Tizzas Trek Home

June 2007...

I decided to take some time out from city life to do something I have always wanted to do...Travel throughout the top end of Australia on my motorbike. A mate of mine had ridden his motorcycle overland from Germany to Australia so we decided to meet up in Darwin & ride together to Sydney. One of the goals of my trip was to go to the Garma festival, an annual event put on by the Yothu Yindi Foundation at a place called Gulkila in East Arnhem land. I knew that Uncle Jimmy was going to be there to present the Jimmy Little Foundation so a few phone calls were made & off we went, through Kakadu & the Arnhem Highway to work at the festival. Loaded up with extra fuel, water & food it was time to negotiate 670 kms of dirt roads, multiple river crossings, dodging water buffalo, brumbies, wallabies, feral donkeys & the odd crocodile or two. Three days later, covered in red dirt & completely exhausted we arrived in Nhulunbuy.

The festival was fantastic, like nothing I had ever experienced before, kind of a modern day corroboree, a meeting of different cultures, indigenous & non indigenous people, an exchange of information, stories, dances, songs... It was nothing short of amazing & I found myself on a very steep learning curve. The theme of this year's Garma was Aboriginal Health. Unfortunately, Jimmy couldn't be there due to health issues so Buzz Bidstrup & Don Palmer went there on Jimmy's behalf to Garma to present the foundation to the Key Forum. As I listened to Buzz & Don speak and heard the reactions to what they had to say, especially an elderly Yolgnu woman who stood up & said ...' Thank you so much for what you are doing, this is the most positive thing I had heard at the festival so far..' I realised that I needed to be a part of this very important project.

After Garma, I stayed in Gove for a couple of weeks in the community of Yirrkala to explore the place & hopefully learn more about the Yolgnu people. I found a depth of tradition & culture which I had not expected & during this time I had the honour of being adopted into the clan by Elah Yunipingu, a wonderful man who, along with his young family took me hunting in the traditional way for mud crab, stingray, clams & mangrove worms. As we walked through the mangroves of Crocodile Creek looking for mud crabs, Elah spoke with his wife Barbara and said to me, 'you need a Yolgnu name, we will call you 'Lurrpu', it is our name for the White Cockatoo... ' After we had collected all we could carry, we went back to where his family lived to cook up the food & eat with some of the elders from his clan. What an incredible experience, these lovely people were so open & willing to accept me amongst them and so happy to educate me in their ways & teach me of their culture...This was far more than I had ever dreamed of, it felt like a dream, it is a day I will never forget.

Meanwhile, Elah's grandfather, Mandawuy Yunipingu from Yothu Yindi was preparing to go to hospital to prepare for Dialysis...

So after a couple of weeks of fantastic experiences it was time to leave Gove & continue on with the journey. A few days & lots more red dirt later we hit Katherine & my travelling partner decided to go his own way... The next day I rode to Kununurra, in East Kimberley, where I found work on Baz Luhrman's new movie, 'Australia' working alongside 2 strong local Aboriginal fellas who were from the Giji mob. As we worked away I spoke about the Foundation & my new mate Danny told me of his Uncle who was just about to go away to Broome to start dialysis...

So there I was in Kununurra, where I saw a big map of Australia on a wall. I looked at the distance from Coast to Coast, Broome to Sydney, maybe via Cooktown and thought 'Gee, that's pretty impressive...' I started to come up with ideas of how I could turn that trip into a fundraising run for the Jimmy Little Foundation...I thought up up all sorts of ideas that all needed lots of preparation, support & time, something which I didn't really have with the wet season fast approaching.

Then I thought back to primary school, when we would have walk-a-thons to raise money by doing laps of the local oval & get pledges of a few cents per lap from Mum & Dad, Aunts & uncles, etc & thought 'why not?'

So here it is, a very simple concept....Ride my motorcycle solo through the top end of Australia & get as many friends, family, collegues & nice people I might meet along the way to pledge money to the Foundation, based on a few cents per kilometre....Couldn't be that difficult, could it?

So here I am in Broome, West Australia about to embark upon a 6240km long oddessy, 'Tizza's Two-wheel Trek Coast to Coast for the Jimmy Little Foundation'

Now, who wouldn't want to donate to such a good cause...

Steve 'Tizza' Taylor hails from Manly, in Sydney's Northern Beaches.
He is Carpenter by trade, has worked in Music Management, Special Events & is a singer, guitar player & drummer.

His travels have taken him all over the world... surfing, skiing, sailing, playing music & exploring different cultures along the way.

He met Jimmy Little in 2000, firstly helping with Tour Management & then was called in to carry out building work at Jimmy's house in Sydney to make it possible for Jim to Dialise at home.

Tizza is currently 43 years old & residing on the back of his motorcycle somewhere in the Top End of Australia.

Tizza (Steve) Taylor