Veteran Garth Murray and assistance dog Max make it to Sydney in mental health journey

Townsville veteran Garth Murray and his assistance dog Max had to dig deep to make it all the way to Sydney in as part of their walk around Australia. Get the update on their journey.

Townsville Veteran Garth Murray and his Assistance Dog Max have reached Sydney on their long walk around Australia for a good cause. Picture: Supplied

Townsville veteran Garth Murray and his assistance dog Max have reached Sydney on their long walk around Australia for a good cause.

The pair left Townsville at the end of September with Murray hitching up a customised fully loaded 120kg trailer, aiming to raise at least $300,000 for the Australian veterans’ charity, Mates4Mates, Act for Kids and the Brain Foundation.

Murray spent 15 years in the Army as a stores person before getting a medical discharge after breaking his neck.

He said that eight months after breaking his neck his mental health faltered and Max helped with his mental health and anxiety.

Townsville Veteran Garth Murray and his Assistance Dog Max have reached Sydney on their long walk around Australia for a good cause. Picture: Supplied

The have now pair reached Sydney after 94 days but Murray almost called it quits early on their journey after a series of punctures almost broke his spirit.

“We had 11 or 12 punctures very early on and very quickly. It was very demoralising,” Murray said.

Townsville Veteran Garth Murray and his Assistance Dog Max have reached Sydney on their long walk around Australia for a good cause. Picture: Supplied

“I was still uncertain about whether or not I’d finish it. I’d be walking along, enjoying the day, and then minute later I just would just start thinking, why am I doing this? I should just quit.

“So it was certainly up and down and a lot of mental battles, but once I saw a sign with different distances to different towns, and had Brisbane on there, and I realised I walked over halfway to Brisbane.

“That just changed my mindset completely.”

Murray said he had been overwhelmed by the generosity of people he and Max had encountered along his journey.

“The highlights have been the generosity of complete strangers, offering me a place to stay, offering me a shower, offering to cook a meal for me. Some people pull over not even know what I’m doing, and offer me cold water or cold sports drinks,” he said.

Townsville Veteran Garth Murray and his Assistance Dog Max have reached Sydney on their long walk around Australia for a good cause. Picture: Supplied

“Just the generosity of strangers has just completely blown me away.”

Murray has been averaging 32km per day and lost a staggering 20kg since he began the trek with the pair mostly setting up camp near the highway at the end of each day’s walk.

“If I don’t have a certain point I need to be by a certain time, then I don’t set an alarm. I just wake up when I wake up,” he said.

“Then sometimes I’ll try to get back to sleep if it’s too early, if I’m not feeling the best, as in, still feeling tired or fatigued. Then I just get up and give myself and Max breakfast and then start to pack up and get ready to walk away.”

Townsville Veteran Garth Murray and his Assistance Dog Max have reached Sydney on their long walk around Australia for a good cause. Picture: Supplied

Murray said Max would walk part of the way and if he got tired would rest on a purpose-made bed on the tailer.

“He definitely loves the walking. I just put him up on his bed which is on top of the trailer if he looks like he’s got sore feet or if he looks like he’s tired or anything,” he said.

“Max’s got cover from the rain and from the sun, but he just goes up there and just looks around. He seems to enjoy that.

“I have an alarm said each day, so that way, I check the road at 11am daylight savings time, to make sure the road’s not too hot, or the area we’re walking isn’t too hot for him and if it looks like it’s getting too hot, then I’ll put him up on the trailer.”

Townsville Veteran Garth Murray and his Assistance Dog Max have reached Sydney on their long walk around Australia for a good cause. Selfie with Penn Jillette. Picture: Supplied

He stopped in Sydney for six days to catch up with an army mate, rest and see the sights including the Sydney Harbour Bridge and Opera House and even took a selfie with US celebrity Penn Jillette from Penn and Teller.

“I just recognised him, I said, ‘how you’re doing’. He replied, and I didn’t quite hear him, so I said it again, just to listen for the accent, to make sure it was him. I didn’t want to make it fool of myself. I was just walking past at the right time, right place,” Murray said.

Townsville Veteran Garth Murray and his Assistance Dog Max have reached Sydney on their long walk around Australia for a good cause. Picture: Supplied

His next milestone is reaching Geelong and then catching the ferry across to Tasmania but first he has set his walking shoes towards Canberra.

Murray regularly posts to his FB page set up for the trek called Garth and Max’s Australia Lap and was encouraged by messages of support and also the support of strangers they met on the road.

“It does feel good to see that people are supporting. I’ve had people give me cash to buy meals. I’ve had a lady and her daughter who transferred me their Woolworths gift cards so I could buy groceries,” he said.

“I’ve been completely blown away by the support of people. But I think this is a bit more of an internal thing where you just need to have it in yourself to keep going, because it’s been very easy to quit.”

To date the pair have raised $24,626 towards their goal and Murray said he was grateful for all donations.

“Donations big or small, they all count. I’ve been very grateful for people donating, because if everyone who follows the page donated $5 then that’ll be quite a bit of money,” Murray said.

“I just want to thank all the people who have supported, either through donations or through cold water or anything else, and the people who’ve made the donations and the sponsors. Without all of those, then this wouldn’t be happening.”

To follow his journey or to donate go to Garth and Max’s Australia Lap Facebook page.

Originally published as Veteran Garth Murray and assistance dog Max make it to Sydney in mental health journey