Michael Pauly is 8000km into his 15,000km walk around Australia to raise funds for men’s mental health and arthritis research.
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He has been robbed twice since he left Fremantle in March 2014; once at Willare Bridge between Fitzroy Crossing and Derby in WA and once in Muswellbrook on Tuesday night.
Mr Pauly, 75, is heading south along the New England Highway where he’ll connect with some men’s shed groups in Newcastle before continuing his monumental journey.
He passed through Scone and Aberdeen over the October Long Weekend and stopped in Muswellbrook.
“I was having trouble charging my phone with my solar panel so I plugged it in to a power point in the amenities area.
“I went to collect it on Wednesday morning and both the smart phone and the 4G mobile device I use to access the internet were gone.
“I was a bit shocked at first but, really, I blame myself because it was careless to leave it there,” Mr Pauly told The Chronicle about 10km south of Muswellbrook on Wednesday.
The stolen phone was Mr Pauly’s link to the outside world; he rings his 74-year-old school teacher wife in Fremantle, or she rings him, every Sunday morning.
It also contains many photos of the destinations through which he’s passed, as well as important Apps, one of which tells him how far he’s walked each day and the other that identifies camping grounds where he can sleep at night.
Also gone is the music he listens to, including his Glenn Miller big band favourites; the classical music of Brahms, Bach and Botticelli; and the gospel renditions of the Blind Boys of Alabama.
Remarkably, Michael Pauly is adamant he leaves Muswellbrook with good memories because of the kindness others showed him after the theft.
“A woman read the story on Facebook and she jumped in her car and she came down to the Telstra office and wanted to help me with some of the replacement cost for my new phone.
“And there were staff members in that office who put their hand in their own pocket and chipped in to pay for some accessories, like the safety glass,” Mr Pauly said.
“I can’t tell you how good people have been to me so my philosophy is that I will put a positive spin on what’s happened.”
Michael Pauly’s youngest daughter will marry in Bali in May next year and he still has to make his way through Victoria, Tasmania and across South Australia’s Nullarbor Plain.
“If all goes well it will be April when I get to the desert and I’ll do most of my walking at night and I’ll use a canopy that shades me during the day.
“But whatever happens I’ve got a plane to catch in mid-May for that wedding and if I haven’t finished, well, I’ll just put a mark on the road and pick up where I left off when I get back,” Mr Pauly said.