Episode 201: Mark Gresser

Trekking 6,000 km across Australia

When Mark Gresser first made out the pacific ocean on the horizon, a wave of tears came over him. It was then that the reality of walking across the entire country of Australia really sunk in. It was an absolutely monumental achievement and one which required both physical grit and mental resolve to complete. Therefore, it was a pleasure to welcome Mark back onto the show to hear all about it.

Mark is no stranger to long distance adventures. I first featured him on the podcast to talk about his huge journey from Perth to Paris, spanning almost 3 years and covering over 29,000 km. I then featured him when he was just under halfway through his trek. He’d just arrived at Uluru which was definitely a huge milestone on his journey.

It was great to hear from Mark just how this adventure was so different to his bike journey but how lessons learnt on his first cycling trip helped him on the trek itself. Walking this distance on any surface wouldbe tough. But doing it for so long in the conditions Mark faced certainly pushed him to his limits. There was also a myriad of challenges he needed to overcome such as traversing sandy terrain with that of ensuring he didn’t succumb to heat stress when the temperatures often climbed close to 50 C.

To deal with the heat Mark changed his routine, often walking through the night where the temperatures were manageable, albeit still over 30C! He’d be on the constant lookout for shade when pitching his tent, often moving it multiple times as the sun moved in the sky. When it was too hot to walk he’d get inside and lie incredibly still, so as not to use any energy. The hardest stretch of his walk undoubtedly came with his crossing of the Strzelecki desert. The heat making it almost unbearable to even sleep just a few hours.

Mother Nature certainly threw everything at Mark, including a monumental lightning storm which had him terrified of being struck by lightning. The rain from that storm would ultimately lead to an unplanned halt to the journey. The roads turned into a boggy mess and trying to navigate through it was impossible. So it was Mark ended up staying in the small rural community of Tibooburra for 29 days. There is always a silver lining to these events and in this case it was the vibrant vegetation which sprung up in the desert as a result of all the rain. Locals told Mark they hadn’t seen it look like that for decades.

When Mark finally left the dirt roads behind and hit the tarmac a different challenge emerge, one which brought with it dealing with traffic again. He’d look for opportunities to seek out quieter roads, at times following service roads that tracked the railway line.

Crossing the Great Dividing Range was something Mark had been pensive about prior to starting the walk. So was surprised when he didn’t find it as taxing to go up and over the range as he had imagined it would be. Personally, I think this goes to the stamina which he no doubt built up during the long journey across the country to get to that point.

Another commendable part of the whole adventure was the purpose Mark attached to it by fundraising for an Australian Youth Mental Health Charity called Batyr. Through his video postings and promotions via social media Mark raised an incredible 132,000AUD to his fundraiser, one which will leave a lasting legacy to this challenge.

I’m certain this won’t be the final adventure Mark schemes up. To follow his future adventures you can check him out via instagram on @Trek4YouthMentalHealth and his personal website.