How does a 5-day, 250 mile round-trip cycle from York to Amsterdam sound? Yes, a bike ride, from England to Holland, and then back again? Well to four housemates (Thea, Prue, Loz and Kat) from Dunsborough in Western Australia, The Amsterslam sounds like a great idea! Here is their story.
Thea is a self-proclaimed Scaussie. Her family emigrated the “wrong way round”, from Sydney to Scotland during the millenium, mainly to get away from the Olympics. After finishing high school in Arbroath, she went on her first solo adventure to Sri Lanka. At Unawatuna Maha Vidyalaya, she laughed and played with children, attempting to teach them her version of English. As any traveller can attest, she’ll probably now have itchy feet for the rest of her life.
Another Aussie, this time from Newcastle in NSW, was also heading off on her gap year. Margot bumped into Thea at their PGL training course where they learnt how to be outdoor activity instructors and tell wonderful fabrications to children. They ended up roomates and like to think of themselves as the infamous Aussie duo from Osmington “Ossy” Bay.
Thea couldn't resist moving back to Australia, this time to study one of the most interesting courses at University, Surf Science at Edith Cowan in Bunbury. Realising that the best part of her course, surfing, was missing from Bunbury, she jumped on the back of her lecturers ute and took her place as the last enrolled Surf Scientist to join the famous Seagrass House in Dunsborough.
Loz decided that she wasn’t mature enough for uni, a very mature decision, so after giving Seagrass a party she’ll never forget she took her favourite surfboard and a backpack to the other side of the world. Currently you can find Loz chilling out at Surf Maroc in Taghazout, where she hosts the girls Roxy Surf Camps.
After a ten-month hop through Europe, including a memorable experience as a Nanny in provincial France and mixing it up with the locals in Amsterdam, and a skip through Southeast Asia, Kat made the jump to Dunsborough. She could never have expected the summer of fun and friends! She taught Thea how to speak Dutch, well chat up lines anyway. In return Thea and Prue taught Kat to surf (she's now hooked!) and let her share some wonderful memories with the infamous Seagrass family. She is an international relations student and after the Amsterslam this year, she has been accepted to the University College Maastricht on a student exchange- so all that cycling will come in handy...
Prue is a real life surf scientist, and after having seen a good chunk of Aus, wants to head out experience the rest of the world. Inspired by Margot’s story and always being up for an adventure (especially for a good cause) she thought she’d jump on board the Amsterslam and get riding for charity! She has just finished up a season of surf coaching for the Yallingup Surf School.
And now you're probably wondering how Team Seagrass fit into the Amsterslam equation?
The Widdup family - parents Libby and Mark, and brother Josh - swapped hemispheres in 2010 to take part in the ride. They trained and dieted, The Amsterslam was a part of their family holiday to Europe. You’d think that being on the bikes is the most dangerous part of the ride, but on the first day in Holland Margot managed to break both her ankles after jumping into shallow water to cool off.
It took Margot two strenuous operations, six months of rehabilitation, wheelchairs and crutches to be able to walk again. And in true Widdup style, her first initation back into the walking world was a charity fun run, dressed as Santa Clause in Sydney, with yet another friend she had met from around the world.
Thea was so inspired by Margot’s determination and ever-positive attitude she could not miss the opportunity to be with Margot this July when she finally finshes the race. The organisation Charity Adventure who are hosting the Amsterslam are founded on “inviting other people along”. Thea couldn’t think of a better way to celebrate this than by inviting her worldly housemates to join the Amsterslam 2011.
