After a gruelling 81 days and 3460 km on foot (mostly solo btw), James McAlloon completed his epic footsteps-for-food quest on Saturday 19th September as he took his final steps to the base of Uluru, after setting out from The Sunshine Coast at the end of June.
What began as a quest to cross the entire continent was kiboshed due to ongoing border closures within Australia. A contingency was always in the wings due to uncertainty when James departed and, given its iconic and traditional significance to Australia, ending this expedition in Uluru was the next best thing.
81 days and 3640 km later after leaving the Sunshine Coast and with some very sore feet, James did it! What an incredible effort.
James is now en-route to his home in the Sunshine Coast for a very well deserved rest, having raised over $36K for communities in South America who are struggling through the loss of income from tourists due to COVID-19, this equates to food for over 900 families.
“What an amazing feeling to finally complete this long journey! It wasn’t always an easy trek and there were many challenges to overcome, including border closures which forced us to change the original destination,” said James.
“We accomplished more than I ever could have hope for, both personally and in the number of funds we were able to raise. It just goes to show that if you keep moving, accept the reality and innovate as you go, the end result could be better than you ever imagined. It was for me.”
James McAlloon, Relationship Manager, Chimu Adventures QLD
Chad Carey, Chimu’s Co-founder flew to the Northern Territory to join James at the end of his journey.
“James really is a true adventurer and a modest one to boot. It means the world to me that we have people at Chimu like James, who are willing to risk life and limb to help others in need. I couldn’t be more proud of him.” Said Chad Carey, Chimu Co-founder.
“To drive for hours on narrow winding roads and think that he had walked all of it and that, in reality, the part I drove was just his home stretch. The mind boggles and how he had the motivation to do it day in and out for so many months. Through thunderstorms, searing heat, driving headwinds. Getting past wild animals and becoming nonchalant about road trains zipping past him. Most mere mortals wouldn’t have got far.”
Chad Carey, Co-founder Chimu Adventures
It’s so heart-warming to see what this means to people in South America and their admiration for what James has done just to help them. It’s exactly the kind of glue that we need to keep our travel industry together at the moment, as we are separated by oceans and COVID-19 restrictions.” Said Carey.
The team at Chimu say they will now work on getting the remaining funds to their partners in South America through their not for profit charity the MAD project. These funds will buy food and hygiene supplies for those most in need.
James, you’re an absolute legend, From all of us here at Karryon, we salute you and thank you for your selfless commitment to helping others in need. You are truly amazing.
This for us is what our Together In Travel initiative is all about, and you are a shining example James of care, compassion and a heartfelt desire to make a positive impact through our glorious industry.
Please join us in saying a massive THANK YOU and WELL DONE!
For more information on James’s journey, click here or here on Facebook.