When Geoffrey Whitty set off on his 18-month overland trip across multiple countries in April this year, he knew it was going to be a challenge.
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But nothing could quite prepare him for the latest leg of his trip, which was through war-torn Ukraine.
Spending time in both Odessa and Kyiv, Geoffrey didn’t just witness the devastation left behind by the Russian missile attacks - he lived through it.
Both cities were bombed while he was staying there.
Now safely out of Ukraine, he made contact with his home town newspaper to share his experiences.
Geoffrey has already visited China, Tibet (see link at end of article), Turkey and is now leaving Switzerland to visit Tunisia.
Then it’s on to Morocco, down the West Coast of Africa (by overland truck) to Cape Town, on to Brazil and Patagonia, then up the Pan-American Highway to Anchorage, down through Canada and the USA.
He will then make his way to the UK and Europe, returning to Australia via Asia by Christmas next year.
Geoffrey’s account of his time in Ukraine is provided here.
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The long road to freedom.
The following is based on my recent encounter with some of those brave men, and the all too often forgotten mothers and fathers of sons and daughters going to war in Ukraine
The government recently moved the goal posts for the enlisted. Due to the shortage of soldiers all rotational leave from the front lines have been cancelled.
Their long road to freedom now comes with many twists and turns.
You will see them at the railway station, in the cafes and the park, some will escape to a private place, to the sanctuary of the dark, but they are there.
Rituals will be performed. A touch of the hand to that youthful face, the eyes are distant to a lonely place.
A caress of the dog tag now in command, he is going to a war, they do not understand.
Everything that needs to be said has been said before, this is their chance at this futile war.
I had arrived in Odessa after travelling from Turkey through Hungary and Moldova.
After a night of ballistic missile attacks, I escaped to a popular wine bar where I met Alex and his girlfriend Lulia.
Alex, is in his mid-20s, holds a PhD in science and is due to go to the front lines in September.
Lulia is with him sharing a local red wine and enjoying the precious moments they have together.
Alex was pulled off the street at random by the military police and because he had no enlistment papers was drafted immediately into the armed forces as a soldier.
He asks when I think the war will end.
I hesitate before providing an answer but, reluctantly, tell him what he dreads to hear.
When there are no more men left to fight. He lifts his glass.
Lulia lifts her head and stares into a cold and lonely night.
I decide to travel north to the capital Kyiv by bus.
The trip was uneventful, and I arrived at my hotel after wandering the streets at 10pm before curfew kicked in.
I had only just sat on my bed in the hotel room, when the shattering sound of boom, boom and boom invaded my space.
Kyiv was under attack. There is little you can do but lay on the floor next to your bed or under your bed, put hands over your ears and hope for the best.
The following afternoon I take a visit to Irpin and Bucha, where war crimes by the Russians were committed in the early stages of the invasion.
My guide Dmytro explains of the missile attacks the previous night.
There were 11 ballistic missiles. A total of eight were shot down mid-air by German supplied Patriot missile defence systems.
The remaining three landed in and around the capital. There were no casualties, but damage to property was reported on local news radio.
The march home can only be viewed now through the scope of a long and lonely road, with a distant and hazy horizon.
Go march with them if you dare, there are plenty of bodies over there.
The world can wait for Ukraine’s fate, its children safe behind the gate, they leave behind in their wake, another chance at freedom.
Senior journalist