approach my camps. I’d been left
alone.
Chance meetings often revealed
the best in people and that someone
was looking out for me. At Well 41
I’d approached Steve, a traveller in a
Unimog, a mechanic by trade. He’d
been repairing a punctured tyre,
taking one look at my bike he simply
said, “You’re not going to get very far
without that.”
A missing nut that held the sub-
frame and engine together. Amaz-
ingly, Steve had the right sized nut in
his toolbox. It kept me going. I just
couldn’t believe it.
I rode with Steve, Carol his wife
and the fellow Unimoggers the re-
mainder of that day, making camp
with them for the night where I was
treated to fish fillets, roast potatoes
and coleslaw for dinner. It was fol-
lowed by scones and blueberry damp-
er for dessert. I was spoilt rotten.
Feeling fresh the following morn-
ing, I had less than 350 kilometres
remaining and wanted to get it done.
My time in camp with the Unimog-
gers was the perfect way to sign off
on the Canning Stock Route.
“Thanks again guys,” as I said my
goodbyes.
“Just pay it forward mate,” Steve’s
words stuck with me and forever will.
“Just pay it forward.”
Tearing through the bush with all
the confidence of a man on a mis-
sion, I again caught and passed Will
and Lorraine, as if they’d been with
me the entire way on the track. It
was good to see them, but I rode on
with a desire to be finished as quick
as I could, I was riding recklessly and
didn’t have time for people.
The following day I eventually
made it to the Wolfe Creek Crater,
something I had dreamt about for
ages. As I stood looking into the
crater from the rim, I realised I had
just crossed every desert in Australia.
I just had the Tanami Road to get past
to finish it off.
Sitting I thought about all that I
had seen and done, not only in the
past 30 days, but the last 2 years of my
life. I remembered the complete fear
I had felt the first time I rode my mo-
torbike not even 20 months previous.
It had been quite the journey.
I now knew that there were other
things that needed my attention. Yes,
I had done this amazing thing, but
TRAVERSE
98
it had come at a huge cost. My rela-
tionships had all suffered. My family
had been worried sick about me. My
business was failing. I needed to
switch my focus to the things that
really mattered.
It had been the journey of a life-
time. My saddle bags were held
together with over 100 cable ties.
The bristles of my toothbrush were
stained red from the fine dust. I had
lost close to 10 kg during my time in
the sand. It had been nothing short
of an odyssey and I owed it to myself
to make sure something came of it.
I’d learnt so much by facing my
fears. I now knew what I am capa-
ble of. Not knowing what will come
next is exciting, it forces you to smile,
grip the bars and go with it. And as
I spoke with the girl on the security
gate, I realised that life is a daring
adventure … BB
Benji is an adventurer who can't sit still,
he'll be off again soon, mentoring indigenous
kids in outback Australia, leading tours in Mo-
rocco and planning the next record creating
ride. Keep up with his adventures at -
daring2venture.com.au