The Star: January 18, 2024
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Thursday <strong>January</strong> <strong>18</strong> <strong>2024</strong> <strong>The</strong> <strong>Star</strong><br />
Latest Canterbury news at starnews.co.nz<br />
NEWS 19<br />
the world made a reality<br />
“<strong>The</strong>y would be yelling at our<br />
bikes, calling them ‘white devil<br />
horses’ and throwing stones at<br />
us.”<br />
To help them through some<br />
communication issues they had<br />
a ‘magic letter’. It explained what<br />
they were doing in each of the<br />
languages.<br />
“For the most part if we’re<br />
stopped by military or police we<br />
would show them that, and they<br />
would smile and tell us to head<br />
on our way.”<br />
If that failed they would keep<br />
a certain amount of cash with<br />
them for bribes when required.<br />
Each day they were averaging<br />
<strong>18</strong>0-200km on their bikes, riding<br />
for five or six days at a time then<br />
taking a day off.<br />
For the most part, they would<br />
use a tent, with the treat being<br />
brothels used by truck drivers.<br />
“We would have to go and<br />
talk to the girls and see if it was<br />
possible to rent a room for a<br />
whole night just to sleep.<br />
“It would be a mattress<br />
that would be pee stained, no<br />
bed sheets, no pillowcases or<br />
anything like that, but that was<br />
almost our luxury.”<br />
Traversing the continent, they<br />
also found pockets of European<br />
colonisation.<br />
“In West Africa, down in<br />
Namibia, it was the Germans.<br />
We were in the capital city of<br />
Windhoek (Namibia) and they<br />
would have beer halls. So you<br />
would have a beer garden where<br />
you could get a pint of beer<br />
and pork knuckle. <strong>The</strong>n a week<br />
later you’d be back in mud hut<br />
villages.”<br />
When they arrived in<br />
Capetown, South Africa, Beatty<br />
was exhausted.<br />
“Over six months of eating<br />
two-minute noodles, and packets<br />
of oatmeal we were pretty<br />
skinny.”<br />
“<strong>The</strong> energy levels were<br />
dipping,” Beatty said.<br />
<strong>The</strong> last few weeks they were<br />
getting into summer, with the<br />
temperature getting up to about<br />
45 deg C. <strong>The</strong> hottest day was in<br />
the Sahara Desert earlier on in<br />
the trip – about 52 deg C.<br />
HEAT: James Beatty riding through the desert in Sudan where temperatures would reach about 50 deg C. A common<br />
site on the road were mud and thatched roof huts like this one in Zambia.<br />
Beyond some sores from the<br />
seat, the pair finished the ride in<br />
good condition and with a good<br />
tan.<br />
“I was wearing sandals the<br />
whole time, so the tops of my feet<br />
were half African by the end.”<br />
While they did not struggle<br />
with getting water, the water<br />
they were getting was like<br />
something from a cow trough.<br />
“We would have chlorine and<br />
iodine tablets that we would<br />
drop into the water.”<br />
On the ride, they struggled<br />
with the heat in some parts.<br />
“<strong>The</strong>re was heat exhaustion a<br />
few times a week when we went<br />
to the Sahara with 50 deg C plus<br />
every day. You’d be on the verge<br />
of vomiting or sh**ting your<br />
pants because of the heat.”<br />
Despite the tough going Beatty<br />
loved it.<br />
“I’d never been to Africa<br />
before that. I’m glad I’ve gone<br />
and now I’m itching to go back.<br />
“I’m itching to get into the<br />
centre of Africa and the Congo.”<br />
Over the past decade, Beatty<br />
has travelled to more than 100<br />
countries but still has yet to see<br />
it all.<br />
“I’ve seen a little bit. I haven’t<br />
been to Antarctica, I haven’t<br />
travelled to China or Mongolia,<br />
or Russia and Siberia.”<br />
Beatty compared his travel<br />
style to a buffet.<br />
“Do you go to a buffet<br />
restaurant and just eat the<br />
chicken and corn soup? Or<br />
do you go and have a taster of<br />
everything and try the sushi, the<br />
mac and cheese etc? So by the<br />
end of it, you’ve at least had a<br />
little taste test of everything.”<br />
FINISH: McKenzie Barney<br />
and James Beatty at the<br />
end of their journey in Cape<br />
Town, South Africa.<br />
For the most part, Beatty lives<br />
off the smell of an oily rag to<br />
fund his adventures.<br />
“Over the years I’ve picked up<br />
either tree planting or carpentry<br />
jobs.”<br />
Every <strong>18</strong> months Beatty would<br />
pick up two to three months’<br />
worth of work.<br />
“I really don’t work that<br />
much. In the last 10 years, if you<br />
calculated all the work, I would<br />
probably have done less than two<br />
years of work.”<br />
Annually he lives off about<br />
$8000-$10,000.<br />
While Beatty has no<br />
immediate plans for his next big<br />
adventure he is planning to slow<br />
down in the years to come.<br />
“Now we’re getting older we<br />
don’t have to travel the entire<br />
time. So we could travel for<br />
eight months and then stop for<br />
months in a beachside town or<br />
something.<br />
“That’s what we’ve done for the<br />
last year.”<br />
<strong>The</strong> pair will be back in New<br />
Zealand in April where they<br />
will do a book tour and screen<br />
Barney’s film Cycling the World.<br />
TUES 30 JAN 9AM - 3PM<br />
HAGLEY CAFE
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