Progress around Australia
| Date | kms today | Overnighting | Comments |
| 1/3 | 58.7 | Brooklyn | David experienced a broken seat at Turramurra and as a result has injured his back |
| 2/3 | 93.5 | Newcastle | David has travelled a total of 152 k with 30 more to go before he beds down for the night. He will decide whether to stay in Newcastle or use the by-pass overnight. |
| 5/3 | 76 (approx 160 over the weekend) | Taree | David lost the Gear Storage Rack over the weekend. The Bulahdelah Hardware shop assisted him with tools and hardware to fix the problem. He remains fit. |
| 6/3 | 88 | Port Macquaire | He had to back track for photos at Taree and ran into a truck accident. |
| 7/3 | 58 | Kempsey | Feeling tired so he had a short run today. |
| 8/3 | 72 | Nambucca Heads | Road through rain today and had photos taken at LJ Hooker Nambucca Heads and is spending the night in a luxury apartment by the beautiful bay compliments of LJ Hooker |
| 9/3 | 65 | Moonee Beach | Called into LJH Coffs Harbour and pushed on to Moonee Beach where the Friday traffic became unbearable. He has stopped and will cook himself a lamb roast tonight. |
| 12/3 | 88 | New Woodburn | Had to rebuild his wheel over the weekend. Didn’t get to LJH Grafton |
| 13/3 | 35 | Ballina | Experienced heavy rain and dangerous conditions. Will stop and start early tomorrow. Washing to be done. |
| 14/3 | 88 | Coolangatta area | Bad connection on mobile. Called in to LJH Coolangatta. |
| 15/3 | 40 | Around Nerang area | Had to stop in the park at Currumbin and change the shaft and the axel on the bike. Still feeling very fit. |
| 16/3 | 52 | Beanleigh | Warm welcome at L.J. Hooker Nerang, lots of photos and fundraising. Had to travel on back streets and cycle ways approaching Brisbane, difficult riding. |
| 19/3 | 70 | Gympie | |
| 20/3 | Stay over | Gympie | Getting very hot and tropical. Need to have a day rest for his legs. Water is a problem as the creeks have algae and the road run off pollutes them. It was better for the pioneers. Should be in Townsville in 10 days. |
| 21/3 | 70 or more | Stopped in Tiaro just south of Maryborough. Trying to ride early to beat the heat. Needed to oil the rack on the bike today. Roads getting quieter as he rides away from the major centres. | |
| 22/3 | 85 | Childers | Rode through some rain today to stayed in a hotel to sort himself out. |
| 23/3 | 70 (total 1500k so far) | Gin Gin | The rack on the bike broke again and has tried to weld it back on with little success. Future progress depends on what he find at the rubbish tip tomorrow to fix the rack. |
| 26/3 | Gladstone | Managed to find a perfect rack over the weekend at the dump in Gin Gin and bolted in on. Called in to LJ Hooker Gladstone and they presented him with a cheque for $200 and took photos for the newspaper. Also repaired his peddle bracket free of labour charge at M1 Cycles at Gladstone. | |
| 27/3 | 110 | Rockhampton | Has had rear wheel trouble today will have to stop in Rockhampton for two nights to repair the damage. Ran into Teresa Carlson one of our Great Escape supporters today on the road. |
| 28/3 | Rockhampton | It took David 7 hours of repairs to re mount the mud guard and have the bike in running order again He was assisted by “Different Cycles” in Rockhampton who donated their fee back to CF. | |
| 29/3 | 110 | Malborough | Good day on the bike. Started with Newspaper interview at LJ Hooker Rockhampton where they presented David with $110 and a “Passport” for all LJH offices to sign along the way. Feeling a little pressure on his feet today. |
| 30/3 | 107 | Claireview | 2 flat tyres today, but in all a good ride. Will ride into Sarina tomorrow to pay a visit to L.J. Hooker. |
| 2/4 | 168 (257 over the last weekend) | Homehill | David is riding well with only small problems arising. Had the replace a spoke today. |
| 3/4 | 102 | Townsville | David has arrived in Townsville. Teresa Carlson escorted him into Town with her Great Escape Rally Car, horns and whistles blowing. He will rest here and repair the troublesome rack properly. He will be heading into the dry country soon and needs to have water storage working. |
| Easter Break | David has spent the Easter break with his family in Townsville making repairs to his bike and raising CF Awareness by appearing at Cotters Market on Easter Sunday. The event was organised by Ms Teresa Carlson who is a major fundraiser for CF. Teresa donned her clown outfit and had Ron Pullman from “Kool Kids Entertainment” make balloon animals. Ron’s nephew has CF and he was happy to donate his time. CF brochures and ribbons were handed out and David’s presence helped raise the profile of CF. He has also roped Teresa in to riding with him for three days when he leaves Townsville. | ||
| 11/4 | 114 | Ingham | Teresa’s first day on the bike with David was long and hot. An elderly couple stopped and gave them grapes and water. David had to wait for her along the way sometimes but they pulled into Ingham at 4:00 pm and were greeted by the Deambrogio family who have a daughter Lauren who has CF. Lauren will be 6 in July, and she enjoyed a very special time having her photo taken on the back of David’s bike. Wonderful friendships are being formed along the way. |
| 12/4 | 112 | Tully | Teresa needs a hairdresser and a manicure but she is holding up well. They met a French family on tandem bikes today and exchanged tales of their journeys. David is riding well and enjoying the company. |
| 17/4 | total 3073! | Mareeba | Teresa left David after they rode into Cairns on Friday night the 13 April. Their journey together was eventful finishing with David getting a puncture just 10 ks from Cairns in the dark at 7:00 pm. They finally pulled into town at 8:00 pm. David arrived in Mareeba on Monday the 16 April and has stayed two days as he feeling a little flu coming on. He banked over $400 today that he and Teresa collected between Townsville and Mareeba.
Well done Teresa, we are proud of you. David is off to Karumba tomorrow. |
| 23/4 | 125 (3333 total) | Mt Surprise | David was riding through the Atherton Tablelands over the past four days and was out of mobile range. He is well now and riding well, the bike has been in good condition the last few days. David road through the highest point in Queensland over the weekend at Ravens hoe and he hoes to be in George town for Anzac Day. He is experiencing the road trains along the road now. |
| 30/4 | 80 | Karumba | Contact with David has been difficult over the past few days owing to no mobile phone service in the area he is riding. He was also unwell when he reached Croydon due to the heat and terrain. He will now rest for two days in Karumba and tend to the bike, have a good meal and sleep. He has been living on baked beans the past few days and sleeping under the stars. The mosquitos have been bad the last week but David has coped well. The Gilbert River is still flowing so water won’t be a problem for a while. |
| 3/5 | 80kms backwards | Normanton | David has had to back track to Normanton from Karumba to await new tyres being delivered from Cairns. He hopes they will arrive tomorrow in time for him to make Mt Isa in approximately 6 days. Tonight he will bed down in the local caravan park and make a stew. |
| 8/5 | Total 4,304 ks
400 in the last four days | Cloncurry | David has not been contactable since Normanton. He has arrived in Cloncurry today after surviving on 4 tins of tuna, rice, a bag of nuts and small bag of biscuits. He has lost weight due to riding in 35+ temperatures, he will try to make Mt Isa either tomorrow or Thursday. |
| 9/5 | 140 | Mt. Isa | David has reached Mount Isa after a long ride in hot temperatures. He will meet up with L.J. Hooker Office after a rest. |
| David will spend another day in Mount Isa to prepare for the stretch ahead. He will have 180 K’s without water followed by 300 k’s without water. He will need to develop a way to carry more water on the bike. After tonight he will be sleeping under the stars for a while. He remains well and the bike is good. He may need a hair cut soon! | |||
| 10-15/5 | David has not been contactable by mobile phone. He did make Barkley Homestead and Three WaysRoad House during this time. | ||
| 16/5 | Total 5110kms | David is on schedule for reaching Darwin by 65 Roses day. He has about 1200 k to travel. | |
| 23/5 | Mataranka | The changes in time zone have been confusing David, so he is now wearing two watches. He is sharing the road with huge numbers of caravans and meeting lots of grey nomads. He is sleeping under the stars at the moment in either red dust or brown mud, and is looking forward to a shower and bed in Katherine were he will meet up with his mother. | |
| 29/5 | Total 6100 | Adelaide River | David reached Darwin on May 30. He has had two meetings with L.J. Hooker Darwin. They welcomed him to town yesterday evening and gave him two nights in a comfortable hotel. A very welcome soft bed. David returned to the office this morning to have a photo session with a CF family, the Johnson family with their son Brodie. The Northern Territory News will publish the story. David will head back towards Katherine tomorrow to continue on his journey. |
| 1/6 | Still in Darwin | David stayed in Darwin an extra day as he decided to replace the saddle on the bike, After a tour of the bike shops he managed to find the holy grail- a Brookes B17 which is a replica of the ones the early riders used in the 1890’s. He has also replaced the chain and put on new tyres. He can now carry two bags of 10 litres of water to assist him through the areas where water is scarce. He will head off tomorrow. | |
| 2/6 | 112 | ||
| 3/6 | 117 | Bachelor | |
| 4/6 | 114 | Adelaide River | |
| 5/6 | 70 Total of 6030 | Katherine | David met the Chief Minister of the Northern Territory Ted Egan and the Commander of the HMAS Coonawarra who gave him donations for CF in Darwin. He has ridden through the Lichfield National Park over the last two days and met up with a man who is doing a similar ride to David so they swapped stories for a while. He has also had a spider bite and an ant bite that caused a small reaction in him. He felt unwell yesterday but is back feeling good today. He will stay in Katherine for two days and prepare to head west. |
| 13/6 | 600km in past 5 days | Halls Creek | David has completed 600kms in the past five days and is feeling just a little wiry. He was relaxing this morning before setting off to Halls Creek, then onto the Bungle Bungles. As he will be travelling through remote areas for a few days David has had to take extra food and water supplies with him. |
| 19/6 | 7685 | Heading out for the 290 K journey to Fitzroy Crossing | David arrived in Halls Creek on the 17th June. He is experiencing very heavy rain and has a wet tent to sleep in at present. In spite of this he is enjoying the ride through the scrub areas of the out back. He expects to take about three days to reach Fitzroy Crossing. |
| 22/6 | Halls Creek | David has had to remain in Halls Creek. The long awaited rain the area has been hoping for has arrived. He has caught a cold and will lay low until the wet stops. As there is literally nothing between Halls Creek and Fitzroy Crossing he can’t risk the weather becoming worse. The tent is dry inside so he will get a good book and push on in better weather. | |
| 26/6 | 7988 ks totaal | Fitzroy Crossing | David set off for Fitzroy Crossing in the rain and had to bush camp last night in the wet. Fortunately the sun is out this morning and he is drying off. He is about 300 k’s past the half way mark now and is feeling fit. The last couple of days have been a trial as speed has been hard to maintain in the weather. He has made good time despite this issue. The bike is running well and he will change one tyre over here. |
| 20/7 | 9,290 so far | Dampier | Davis arrived in Port Headland with a persistent cold bothering him. The lovely people at the Cook Point Caravan Park have given him, a cabin to sleep in so hopefully he will recover quickly. He has met with a member of the CF WA Board on his travels and they congratulated David on his wonderful ride. |
| 30/7 | David had a few days rest for himself and the bike – did "major repairs" to do on the gear box, kindly assisted by Carratha bike store. David is leaving for Exmouth today, was in the midst of repacking. He anticipates being in Exmouth either this Saturday or Sunday - he will touch base with us when he can by end of this week - will anticipate another 500k clocked up by end of the week. Media: David mentioned he did a photoshoot with local Carratha newspaper and the team at LJH - went well. | ||
| 16/8 | Carnavon | David is in Coral Bay today. Carnavon tomorrow he hopes. Will ring me from then to determine rough ETA into Perth. Will not go down to Monkey Mia as this stage as an extra 300kms. David is hoping to touch base with Leanne More who has CF and he knows as– going into hospital | |
| 20/8 | Rest Day 10,775kms total | Carnavon | David is taking a rest day today – was meant to meet with the Russian-born bike rider who is cycling around Australia – the bike rider was tragically killed by a truck – had only 70kms to go. |
| 21/8 | David has 480 kilometres to ride to Geraldton and then onto Perth. He has a serious objection to paying the $45 for a mixed grill the Road Houses are charging so has stocked up well on food he can carry on the bike. Fresh water will be available along the road. | ||
| 28/8 | 11,225 total | North Hampton | David is just two hours outside Geraldton and feels he will reach Perth by next Monday. It has been humid and cool so he is experiencing hot and cold riding. The North Hampton Caravan Park gave him a bed for the night so he had a good sleep in yesterday. He is starting to experience busier traffic as he nears Perth. He was hoping to visit The Hutt River Province but it would have added 80 kilometres to his travels so decided against the extra time it involved. He continues to bank donations to CF along the way. |
| 28/8 | David has done a radio interview with ABC regional in the Geraldton area today. He spoke for 15 minutes on Cystic Fibrosis and his epic ride. He has been given two nights in the Bel Air Caravan Park at a greatly reduced rate. | ||
| 31/8 | 89 | David is travelling down the outside coast road and on his way into Perth he will visit the Pinnicles this weekend. Hopes to be in Perth by Monday, Tuesday at the latest. | |
| 4/9 | David is just 40 Kilometres from Perth. His bike is in good condition and he is riding well. He will spend about three days in Perth visiting the CF WA office and connecting with L.J. Hooker | ||
| 5/6-9 | Perth | David was Welcomed at CF WA with a sign on the front door. CF WA were lucky to have Glenn Shorock of Little River Band in the office the day after David arrived. Did a separate press call featuring the 2 of them. We took happy snaps of David and Glenn Shorock; the bike and the State Manager of LJ Hooker for our newsletters. Lunch with LJ Hooker was arranged in the office on Friday, the State Manager of LJ Hooker attended. David has had a skin cancer removed from his temple while in Perth. He will need to careful for a while to allow the wound to heal properly. He will cut his riding hours down a little for few days. | |
| 10/9 | 11,969 total | Mandurah | David almost ran over Susie Quartro riding out of Perth along a cycle track. She was running towards him, I have the feeling he would have quite liked to have stopped for awhile with Susie!! |
| 13/9 | Mandurah | Davis has rested for three days at the beautiful Timber Top Caravan park in Mandurah. Their hospitality has been very welcome while his head wound has been healing. David will miss the dwarf rabbits they keep to mow the grass down and all the other animals on the site. He battled fierce winds last night but the new tent he purchased in Perth was fantastic and held together well. As he heads toward Bunbury he will be passing the 12,000 k mark. What a fantastic achievement!! | |
| 18/9 | 12,200 total | Busselton | David rode into Busselton yesterday and has spent two nights at The Kookaburra Caravan Park. He continues to bank donations along the way. He is still battling strong winds and is finding the ride harder. Stopping often is not worrying him as this area has so much for him to see. He will head out for the Margaret River area tomorrow. |
| 20/9 | Augusta | David spent Wednesday night in the Margaret River. It is raining now and he has wet tent to contend with. He will ride into Augusta tonight. | |
| 21/9 | Augusta | David rode down to see Cape Leeuwin today, definitely worth the detour. | |
| 24/9 | Nannup | David has made it as far as Nannup. He has been battling strong winds making he ride hard. He is battening down the hatches today and tonight in the local Caravan Park as 150 K winds are expected followed by an electrical storm. We will call him regularly to keep track of him. So far the tent has held up well. David has indicated to me there is really no where for him to take shelter in a building so he will ride the storm out. | |
| 26/9 | 12,482 Total K.s | Manjimup | The temperature has dropped and wind and rain is still making the ride difficult for David. He has met a CF family here. They are very pleased to see David’s ride is raising awareness for CF. He hopes to make it to Albany by the weekend.
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| 28/9 | Walpole | David is very cold; the temperature is getting as low as 3 degrees. The wind and rain is still a problem and he is very sick of it. The tent has been wet now for three weeks, so he stayed in the Youth Hostel at Walpole last night. He has not been able to cook food during the wet. he has been surviving on sandwiches and other cold foods. He will make Albany by tomorrow morning and will look for dry accommodation inside. | |
| 5/10 | 12,741 total | Albany | David reached Albany on Saturday afternoon in pouring rain. He was glad to have a little sunshine today to ride down to “Whale World” at the old whaling station. He will stay a couple of days to regroup and dry out. |
| 5/10 | David is in Jerramungup. He is now riding through hills in wheat country. He camped in the oval of the Wallstead Public School a couple of night ago, thank you for your hospitality! Last night a kangaroo arrived in David’s tent hoping to share his dinner. He has some radio and newspaper interviews lined up for the end of the week. | ||
| 6/10 | Esperance | ||
| 8/10 | Esperance | David is staying in Esperance, due to leave on Wednesday morning, 10 October; he will load his bike for a photo opp with Esperance News as he leaves town. David said he expects to be in Norseman on Thursday evening or Friday morning; he will text Carmelle who will reply when he settles in Norseman. | |
| 10/10 | David had a photo session with Esperance News which went well; he will depart for Norseman in the afternoon. | ||
| 14/10 | 13,449Kms total | Norseman | David departing Norseman 10.15am |
| 29/10 | 14,695Kms total | Departing Ceduna lunch time; crossed the Nullarbor in 14 days! Lots of storms and inclement weather; riding to Port Augusta – ETA this Friday | |
| 5/11 | 15,110kms total | Iron Knob | David has been delayed the past week with flash flooding. Riding has been difficult
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| 7/11 | 15,265 total | Port Germein | Still experiencing weather extremes as he heads down Highway 1 to Adelaide. |
| 9/11 | Port Wakefield | David is 35 Ks from Adelaide and has ridden 60 Ks by midday. He will make Adelaide this afternoon. The weather is better today after 50 k headwinds yesterday. He will do a radio interview today and find some new tyres over the weekend. He would also like to make contact with the family of the bike rider he met in August who was killed just a few short kilometres from his finish.
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| 13/11 | Total leaving Adelaide 15,556 Ks | Adelaide | David has had a good rest in Adelaide staying with relatives and catching up with the family of his kindred friend on the road tragically killed so close to home. His family are organising a road safety awareness campaign where 70 bike riders will complete the last 70 k,s into Adelaide he failed to ride on his own journey. We wish them well and express our condolences to all his family. |
| 19/11 | David continues to bank money along the road for CF. | ||
| 21/11 | We spoke with David a few times today, the last being around 8pm at night in a text message saying he was running slow, cold weather, he felt tired and has a head cold but still pushing on. | ||
| 22/11 | Warrnambool | An article & photo of David Nelson is in the current edition of ‘Australian Cyclist Magazine’ He is a STAR. David stayed at the Log Cabin Motel in Warrnambool hosted by the kindness of Barry Murrell. | |
| 26/11 | 16,378 total k’s | Left Colac this morning, now on his way to Geelong. David did a radio interview today in Geelong. On the for breakfast program 7am – 9am on 947 The Pulse FM Michelle Suiter He needs a new, special tyre for the bike He has a bad cold, said he was a little malnourished, but ok and trying to feel better for Melbourne. | |
| 28/11 | Arrive Melbourne | David arrived in Melbourne today at 11am CF Victoria have welcomed him with morning tea and welcome committee. The wonderful Kate is arranging some new tyres for him from the Abbotsford Bike Shop in Richmond. | |
| 30/11 | David is leaving Melbourne today the Channel 31 interview he said went very well and will be interviewed on 2SER on Tuesday morning. David also said CF Victoria were great and appreciated all their efforts. |
