Week One

Udeni started his journey on Wednesday and at dusk on Friday evening he had arrived at Kelleberrin. He has travelled 259 kilometers (161 miles) to date.

"Today I had to start the day at 10AM and rode until 4PM. Tonight I should be able to find a backpackers' to stay in. No major obstacles today. When you see trucks coming the tricky part is that there's no room for two trucks parallel on the road. When this happens, you need to get off the road quick smart! It's a good thing I brought a rearview mirror.."

"As for the last couple of days, things have been going relatively smoothly, although I've been pretty sore! The hottest temperature so far has been 29 degrees. Yesterday the Kelleberrin Road House gave me a cheap stay and a complementary glass of house wine when they found out about what I've been doing. On Day One there were some issues with my rear tyre, which started leaking. This made it really difficult to get up the hill to Northam, with a huge amount of resistance on the wheel. Got this fixed though and now everything seems to be working well...

I'm looking forward to getting into a routine. The trailer on the back is slowing the riding down significantly, but it's still ok. At this point I'm carrying about 25 kilos on the trailer. Some sections across the Nullabor I'll have to carry far more water."

Tracking Udeni

Udeni is using a "spot" satellite messenger to let us know how he is during his journey. Simply by clicking the 'OK' button on his 'spot' device he lets us know his location and that is doing ok.

We will be regularly adding the updates to the blog to let you know his location. Simply click on the 'click to track udeni' link to track him with Google maps.

Day One

And so the journey begins! Udeni left his home in Mount Pleasant at 7 this morning and arrived in Northam (approximately 95km ride) this afternoon. Udeni's last night in Perth consisted of frantic packing in between visits from many well-wishers, followed by an early breakfast with many more. Thankyou to everyone who helped to send him on his way! Maps of Udeni's journey will be posted weekly to show his progress. Stay posted!

The Eve

It is 9pm on the eve of Udeni's journey and things are getting hectic. While Udeni is busy packing and planning, wife Damika is stressing out about what could go wrong! Udeni is set to depart his home in Mount Pleasant, Perth at 7am tomorrow morning- with a party of close family and friends sending him off on his way. Of course this event will be marked by the traditional kirri bath (milk rice).

Looking forward to tomorrow morning!

The Ride

Dear Friends

I am taking a well-earned break from paid work for a while and soon will be embarking on fulfilling a long held dream of mine, while raising funds for a very worthwhile cause Sri Lanka.

This Wednesday, 22^nd of April I will be leaving my home in Perth, Western Australia to undertake a solo and unsupported bike ride across Australia, to Melbourne. The journey will be across harsh and desert environments and would take over 45 days and cover over 3600Kms.

While striving to achieve this goal, I intend to raise funds for ‘Save a Heart & Save A Child Trust Fund’ to purchase a mobile echo-cardiogram for Lady Ridgeway Children’s Hospital in Colombo. According to the specialists, this is a piece of equipment that can save the lives of children with heart problems but is inaccessible due to lack of funds.

You can find the donation form here or in the download section at the top right. I hope you would support this worthwhile charity.

Please circulate this information among your friends and colleagues so that we could together make some difference to improve the lives of less fortunate children in Sri Lanka.

Regards

Udeni Gunasekera