This year, whilst being involved in the Skate 4 Cancer skate across Australia tour, I met the very amazing Mike Mendes.
He really hardly ever sleeps, although when I first arrived to meet my new van mates, Mike was in fact asleep. It was a rare occassion indeed.
Love Everyday is a not for profit organisation which Mendes established two years ago.
‘Love Everyday’ aims to increase awareness about poverty and under privileged people in our communities
He does this through non-profit art workshops as well as educational talks & discussions for schools and youth groups.
All the money made through Love Everyday goes right to the people on the streets of the city that they are currently located for purchasing things like clothing, blankets & food.
“I can’t sleep so I draw, paint, tattoo and wander the planet instead. Love everyday ” Mike Mendes
Myself and the girls have certainly upgraded in luxury since we last did the Traditional Hen’s Weekend Down South. The place we had this time was HUGE! Massive plot of farm land, massive old house with fire place (our favourite), three bedrooms, two lounges and two bathrooms. MAGIC. Had enough beds for 9.. We are SO going back.
Here is where we spent out time.
Now, some of you might remember a few months ago, I was travelling across Aus with some lovely Canadians from Skate 4 Cancer. Well, the whole time they were on the road, they were looking for kangaroos, and NEVER saw one. Jamie from The New Beat, is convinced they are made up. This video of a small portion of the kangaroos which were in our yard is for them.
So, you heard it here first.
The skate 4 cancer, australian skate is over.
It’s the first time that the team has not finished an across country skate.
Why now?
Well, Rob got sideswiped by a car and damaged his groin. The clutch of the van then blew.
Recovery for the van = 1 week.
Recovery of Rob = 4 – 6 weeks..
And then the outback awaited… Just wasn’t worth it.
Here’s the video to find out more…
Have heart though, the Aus skate will begin again March 2011..
Stay tuned for more..
Tonight is my last night with the skate 4 cancer team, before we depart and fly out to our respective homes tomorrow…
It truly is bittersweet.
As opposed to being some 50kms past Renmark, we are now in Northern Adelaide due to horrible unforeseen circumstances.
It appears that hit and runs still occur on Australia’s roads, and today we were victim of this.
This is what was released today…
I know many of you are wondering why there is an extra blog this week. I wish it was to post better news, but I still wouldn’t call it bad news, especially considering what happened. Allow me to explain.
Sometime during the mid-morning of Wednesday, April 14th, while skating the tail end of the 150km uninhabited stretch of highway A20, Rob was side-swiped by a car. It appears that while driving the long, straight stretch of barren highway, someone lost focus, or control, or both, and swerved into the bike lane, knocking Rob off his board. By the time we got to him with the van, he was standing, which was a really good sign. Once we had him in the van, it was clear to see there were no immediate or life-threatening injuries. Luckily, it was the side of the car that knocked Rob, not a direct hit, which could have been much worse. The only damaging injury that seems to have resulted from the accident is a pulled groin.
We’ve made our way to Adelaide to get Rob checked out at a hospital, since he is having a fair bit of trouble walking and the pain seems fairly intense. We’re keeping our fingers crossed it’s not anything worse, but for the time being I think it is safe to say there won’t be any skating for a little while.
Considering the speeds involved in the accident, and the narrow margin by which a direct hit was avoided, a pulled groin isn’t what I would call bad news. In fact, looking at what went down, I think Rob is a pretty lucky guy right now. But he doesn’t feel that way, and frustration and disappointment on his face is clear to see. He wants to be skating, not icing a strained muscle.
Over the next few days we will be visiting the hospital and Doctors to try to get a sense of what the exact injury is and how long Rob will be out of commission. In the time being, keep checking the blog, and keep sharing the Drop-In Center video. We’ve cleared 10,000 views in 3 days, which is a truly amazing thing. I know watching those hits go up gives Rob a real boost, so there is nothing better anyone can do for him right now than to keep pushing that video.
For every 100 views, this video gets, C1rca will donate $1 towards establishing a Skate 4 Cancer Drop In Center..
We already have over 5000 views…
In other news, the locust infestation is ridiculous.
We are surrounded by thousands of them every moment of the day. They are swarming into us.
The front of the van is completely drenched in bug juice.
Thank goodness we installed netting in our van, so we can still have the door open for some fresh air.
The nights have suddenly gotten colder, and I’ve got the worst flu.
Hating not being in a warm bed, whilst I feel like death.
Hoping to get to Adelaide on Friday, and maybe hit up the Ruiner/Hopeless Show.
We have a LOT of km’s to cover before then.
I will be using this number this week 0457 028 550, whilst on the road..
Feel free to send us nice messages.
We are in the sketchiest neighbourhood so far of the aus and nz trip combined.
In broad daylight rob was nearly mugged and later some crazy lady tried to take the shirt off his back.
We have driven to the next town, some 5 km away called euston, and the next town is about another 90km away.
This town is not much better. There is a real sinister vibe, the buildings are downridden and looked evil in themselves.
As foreigners we’ve attracted some uneasy looks.
We are currently parked on the main street outside the public restrooms. Near the police station. We figured it would be the safest spot. It’s 8;57pm and so far rob, Jamie and myself are still alive. The boys are sleeping out of view in the back, yet I’m sleeping across the front seats in prominent view through the windscreen for anyone to glare/gaze and plot against.
Tonight will be a very uneasy sleep. I’m leaving my contacts in, so I can identity potential intruders. I’m wearing jeans and a hoodie so I am appropriately dressed for a quick get away, and I have a frying pan lying next to my head, to flail and destroy any would be intruders.
Wish us luck. We really need it.
Ps. This is scarier than alien/cow encounters!
So I’m currently one of a three man team, also consisting of Mr Rob Dyer (Founder of Skate 4 Cancer) and Mr Jamie McMahon (Founder of a New Beat) and we are the Skate 4 Cancer team making the trek from Melbourne to Adelaide.
I flew into Melbourne around about 1am on Friday and Borgs luckily picked me up and drove me to meet up with my family for the next few weeks. By 11am we were well on our way towards retrieving my lost sleeping bag, before continuing to Shepparton which is where Rob was to proceed skating.
Basically what Skate 4 Cancer does is skateboard across countries, raising awareness about cancer.
The Cure is Knowledge.
Skating around an average of about 40km (due to heat/flies/lack of shoulders on the roads and heavy traffic), we are plodding along nicely and steadily.
We all have our little roles on the trip.
My main one is driving the van aka our home – which amazingly was donated by Element Skateboards. Minor roles include being able to know the location and find any given object at any time, making cd playlists, and improving the suitability of the van against the onslaught of THE OUTBACK. Everything DIY from mozzie netting all major doorways as well as creating more storage space.
Rob’s is to skate, to motivate kids around the world, and to be the symbol of courage and hope for many.
Jamie is magic with a computer and is the brains behind all of the videos. He’s a film director by occupation, so you know you’re getting good quality value. He’s an avid coffee maker and a logical thinker.
Together we live, travel, eat and sleep in our van, and we are loving every minute of it.
The masses of flies who keep on trying to intrude and live with us, should just bzzzz off.
This is the first time I have had reception in days, so don’t expect many updates on here from me.
You can however follow our journey via a new weekly video released every Sunday on Youtube, or by our weekly blog released every Wednesday.
Death to Traitors 