The idea for 'Trike Around Australia' came while Garry and Doreen were taking their regular three-day breaks per month. During these breaks they would leave the Gold Coast and ride away on their 1983 bright yellow Honda Goldwing nicknamed Big Bird. They loved to ride along country roads staying in country towns to get away from the hustle and bustle and refresh themselves for the next month.

During these trips they noticed that whenever they stopped for a coffee or just a look around they would return to crowds of people, young and old checking the motorbike. Children waved as they drove past them, elderly people would stop and stare, wave, smile and comment on the bike. They began to think that there must be a way to put all this attention to good use.

They had initially considered organising bike bashes but decided that they loved travelling through country towns so much that they would like to continue to do so. With the constant attention they received on the bike they felt that this could be an opportunity to bring attention to outback Australia and raise funds for charity at the same time.

SELECTING A CHARITY

The first major decision to be made was to select a charity, which was no easy task. After some investigation into the level of support received by various charities and events that were conducted on their behalf, Garry and Doreen began to search their souls for what was really important to them.

Doreen's mother has suffered badly for many years from Osteoarthritis and has over the past 10 years had three hip replacements and two knee replacements. This started Doreen thinking about how Arthritis will probably effect most of us in our old age and the pain and suffering that it causes not only to older people but also to young children afflicted with the disease.

They could find no particular event that supported Arthritis so decided, considering the profound effect it has on quality of life and the suffering it causes, anything that would assist research for a cure, education on prevention or relief from the problem was a good thing. So after much consideration it was decided that Arthritis Foundation of Australia would be the charity they would support.

SELECTING A VEHICLE

The next problem was the age of the Goldwing and the difficulty in finding parts in the case of breakdowns and general servicing. It became obvious that Big Bird could not be used to do this long treck for fear of constant delays finding parts in the outback. Safety was also an issue to consider especially when travelling on unsealed roads. Garry then had one of his regular brainwaves and decided a trike may be the way to go, so for the next three-day trip he hired a trike to see what they were like.

They both loved the experience even though it rained for the whole trip and they were soaked all the time. Unbelievable, in the midst of a drought, it rained continuously while they travelled. In their normal adventurous natures they simply put it down to good practice for conditions that could occur during their long journey if they did the event.

The decision was made and the search and research into trikes started. As an item that is not mass-produced, as is the case with standard motorbikes and other vehicles, there were limited sources to choose from. Each three-day break they would hire a different trike and the process of elimination started. It became obvious that a standard trike may not do the trick for the mammoth journey they were planning.

Eventually Garry found Ding Bob Trikes in Western Australia. Not exactly handy to the Gold Coast but in our electronic world and with the incredible foresight and support of the Ding Bob Trikes team the plans for a custom built trike began. The trike is now well on it's way to completion and has been nicknamed "Arthur" for "Arth-ritis" by the Ding Bob Trikes team and will remain so. 'Arthur' during construction >

NAMING THE EVENT

A name for the event was now an issue and many names were tossed around until finally it was decided that as this was a major treck around Australia that 'Trike Around Australia' would be perfect.

NEXT STAGE

Garry and Doreen are now in full swing contacting all Shire Councils around Australia planning the Itinerary and hope to visit over 750 towns during their trip. With a small two-person video production team travelling with them they plan to produce a documentary and gain valuable publicity to raise the profile of Arthritis Foundation of Australia.