Tyler Redway
A SYDNEY man on a mission to walk 4000 kilometres took a brief stop in Mount Gambier this week, as he takes some big steps towards his fundraising goal.
Richard Van Pijlen, known as Freeway Ricardo on social media, shared his experience so far with his coast-to-coast goal of walking from Sydney to Perth for Landcare Australia.
Mr Van Pijlen has been on the move since May this year with an aim to walk more than 4000 kilometres to the city of Perth due to his adventurous spirit and his continued interest in Western Australia’s Nullarbor desert.
“From a very young age, I remember hearing stories about it,” Mr Van Pijlen said.
“I was born in Holland and it’s a very small place, I think it fits in Tasmania about three times.
“That is what has always inspired me is how there are big open spaces here along with nature.”
He added that he wanted to make this journey to take a break from being a painter for 53 years, as well as to see the country in an entirely different way than anyone else.
“I wanted to meet the people along the way and it’s above my expectations for what I’ve come across,” he said.
“I’ve never done anything like this before, this is sort of a once-in-a-lifetime thing.”
Mr Van Pijlen said in order to prepare for this task, he used to take the bus into the main city of Sydney, then walk back to his home.
“When I first did it, it would take a few days for me to recover but your body really gets used to what I’m doing now,” he said.
“On Sunday, [August 7] I walked nearly 50km and this morning I felt fine.”
Mr Van Pijlen said he did not regret anything, even if he had been walking through the harshest conditions such as wind, rain and the cold nights.
He also said that he found shelter in bus stops and barbecue areas, as well as a few occasions where he slept in a car.
“Many times, people pull off on the roads and say ‘what are you doing here? It’s raining, put your things in my car and I’ll give you a lift’,” he said.
“I’ll tell them that this is my walking journey and after a while of talking, they start to understand.”
He mentioned that he probably would not do something like this again, but said he loved the challenge and making a difference for the future generations.
Mr Van Pijlen said that he would sometimes look at the map while thinking he had not made any progress, as it seemed to get progressively easier to cover ground with each day that he continued on his journey.
“I think if I was walking from Perth to Sydney, it would have been a whole different scenario because I would have faced the Nullarbor straight away,” he said.
“This way, I have found that it’s almost like training before I go to the Nullarbor.”
He finished off by saying that he encouraged everyone to do everything and how people have been inspired purely by how he continues his business as he has been for the past few months.
“I do think that when you start analysing things too much, you probably would never do it,” Mr Van Pijlen said.
“I haven’t got much planned at all, I take it day-to-day and I’m just really listening to people and getting advice on the next best section ahead.”
He has set an end goal of $10,000, which would be enough for Landcare Australia to plant one million trees back into the environment.
Donations can be made through his Instagram page.
