LONG BICYCLE RIDE

Dominion, Volume 30, Issue 255, 24 July 1937, Page 2 (Supplement)

LONG BICYCLE RIDE

Encircling 1 Australia “When I complete this ride I never wish to see another bicycle,” said Mrs. C. J. McDonald, North Sydney, when she arrived at Darwin recently, accompanied by her husband, -with whom she is cycling round Australia. Mr. and Mrs. McDonald left Sydney in September, and have travelled through Melbourne, Adelaide, and Perth. Once they had to climb a tree to escape a bull.

“It has been a most gruelling and exhausting time,” Mrs. McDonald continued, “and times out of number I have nearly fallen off the bicycle through sheer tiredness. Although I am determined to complete the ride and be the first woman to cycle round the continent, I will be overjoyed when we discard our machines at Sydney. As a Scot, however, the only feature of the trip that has appealed to me is the fact that we estimate that the journey and the cost of living for a year will be only about £15.”

Between Broome and Derby Mrs. McDonald lost her purse, containing all the money that they possessed, and for days they cycled back on their tracks and unsuccessfully searched shoulder-high grass for the purse. The day before they crossed from Western Australia into the Northern Territory they were obliged to climb a tree to escape from a bull, and sat on an uncomfortable perch for two hours, while the enraged beast pawed the ground and occasionally charged the tree. Mrs. McDonald was terror-stricken that she would be shaken off.

Mr. McDonald, who is a painter, said that he set out on the trip because he could not find work in Sydney. He hoped to find casual work along the jyay,