DOING what others may consider crazy comes naturally to Ken McDonald, now 85.
When he was 35, he rode over 3100 km on a bicycle from Adelaide to Darwin with two friends, averaging 200km a day.
He then rode back to Adelaide with wife Brenda driving a support car, a Datsun Bluebird.
That same year he travelled to Europe with Brian Hassall, the former principal of a school in Alice Springs.
Together they covered 4,620 km, riding 46 out of the 49 days, on a totally self-funded budget.
With nothing more than a pair of straddle bags mounted on their bikes, they started in Copenhagen just at the end of summer of 1988, looping through Germany, France and Belgium before finally finishing at Amsterdam.
“It’s a crazy thing to do. But I’m crazy so it’s a natural thing to do,” Ken said with a nonchalant chuckle.
The idea for that ride came from a radio announcement inviting people to come up with their own activities to celebrate the country’s biennial centenary in 1988.
“I just like riding. It gives me the greatest joy,” Ken said.
The couple started life as lay missionaries when Ken was 25 and Brenda was 22.
With their children, Gordon, aged four, and Beth, aged two, they ventured in April 1966 to Ernabella, the mission’s sheep station, which is 442 km from Alice Springs where Ken served as a mechanic.
They were there for eight years before moving to a nearby mission cattle station near Yaas for close to two years.
The locals were mainly Pitjantjatjara so Ken and Brenda had to learn the language.
“At the end of 1975 we left the mission and moved to Darwin as our son has started senior high school,” Ken said.
Some 13 years later, they decided to relocate to Gloucester as Ken had come through, riding from Port Macquarie to Sydney, and fell in love with its scenic hills and valley.
Ken and Brenda have lived in Gloucester for 28 years, longer than anywhere else.
Gordon is in Darwin and Beth in England.
Nothing stops crazy Ken as his travelling bones won’t let him.
Despite his bad back and ageing, you still see him scooting around in Gloucester today.
By Bob TEOH
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