Endurance walk to help bush kids

Peter Bill on the road to Bourke. Photo contributed

Long distance walker Peter Bill, is making his way step by step, from Broken Hill to Bourke.

Peter set off on Saturday May 6, raising funds for a not-for-profit community enterprise, Big Sky Stories.

But he said his walk was also a personal quest. Several years ago, Peter had a heart operation after a series of strokes which left him physically debilitated.

He began walking around Broken Hill as part of his recovery - and his love of the slow and steady approach developed into what could now only be called ‘extreme walking’.

Peter also credits his former career as a robotics scientist with giving him the patience and resilience to solve problems.

“My job was as a quantity physicist and I used super computers to do calculations of molecules and I built high powered lasers, worked in robotics factories, and then into school teaching,” he said.

“But then the heart problems began so I had to stop work and focus on that. As a research scientist you learn about resilience to keep on plugging away on problems, and so I applied that problem-solving to work out how to walk further and further in the Australian bush.

“I have slowly increased the length of my walks. Last year I walked from Broken Hill to Wilcannia, then to Menindee, Broken Hill to Adelaide, to Tibooburra through Cameron’s Corner, and I am learning a bit more about how to walk and slowly getting better and better. […]

Read more in the printed edition of The Western Herald.

To subscribe call (02) 6872 2333 today and receive The Western Herald in your letterbox next week!