PORTRAIT: Heather Ellis ...
I AM BECAUSE WE ARE
Life changing! A descriptor that is often used to ex-
plain long distance overland travel. Perhaps thrown out
too often, perhaps not enough. One example where it
rings true is that of Heather Ellis, author of Ubuntu: One
Womans Motorcycle Odyssey Across Africa and Timeless
On The Silk Road, her story inspires, shocks and leaves
you with nothing but admiration. We caught up with
Heather at her Victoria (Australia) home for a coffee,
cake and a chat …
Heather’s story goes back to growing up on an outback
Australian sheep station where she learnt to love motor-
cycles, the desert and indigenous cultures. That sense
of adventure stuck and in later years, yearning for more,
she left her job at the Ranger uranium mine in Australia’s
Northern Territory and set off for Africa … London (UK)
the target … before continuing through Central Asia back
to Australia. It began 25 years ago when motorcycle trav-
el was a rarity, especially for a solo rider and a female at
that.
“When I did Africa I’d never travelled on a motorcy-
cle,” Heather laughs. “I’d ridden short trips, day trips,
overnight camping trips on the trail bike around Kakadu
with friends and so forth but I’d never travelled any-
where on a bike.”
It was this sense of just getting on with it that endears
Heather to so many, in fact, her positivity quickly rubs
off onto anyone in close contact. It’s hard to deny that
meeting Heather changes your perspective perhaps even
your life, her perspective is different, and it soon has you
seeing things a little differently too.
“People often say to me, ‘oh, it was different when you
went travelling – the worlds different now” there is an
intensity in her eyes that suggests that she disagrees. “I
don’t think it is, I don’t think things change that much,
people are still people, they’re still generally very kind
and interested in what you’re doing.”
Connection is a strong theme in Heather’s conversa-
tion, connection with people, environment and condi-
tions. Believing that this is what makes the difference
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