I was invited by the members of the Albury/Wodonga Ulysses Club to help set up for the Bike Fest and to attend a "film night" with a special appearance by Doug Sunderland, an 87 year old biker, who was going to provide commentary to a couple of documentaries made about him and his "home video" of white water rafting down the Zambezi River.
Well, I'm in town & haven't been able to catch up with any of my old school friends (very few of them still live in the area, and those that do weren't allowed out to play with a silly old biker from Queensland) so I volunteered to help out for an hour or two and then settled down to videos and drinks under the "big top".
About a dozen people turned up to pack "sample bags" and set up for Sunday's event. After everything was completed, we all grabbed out seats, drinks, nibbles, etc and sat back for the next couple of hours with Doug providing commentary to the SBS special (Grey Voyagers - Born To Ride) about his bike trip through Nepal, the ABC special (Australian Story - On Your Bike) about his solo ride around Australia when he was 85 and his white water raft trip down the Zambezi River. Not sure how many of you have done any of these things, but this is only a small example of what he's done over the years. Doug was not in the best of health as he'd recently broken a hip, no, not from a bike fall, but a fall in the kitchen. Even though he was walking with the assistance of a crutch and was in great pain every time he sat down or got up from a chair, he refused any assistance. I found out the hard way that when he says he doesn't need a hand, he doesn't WANT a hand. Despite his pain and discomfort, he still made himself available for those who attended.
During the videos, Doug would stop the show, filling in details of what was going on at the time, making everyone feel that they were part of the shows, not just watching them. While the SBS and ABC shows were interesting, the really fun part of the night came when Doug started to show his Zambezi River trip. He provided background about how he managed to get to the Zambezi River (backpacking through Africa) and then let the video roll, stopping at each set of rapids and explaining what was dangerous about them and what to watch out for.
Watching the video and seeing everyone getting thrown around the raft, I was wondering how I'd handle the pummeling at my tender age, let alone how I'd go in another 40 years, To see Doug paddling down those rapids with everyone else was really inspiring. To see him fly out of the raft, get smashed against the rocks and then washed down the river was disturbing & to find out the damage the rapids inflicted on him, yet didn't kill him, showed he's one tough person.
After his little excursion in the water, it was off to the "hospital" to have his smashed shoulder "attended to" (read left alone, no treatment, no drugs, nothing). To find out he checked himself out of the hospital a few days later & then flew home to Australia before seeing a real doctor, shows the guys not just tough, he's bloody unbreakable.
Doug's a real bloke..a spade is a spade, not an implement for digging, and if I could boil down his philosopy on life into a few words, it would be - GET OFF YOUR ARSE AND DO IT.
Not real subtle, but, then again, after talking to him for an hour on the Saturday night and another 30 minutes on the Sunday, there's nothing subtle about Doug.
When talking to him on Saturday night, I mentioned I'd ridden down from Brisbane to attend the Bike Fest and was heading back on Monday. I mentioned that lots of people I'd spoken to before I left suggested I should go home via the Snowy and Blue mountains, go here, go there. I asked him what he thought was worth doing, where he recommened I should go. He looked me in the eye and gave me the most inspirational and honest words I've ever been the recepient of.
His words were :
"F... where other people say you should go. Go where you want, when you want, the way you want."
This comment really sums up Doug..he's nobody's person except his own and if he's doesn't want to do something, he'll sure as hell let you know.
I feel honoured to have spent some time with Doug and cannot wait to catch up with him again.
If you want to find other peoples reactions to having a close encounter with Doug, check out the following pages:
The Old Bloke
Cavalry Of One
If you want a deeper insight into how Doug thinks, I'd recommend to check out his submission to the Victorian Parliament's Road Safety Advisory Council.
Doug's Submission
No comments:
Post a Comment