The charismatic Tony Bader walked through the Northern Valleys region this month, just a small segment
of the epic trek around Australia he has pledged to
achieve in a quest to both get fit and do his bit to keep Australia beautiful along the way.
This is how Tony himself tells the story, “Over the last few years, I have put on a “little” weight. I hate to admit it, but I don’t think that I will be walking away with the Mr Universe title again this year. Brad will not be asking me to be his double in the next Blockbuster and Scary Spice probably won’t call when the latest toyboy
lets her down.
Before you laugh – go and have a look in your mirror!
Although I keep ‘putting it off until tomorrow’, I am a fat ‘barstool’ and would probably collapse if I tried to run to the letterbox. I also have a five-year old
daughter that keeps yelling at me “race Daddy, race Daddy” Man, I don’t have to let her win – she flogs me over any distance.
That’s how this whole thing got started. I want to beat Elizabeth in a running race before I drop dead – and I don’t want to drop dead before she is fully grown. I want to be dragged to the grave kicking, spitting and fighting – not carried there wheezing, bloated and ready. I would like to be remembered for what I am, not what I once used to be.
Along the way, I also want to repair some of the damage that I have caused to our children’s planet – to try and leave the world a little better for Elizabeth and to step up so that I can feel that I am, at the end, a responsible parent.” Tony has planned to walk from Perth, north to Katherine and east into Queensland. After following the
Savannah Hwy to far North Queensland, he’ll head along the east coast through NSW and Victoria visiting many country towns before crossing the Nullaboar
to Kalgoorlie and ending up back in Serpentine, south of Perth where his journey began.
He has estimated that the 14,000 kilometre journey will take at least three years, and meandering to collect garbage along the way will effectively triple the
distance of his walk, resulting in an overall trek of around 42,000 kilometres.
Tony will be living in a 6 x 4 converted garden trailer that he will need to get towed ahead of him as he collects garbage along the way. The trailer will be towed (hopefully) by you – the public.
In ‘leaps’ of 15-kilometres, Tony will entrust the trailer to passers-by who wish to get involved and to assist in this great initiative. If you want to help Tony, or join him – even just for a day in collecting rubbish– check out his website or follow him on Facebook/Tony Bader/ ‘Walk for Waist’ Group.
