Unique travellers share their fundraising journeys as they travel to FNQ
From walking, cycling, scooting, and even flying a microlight, four inspiring travellers have shared what’s driving their epic journeys into Far North Queensland.
Cairns
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From being hit by a car, getting pulled over by police and braving 90-degree heat in the middle of summer, four inspiring travellers share their unusual methods of getting to Far North Queensland, while raising money or awareness for causes close to their hearts.
TOMMY QUICK
Embodying the phrase “what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger” is ambitious recumbent cyclist Tommy Quick.
After suffering a stroke at 12 years of age, Mr Quick made it his mission to cycle to all four points of Australia on his recumbent bicycle, and not even a car accident has been able to stop him.
Speaking on his behalf, mother Rena Quick, who was driving in the safety vehicle behind her son, said the accident happened while travelling through South Australia.
“We were loaned an old ambulance from Ambulance Victoria and had all the signage up and flashing lights but were overtaken by a car who must not have seen him,” Mrs Quick said.
The car overtook Mrs Quick and her husband and T-boned their son.
“He T-boned Tommy on the side; we didn’t think he was going to live,” Mrs Quick said.
“It was very traumatic to watch your son get crushed on the road in front of you.”
Mr Quick was rushed to hospital in Adelaide where he stayed for a month before returning to Melbourne to rehabilitate at home.
“He’s not as strong as he used to be and he cycles shorter distances now, but he hasn’t let it stop him,” Mrs Quick said.
While making the gruelling journey to Cape York, Mr Quick stops at schools to speak to students about young stroke victims, and to promote inclusivity among disabled students.
“People don’t realise that children, young adults, babies, can stroke, so that’s what most of this is about and also about social inclusion for people with disabilities to be included and part of society,” Mrs Quick said.
Mr Quick is expected to arrive in Cairns about June 24, and hopes to reach the end of his journey about July 24.
He said his biggest challenge so far was staying focused as he cycled on the road alone.
“Staying focused is the most difficult because it’s such a long day and most of the time I’m on my own,” Mr Quick said.
He said he was looking forward to joining more riders in Cairns ahead of the Cape York stretch.
Follow his story at the4points.org.
BAILEY SEAMER
Mental health advocate Bailey Seamer began her journey to walk the east coast of Australia toward the end of 2022, after a mental health battle that left her in hospital.
“I started this walk, inspired by my own journey with mental illness – bipolar disorder,” Ms Seamer said.
“I had an epiphany in a mental health hospital at 19. I signed myself out and walked 30km to my family home, and it became my cathartic outlet.”
Now that outlet has become a way to give hope to others who struggle with mental illness.
“I want to show people with mental illness, like me, that there is a life worth living,” she said.
Ms Seamer began her journey at the southernmost point of the Australian mainland, South Point in Victoria, with a goal of reaching the northernmost tip of Queensland, Seisia in Cape York.
To add to the daunting task, Ms Seamer spent the first eight months of the journey walking on her own, before her partner joined her in Queensland.
“He’s driving a support vehicle and it’s been so good to have him with me,” Ms Seamer said.
“He also struggles with mental health, so he understands the things I’m going through.”
Ms Seamer said her greatest challenge was walking through Central Queensland in summer with 90 to 100 per cent humidity on scorching bitumen roads.
“It was mental. Just the humidity every day and trying to walk on bitumen was like being in an oven,” she said.
“You would be drenched in sweat, not being able to cool down.”
Despite the challenges, Ms Seamer said everyone she had encountered was friendly, and motorists stopped to ask if she needed help.
To follow Ms Seamer’s journey, visit Wandering Minds Walk.
UNI KICK
To the ecstatic cheers of more than 100 wellwishers, fans and friends, “Uni Kick” arrived in Cairns on Saturday evening after a journey of more than 3000km by scooter.
Not an electric scooter, but the foot-powered, old-fashioned kind of scooter.
Uni, who goes only by the name of Uni, started the epic journey after arriving at Tullamarine in Melbourne in late January, when without any further ado, he jumped on his scooter and set to it.
Somewhere along the way he picked up the epithet “Kick” and it seemed to stick.
The trip takes about 31 hours by car, but Uni scooted in to Cairns on Saturday May 27, after four months of self-propelled travel.
His English has improved a little on the journey, and while he is still far from fluent, he’s met some great people along the way.
The first thing he said when he hopped off his scooter in Cairns was “I’m always hungry”, as Cairns Division 5 councillor Amy Eden handed him a meat pie.
In Port Macquarie he met a family from Ukraine and was inspired to raise funds for the UN High Commission for Refugees, UNHCR, supporting people affected by disasters such as wars and earthquakes.
Wearing a kasa, or traditional Japanese straw hat the whole way, he’s been accepted by Australians with open arms, who have offered him friendship and accommodation on the journey.
One Instagram user wrote: “Aussies, we have a duty to look after this dude so please be respectful, help him if Uni wants the help but don’t harass him please. He is an amazing ambassador to his generation and we need to look out for him”.
His plans are to return home to his family in Japan and to tell them about Australia and how wonderful it is.
For now the journey is over, but you can still follow Uni on Instagram.
MILLY FORMBY
Bird-lover Milly Formby is on a mission: she’s flying solo around Australia in her tiny
microlight aircraft.
It might seem a little hair-raising, maybe even a bit mad, but her 20,000km adventure comes with a purpose.
“This is the closest I can get to experiencing the epic flight that our shorebirds make
each year to their Arctic breeding grounds,” Ms Formby said.
She started her mission in June last year at White Gum Farm in the Wheat Belt of Western Australia, and plans to finish the journey there, however long it takes.
Wherever she can, Milly uses her flight to connect with schools and community groups to share the story of migratory shorebirds.
As well as being superheroes of long-distance flight, they are the world’s most endangered
group of bird species.
“This is a really fantastic way to highlight the way people in coastal areas, and
beach walkers, can really make a difference,” she said.
“Birds and people share the shoreline, and by caring for the local wetland and coastal
ecosystems our collective grassroots action can make a massive environmental impact.”
These migratory birds make an awe-inspiring 25,000km-round journey from Australia to
Siberia each year to breed.
Ms Formby will be completing a similar trip in just 180 flying days, in a microlight specifically chosen because it is the most like how shorebirds fly – about 50–55 knots, or just under 100km/h.
She is a scientist as well as an artist, having studied zoology and illustrated a book on shorebirds, and in Cairns she will be giving talks at St Gerard Majella, Trinity Anglican School and Yarrabah State School.
Look to the skies over Cairns after about June 3 to see if you can spot her, and find her on Facebook.
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