Susanna Freymark
Steve Sun sets off to travel 50,000km of Australia this week.
“I want to see the sunrises and sunsets,” Steve said.
He not only wants to see the sun, he plans to make sure the sights of the country are seared into his memories.
Steve has a brain tumour sitting across his optical nerve.
When his neurosurgeon operates in a year’s time, Steve will lose his sight.
Before he goes blind, he will travel the breadth of the country in his Sunseeker 4WD and truly see the sights.
He had planned to leave four months ago, but lockdowns hindered that departure.
On Friday he leaves the town he has lived in for 17 years.
“It’ll be hard to pull away from Casino,” he said.
“The community support here is like family.”
He knows once he hits the road, his adventure begins as he travels to Newcastle to see his grown-up children and then he’ll drive to Lightning Ridge where he will pan for gold for the first time.
He will travel to Tassie, Victoria, South Australia, WA and then across to Kakadu, down to Uluru and back up to Cape York.
In his 2009 Navara Nissan, Steve is well prepared for solo travel.
“The car has all the bells and whistles,” he said.
There are solar panels on the roof, bull bars on the front and back of the car, a winch on the front, a bash plate on the underbelly of the car and a rooftop tent.
He has a fridge and freezer and can carry up to two weeks supply of food.
“I plan to go off grid and off road.”
When he was thinking of a travelling name, his daughter came up with The Sunseeker. He liked it and branded his car and shirts.
In May next years, wherever he is, he has to fly back to the Gold Coast for a review of his brain tumour and its growth.
The surgeon said they won’t give me two years, it could kill me, Steve said.
He’ll continue his journey after the review.
Steve shows his two new tattoos. One on his shoulder reads, Live life, no regrets.
The other is tattoo on his chest above his heart which bears the names of his children
It keeps them close, he said. “I’ll miss them.”
Steve can’t walk down the main street of Casino without people calling out hello or stopping to chat.
His driving instruction business has put him in touch with people from all walks of life.
Now its time for him to leave.
To make memories he’ll never forget.
He knows life will be radically different when he returns. And after the op.
For now, though, he said he was “anxious, excited, nervous and sceptical,” but it won’t stop him getting into his Sunseeker to leave a town he loves and head off into the sunset.
A friend set up a crowdfunder for Steve. To donate go to Go Fund Me and search for ‘Help Steve See Australia’.
