Rotarian Bob Montgomery is a legend. Cyclist, entrepreneur and tireless charity worker. Although in his 70’s he has already completed two charity rides, both raising funds for MND. This time he is setting off from Darwin to Port Douglas raising money for both Motor Neurone Disease and Huntington's Disease.

  • Leura to Port Douglas in 2013:    3,086 kms and $30,000 raised

  • Perth to Sydney in 2015:                 3,800 kms and $46,000 raised

  • Darwin to Perth in 2017:                 4,200 kms and $55,000 raised

19th July 2018 - Departed Sydney on a very cold morning – Bob, Jenny and Sallee bound for sunny Darwin to begin the “Last Leg” – Bob’s ride from Darwin to Port Douglas.    After spending two days in Darwin stocking up on supplies, picking up the support vehicle and preparing Bob’s bike for the long ride Bob departed Darwin about 5 a.m. on Sunday 22 July.     Sallee and Jenny left about 7.30 a.m. to drive to Adelaide River meeting up with Bob about 10 a.m. to give Bob a rest and a substantial morning tea.  Arrived at Adelaide River about 1 p.m. – set up camp, Bob had a shower and a beer then a well-earned rest.  Dinner and an early night.  This set the pattern for the rest of the trip.

As the weather was absolutely beautiful it was much better for Bob to begin riding around 5 a.m. before the sun rose and the day got too hot.

Along the Stuart Highway we passed through some great (and some not so great) places – the highway was very straight with no hills – which was great for Bob – but also quite monotonous.   We passed through Katherine and on to Mataranka which is well known for its hot springs – beautiful to soak in after a long day on the road.

We arrived at the Barkly Homestead after 9 days on the road – The Barkly Homestead is also known as Three Ways as it is at the intersection of the Stuart Highway and the Barkly Highway – turn left on to the Barkly and you are heading east to the coast (Townsville) and straight ahead on the Stuart to Alice Springs via Tennant Creek.   Bob decided to have a rest day and so we visited Tennant Creek and met the Rotary District Governor Greg Marlowe who gave us a very interesting insight into the people of Tennant Creek and the ongoing problems they face on a daily basis.  District 9550 covers 1.2 million square metres and includes most of the Northern Territory, North Queensland and Timor Leste.  Greg is a very busy man and we were very grateful for the time given to us.

We left the Barkly Homestead the next day and felt very upbeat even though we still had 1,350 kms to go before we reached Townsville where Sal’s husband Bill Pixton was joining us for the final push from Townsville to Port Douglas a distance of 412 kms.

We passed through Mt. Isa, Cloncurry, Julia Creek, Richmond, Hughenden, Torrens Creek, Charters Towers and then Townsville.

It was good to hand over the driving to Bill and also the photography for the last leg.  Great trip up through Ingham, Tully, Cairns and Pt. Douglas – journey’s end.  We were greeted by some good friends and our very good sponsors Salsa Bar and Grill on Wednesday 16 August.  We had arrived just in time to attend the Annual Golf Day for the Salsa-Sorensen Association and for Bob to get off the bike and participate in the 10th Annual Brian Sorensen Cup.