Cyclist Garry Orriss is 14 months and 12,000 kilometres into a five year journey around Australia.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
A journey to reconnect with his homeland, after 30 years abroad, and continue his work as an artist.
And this adventurous character is hard to miss on his quirky bicycle, ingeniously fitted out with all the bells and whistles, as he pedals across our sunburnt country.
A thrifty purchase, Garry originally bought the bike from Aldi for a neat $250. This bargain buy has become a work horse, carrying all the needs for survival, for a hardcore adventurer.
The Bundanoon boy will produce a film throughout his travels. It will share a philosophical story of a middle aged man as he navigates a mid-life crisis. He is quick to point out that the story will be fictional although there is little doubt his experiences on the road will be helpful.
Garry will grow his beard and hair for the next few years to visually mark the passage of time in the film.
The artist said the work would aim to inspire people to go beyond what they see and perhaps discover you haven't seen before.
"That's what art does," Garry said.
The intrepid traveller has faced his own trials over the years.
After he came to terms with alcoholism while living in Germany, Garry has been sober for more than 450 days.
"I had to confront myself and turn my life around," he said.
Symbolically linking his past to his present, Garry will follow the path of Ludwig Liechhardt - a German naturalist famous for his exploration of northern and central Australia.
Work is not the only item on the agenda. The cyclist recently re-kindled a romance with a long lost love in Colo Vale.
However, Garry has opted to continue his life of adventure and has put the romance on hold until he finishes his travels.
This will be Garry's second time cycling around Australia. The first time he travelled 11 months around the country on a bike he built for his girlfriend who sadly died in a car accident.
Garry said he loved cycling because it was hard work but honest.
He said cycling was hard yakka when you hit a big hill.
"You experience things on a different level," he said.
"Even food tastes different."
Garry calls himself a "bit of a gourmet". He travels with a month worth of food stored on his bike and proudly whips up such delicacies as blackcurrant pancakes while on the road.
But in a true connection with his outdoor adventure he also aimed to eat what the early pioneers and Aboriginal people did and knows how to get water when there is none readily available.
As far as this adventurer is concerned we all have one chance at life and can't stuff it up.