Col begins his long ride

Kiama’s Col Rathbone is traversing the National Trail from Victoria to Queensland to raise money for melanoma research – a cause close to his heart after losing his wife, Roni, to melanoma in 2020.

74 year old Col – who was Kiama’s Citizen of the Year in 2017, after Roni was given the honour in 2000 – is 300 kilometres into his 5,330-kilometre journey with nothing but three horses and a 60kg pack.

In what will be an 18 month journey, Col describes what every day has looked like for him in the past month as he and his horses take a well-deserved break in Gunning, NSW.

“It’s a 5 o’clock start with breakfast in the dark before packing the tent up and getting the horses brushed and saddled up,” says Col, who had the National Trail on his bucket list for years.

“Hopefully on the road by 8 o’clock, we will ride until 2 in the afternoon where we will have hopefully reached the next camp site.

“I’ll then set up camp for the night before doing it all again tomorrow.”

Col will stay in Gunning until the Eucumbene River goes down enough to safely cross, when he will then tackle the Victorian Alps.

He says so far, every day has been an adventure with its ups and downs.

“There have been some down days like battling drizzling rain for 24 hours and being cold and wet, but I have warmed up and overall, it has been really great.”

Col says it is the overwhelming amount of support he has received that has kept him going and he is determined to not let people down.

“The support has been amazing. People have been stopping me on the way with carrots for the horses and strangers have been offering me a bed for the night. It has been absolutely fantastic,” says Col.

“If you see me along the