on my own and I didn ’ t feel like hard working people should give me money to be travelling . He understood but thought this was a bit of a different case and cause . He thought people who had followed me would like to be able to help . Reluctantly I agreed .
Sitting in my room I knew not what to do , then remembered how the police had said that Tess could just get dumped in the desert . I called the local helicopter tourist agency to see how much it would cost to hire a flight for an hour .
After explaining my situation and that I didn ’ t care about looking at Uluru ( Ayers Rock ), they said they ’ d already heard about the situation and were flying lower than normal and changing routes to keep a look out for the bike . I was so thankful , and the price was way out of my league .
Feeling helpless , I knew I couldn ’ t just sit around while Tess was out there . I walked to the local town square where Aboriginal groups were sitting around creating art for tourists or just hanging around .
For the next couple of hours , I worked my way through all the different groups , giving them my spiel .
“ Hello . How are you doing ?”, I asked as I showed them a photo of my bike as I sat with them .
The response was often a funny look , yet I didn ’ t miss a beat and explained that this , with me , had been on a very big ‘ walkabout ’. I explained that we had travelled around the world for three years and were almost home .
Nods and smiles before I went on to say that I had awoken this morning to find my bike gone . Somebody had taken it .
Continuing that it was like my best friend I would get varying responses , “ Oh , I saw that in our community early this morning ” or “ I heard it ”, often accented with , “ did you call the police ?”
“ Well I have travelled to many countries ,” was often my response . “ In some countries the police are good and in some they are not so .
“ I am not from this country , so I don ’ t know if the police here are good or bad but here is my phone number ,” handing them a piece of paper with my number on it .
“ I know whoever took it just wanted to have a little fun ,” I continue . “ It ’ s time for it to come back to me so I can complete my ‘ walkabout ’ and go home . If you know anything , please call me and no one will get in any trouble . I just want my bike back .”
Responses were varied , “ you will get it back ”, or “ I ’ ll talk to the elders , we hope you get it back .”
Walking between groups I had a couple of different people walk up and say they knew who took it . One suggested that , after speaking with the Uncle of the guy who took it , it was now in another community . This information was passed on to the police .
Mentally , emotionally drained I went back to my room . Birchy contacted me regarding the GoFundMe to say it had taken off , I was humbled and overwhelmed . We both agreed that the fund should be stopped , we ’ d reached a higher amount than anticipated and this was about just covering unexpected costs and not making a profit .
Shortly after a phone call came from the police saying they thought they ’ d found one of my bags . A photo was sent , and I confirmed it was . I was told it was out in the desert , on a track , that headed towards another community but there was no sign of my bike only a few tracks .
Checking in with my socials was amazing , the support and exposure humbling . In such a tough time it really did make a difference . I felt like I wasn ’ t in this alone and people were really feeling for me , doing what they could to help .
David checked in , I explained I had a flight booked for the next day . He suggested I stay an extra day just incase they found the bike . He ’ d take care of changing my flights and said I should go and have a nice dinner booked to the room . He wanted me to stay positive . I reluctantly agreed , realising that he was going well above and beyond .
Considering myself to be a realist I was preparing for the worst ; I was resigned that I would never get Tess back . Feeling down , I sat in my room early that evening when an unexpected phone call came from the police .
Suggesting they had found my bike they sent a photograph , and there she was . The decals had been taken off , the bike spray painted black and anything that could be removed had been . Some suggested that it wasn ’ t the same bike , but to me , there was no question . No other KTM500 was going to have that combination of components that made it unique . Haan wheels , different pegs , sidestand and the Molecule Motosports skid plate all made Tess unique . The skid plate hadn ’ t even been released in Australia .
Tess looked like shit , but I didn ’ t care it was her ! I couldn ’ t believe it , tears welled in my eyes .
Thanking the police wasn ’ t enough , I had to know where and how ?
They replied it was found in a small place called Amata just over the border in South Australia . The bush telegraph had been working overtime all day , and the locals saw how much exposure it was getting on social media . Even though a couple of the police weren ’ t supposed to be working that Sunday night they ’ d decided to follow up on the leads , they too were into motorcycles .
Again , it was an example of people going above and beyond .
I called David to let him know that the bike had been found , he said he ’ d
TRAVERSE 106