STORIES FROM THE ROADSIDE
THE CAMPFIRE
Every journey has its characters. The people you meet on the road become part of your story forever.
PEOPLE OF THE ROAD
© Brian Larwood
📍 THE ENCOUNTER
Tip-off: Balladonia Roadhouse (traveller with photos)
Location: 8 minutes east of Norseman, WA (GPS metadata)
Conditions: Extreme scorching heat
The gift: Cold water from the car fridge (reaction: pure joy)
His why: “I want to be a superhero, spreading happiness”
Follow-up: Spread the word via UHF radio to truckies
THE JOURNEY
- 🚶 Distance: 5,000+ kilometres
- 📍 Route: Carnarvon → Albany → Esperance → Sydney
- 🏕️ Method: Walking with a wheelbarrow, sleeping roadside
- 💪 Daily: 10 hours of walking
- ❤️ Mission: Spreading kindness and inspiring others
ENCOUNTER
THE STRANGE CATMAN
KENTARO JIN • JAPAN 🇯🇵
I was having a break at the Balladonia Roadhouse when this bloke came bursting through the door, absolutely buzzing with excitement. He was showing everyone photos on his phone, going on about some guy dressed as a cat walking down the highway.
“You've got to see this!” he kept saying. “There's a catman out there!”
I'd planned to stay at the roadhouse a bit longer, but something told me I needed to see this for myself. I got in the Jeep and headed out. It was a scorching hot day—the kind where the heat shimmers off the road.
Sure enough, 8 minutes out of Norseman, there he was. A man in a full leopard-print bodysuit, pushing a wheelbarrow down the highway. In this heat. I pulled over immediately.
I had a car fridge full of cold water, so I grabbed some bottles and offered them to him. His reaction? Like he'd just won the lottery. Pure, unbridled joy. Out here in the middle of nowhere, in that heat, cold water wasn't just refreshing—it was liquid gold.
I asked him why he was doing it. Why walk thousands of kilometres in a leopard suit across one of the harshest landscapes on Earth?
“Because I want to be a superhero. Spreading happiness.”
And in that moment, standing on a scorching highway 8 minutes from Norseman, I realised—he already was one.
Meet Kentaro Jin—a Japanese construction worker who decided to walk over 5,000 kilometres across Australia. Not for fame. Not for records. But because he wanted to be a superhero, spreading happiness to everyone he meets.
After we chatted, I got back on the road—but I wasn't done. I jumped on the UHF radio and started telling every truckie and traveller about him. Word spreads fast on the Nullarbor, and this superhero deserved all the encouragement he could get.
“I want to be a superhero. Spreading happiness.”
— KENTARO JIN, 8 MINUTES FROM NORSEMAN
“Australia is a very big country, and very nice people… I really like the journey. Every town, there are so many kinds of people, and they are kind to me. I love each town.”
— KENTARO JIN (ABC INTERVIEW)
Two journeys. Two strangers. One road. Sometimes the people you meet become the most memorable part of the adventure.
CREATURES OF THE ROAD
© Brian Larwood
© Brian Larwood
MUNGLINUP ROADHOUSE
THE DOCTOR
“NOT EXACTLY THE RITZ”
I'd pulled into the Munglinup Roadhouse—the kind of place that's equal parts general store, servo, and outback institution. General Store. Liquor. Coffee. Bait. Ice. Everything a traveller needs, nothing they don't.
I was inside buying some food and drinks when this cat came strolling in like he owned the place. Friendly little thing, weaving between the shelves, totally at home.
“What a friendly cat!” I said to the young lady behind the counter.
She looked up, glanced at the cat, and said in the most matter-of-fact voice imaginable:
“Oh, that's only The Doctor.”
The Doctor. Of course. Clearly one of his regenerations was as a tabby cat, roaming the Australian outback, keeping watch over weary travellers at a roadhouse in the middle of nowhere.
Look into those eyes and tell me he hasn't seen the Time Vortex. I dare you.
📍 THE ENCOUNTER
Location: Munglinup Roadhouse, WA
Amenities: General Store, Liquor, Coffee, Bait, Ice
Resident Time Lord: The Doctor (feline regeneration)
Vibe: “Not exactly the Ritz”
In 900 years of time and space, I've never met anyone who wasn't important.
— THE DOCTOR (PROBABLY THIS ONE TOO)
OUTBACK CHARACTER & ROADSIDE HUMOR
MUNDRABILLA ROADHOUSE • TIME WARP
WHAT TIME IS IT ANYWAY?
Crossing the Nullarbor means crossing state borders and the unofficial 45-minute “Central Western Time”. Mundrabilla Roadhouse settles the confusion with four clocks: WA Time, Central Western, South Australia... and “Beer O'Clock”. That's true outback logic.
ROADSIDE RELIC • THE OPTIMIST
“RUNS LIKE A DREAM... PROBABLY”
Miles from the nearest town, an old 1950s farm ute sits half-buried in red dirt and dry grass. Right next to the drum mailbox and a garden elf sits a hand-painted wooden sign: “FOR SALE”. You have to love the unvarnished sense of humor along the highway.
MORE STORIES TO COME
6,859 kilometres of road means countless encounters—grey nomads at roadhouses, locals with stories to tell, and characters you couldn't make up if you tried.
NULLARBOR ROADHOUSE
The Grey Nomads
Three years on the road and counting...
Coming soon...
NORSEMAN
The Roadhouse Owner
"East," I said. He just nodded.
Coming soon...
ISRAELITE BAY
Solitude & Stars
Sometimes the best conversations are with yourself.
Coming soon...
THE STILL SMALL VOICE • RESTING FOR THE NIGHT
PULL UP A CHAIR: “COME NOW, LET US REASON TOGETHER”
“‘Come now, let us reason together,’ says the Lord: ‘though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall become like wool.’”— Isaiah 1:18 (English Standard Version)
A campfire in the outback isn't about performance. You don't gather around a fire in the red dirt to preach a polished sermon or recite religious formulas. A campfire is where pretense dies. You sit down in a fold-out chair, let the dust settle, and stare into the burning embers because you are finally resting after a long, punishing day behind the wheel.
In that vast outback silence, the clamour and distraction of the world fall away. And often, that is precisely when guilt and shame try to trap you the hardest—whispering every past failure, every regret, and every reason why you aren't good enough.
“It is in those quiet moments when you are finally resting for the night that you understand something life-changing: you are not alone. God has been with you every single kilometre of the road.”
Look at the first words God speaks in Isaiah 1:18: “Come now, let us reason together.”He doesn't stand over us with an angry gavel. He doesn't demand that we clean ourselves up before we approach Him. He invites us to sit down and have a chat. He says: “Bring your mess. Bring your scarlet stains. Let's reason for a while. Let Me show you My character.”
When Elijah was running for his life in the desert, God didn't speak to him in the howling wind, the earthquake, or the blazing fire—He met him in a gentle whisper, a still small voice (1 Kings 19:12). And in Psalm 46:10 He commands our restless hearts: “Be still, and know that I am God.”
That is the heart of this entire journey: not preaching the perfect sermon or proving our worth, but understanding His character. A God who washes scarlet stains white as snow, who walks with broken travelers, and who invites us to simply pull up a chair, sit by the fire, and listen.
“Do not forget to show hospitality to strangers, for by so doing some people have shown hospitality to angels without knowing it.”— HEBREWS 13:2
CONTINUE
EXPLORE THE JOURNEY
Every stop along the way has its own story. Trace the route and discover what each place revealed.
THE ROAD