Thanks Brent. It’s just over 24 hours since the mass shooting (15 killed and about 42 injured by a father and son armed with licenced guns) in Sydney at one of our most iconic tourist sites. The shock and sadness are still being felt around the country.
The known details are available on the Australian Broadcasting Corporation’s site, and the usual commercial channels. Updates are being provided frequently as more information comes to hand.
Such a sad representation of the ugliness of the modern world. At the same time, there are the heroic actions of the man who tackled and disarmed one of the gunmen. We send our sympathy and hope for a more peaceful future to Australia, and all Australians.
Yep that’s for sure. The most cowardly, and the most courageous of human behaviours were shown in those few minutes of mayhem in Sydney on Sunday evening. The extraordinarily brave and selfless action of Syrian-Australian Ahmed Al Ahmed saved many lives. No doubt we’ll hear much more about this true hero.
There is a slight link to cycle touring. The site of the tragedy, Bondi Beach, is the traditional location where most trans-Australian riders dip their wheels before pedalling to Fremantle about 4000km to the west. Or more commonly, it is the beach where riders dip their wheels on arrival after the epic ride from Perth.
And international cycle-tourers who arrive in Australia via Sydney (even those not intending to ride across Australia) usually visit the famous Bondi Beach.
That location is more than a beach. Like the Sydney Opera House and the Sydney Harbour Bridge, it’s a major tourist attraction often packed with overseas visitors as well as domestic tourists. Most times I’ve visited there, I was on my Bike Friday.
I mourn for, and with, all of Australia. It was an incredibly sad event. I don't mean to detract from the sadness, but you can take solace in that such things are very rare over there. In my country they happen every month. Worse than that, many people have come to accept such disasters as part of living in a "'free country' with a 2nd Amendment to the Constitution."
Thanks Greg. Good points especially re. the comparative risks of being shot. It is still relatively safe here; other than the snakes, spiders, swooping birds, deadly jellyfish and sharks. :) So don’t be deterred from cycle touring in Australia or New Zealand.
That said I did get ‘shot’ in NZ while cycle touring in 2013, albeit in the eye only with a paintball. A mere flesh wound.
Interestingly, just after that happened I had a terse discussion with a NZ country town cop who got all defensive about NZ’s then lax gun control laws. Sadly I was proved correct a couple of years later, when the horrendous Christchurch mass shooting occurred. One of the worst to ever occur anywhere in the world.
To the then NZ governments’ credit, they immediately passed gun control legislation. Laws and enforcement are not cure-alls, but they sure reduce the risks.
I’ve been back to NZ often to cycle-tour since those traumatic incidents. And I’d encourage international cycle tourers to continue coming to Australia.
Mike before I cycled toured the Gibb River Road in The Kimberley I checked on the croc stats. There’s not a single, recorded incident of a cycle-tourer being eaten by a croc in Australia.
Fishermen, boaters and swimmers however are regularly taken. The lesson is to choose the right recreational activity. Cycle touring. :)
To any and all from Australia - my deepest sympathies after the horrific events at Bondi Beach.
1 month ago