The unstoppable ‘Pram Lady’

Walking from Adelaide to Cape Trib

Jamie Jansen

Journalist

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Sarah Barnett hopes to encourage people to donate money to wildlife conservation. Image: Jamie Jansen

The ‘pram lady’ has been all the latest talk in the Shire as many people spotted a woman walking on the side of the highway pushing a pram. Newsport reporter Jamie Jansen decided to jump in the car to find out more about this mysterious ‘pram lady’.

It was at the entrance of Mossman where I saw Sarah Barnett walking on the side of the road pushing the pram in which she keeps all her belongings. I decided to pull over and have a chat.

“The local people here are lovely. Every day I meet road angels,” Sarah Barnett said. Image: Jamie Jansen

Ms Barnett started her journey by foot in Adelaide about 4,5 months ago and has walked 6000 kilometres so far. Her end destination: Cape Tribulation.

“I just wanted to take six months off to walk and enjoy nature”, she said. “I took all the coastal roads and stopped at the most beautiful places.”

But Ms Barnett added that she is not only doing this for herself. “I am passionate about the environment and I hope to encourage people to donate money to wildlife conservation. I ask people I meet along the way to donate on the website of treesforlife.org.au, a charity that protects and restores land in the bush, farms, and urban areas of South Australia.”

Road-angels

Ms Barnett said that she started walking 50 kilometres a day but that this has now come down to 40 because she is starting to get more tired.

“I cut off the end of my shoes so there is no pressure on my toes and to avoid blisters. I have been running marathons for almost twenty years so I am used to being on my feet all the time.

“I camp in the bush along the way. I feel very safe here and I haven’t had any bad experiences so far. The local people here are so lovely. Today an 80-year old lady invited me into her house to cook me eggs on toast. Every day I meet road-angles.”

Danger

With so many windy roads in our region, Ms Barnett takes great risk when walking on the side of the road which results in many people expressing their concern.

“Coming up the Captain Cook Highway, about 10 kilometres in, the police stopped me to tell me that they were getting some reports that there is a lady with a baby stroller walking on the side of the road.

“I am being extra careful and I take precautions, I take it really slow and I wear a reflective vest when necessary. I was also warned by three cyclists today who told me not to go any further or I was going to get hit by a car, but there are no other roads I can take.”

Environmentalist

Ms Barnett has a special connection with nature and wildlife. “Since I was a kid I would just disappear into nature and my dad would come and look for me in the hills somewhere. After a day of running in the bush I just feel like all my thoughts have disappeared from my mind.

“We’ve got such a beautiful country and we are so lucky to live here. Nature is a gift and I really want to help protect it.”

Unstoppable

This afternoon Ms Barnett hopes to take a dip in the beautiful Mossman Gorge and she will reach Cape Tribulation in the next couple of days.

“I am meant to do a long race in Sydney in about a month’s time, but now people are saying why don’t you run back to Adelaide?

“We’ll see, I might do the run in Sydney and then fly back to Cairns and walk back to Adelaide.”

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