Somerfield says it’s been a wonderful journey. Dutch tourists and pockets of country new-agers have made the trip far from lonely. And then there’s been the chance to develop an intimate familiarity with the countryside. The worst hill so far? Wollongong’s Bulli Pass. “I was looking for a sherpa and I know why they call these pushbikes now.” The most welcome shower? “I’ve had lots of those. Probably after I got up to Katoomba in the Blue Mountains. It was a pretty hard struggle pulling my bike up there.” The best hill, by the way, has been the road from Dorrigo to Bellingen – “for beauty as well as steepness”.
The strangest campsite honour goes to Emu Plains. “It was like a military camp getting in and out of the place. I had that many different numbers to get in and out of different gates and doors and everything else. And then when the rugby was on – which I really wanted to watch – the guy came in military-style and said, ‘It’s 8:30, everyone out.’”
After a breather on the Coast Somerfield’s looking forward to meeting with the Queensland Branch of the Australian Tibet Council in Brisbane before heading north on the open road. From Cairns he’ll cycle around the back of the Atherton Tablelands to Mt Isa and across to Tenant Creek. Then there’s a decision to make. Does he turn left to Alice Springs or right up to Darwin?
Fingers crossed, his bike – a hybrid with a reinforced back wheel – will make the trip. “A guy I met who rode across Africa had one that was similar and said he had no trouble.” So far he’s had 10 or 11 punctures – which works out to about one flat per 900 kilometres.
Not bad for a humble pushy.
Fingers crossed no more flats
( Audio in RealMedia format ) | Requires RealPlayer
ABC Coast FM’s Peter Scott goes roadside with cyclist Brian Somerfield who averages one puncture per 900 kilometres.
