A Dutch adventurer passed through Bathurst last Friday as part of an epic, three year-long journey that has seen him venture throughout Europe, Asia and Australia in an electric car.
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Wiebe Wakker first set out from the Netherlands on March 15, 2016 and to date has visited 33 countries.
Mr Wakker has been relying completely on the kindness of the people he meets throughout his journey, and is raising awareness of how to live a more sustainable life.
“My goal is to show people the advantages of electric vehicles and prove that you can cover long distances in them,” he said.
“I’m also trying to engage in sustainable initiatives with companies and organisations to highlight the environmental challenges in each respective country and promote key solutions.”
The car, dubbed the ‘Blue Bandit,’ runs on a 37 kilowatt hour battery and can travel 200 kilometres per charge.
Mr Wakker’s campaign is called ‘Plug Me In,’ and he has successfully managed to make it around the world through people offering him food, a place to sleep and electricity to charge his car.
All these offers have been made to Mr Wakker via the ‘Plug Me In’ website, and it has been random acts of kindness that have plotted a route for his journey.
“I was sent from Italy to the tip of Norway, before heading through eastern Europe to Turkey,” he said.
“From here, I journeyed through the Middle East, India and south-east Asia before arriving in Darwin.”
Mr Wakker arrived in Darwin in June 2018, and his Australian adventures have seen him cross the Nullarbor Plain and plunge through the heart of Australia’s Red Centre.
During his brief stay in Bathurst, Mr Wakker was kindly offered the use of the electricity port at the Bathurst Showground to charge his car.
In addition, councilor Jess Jennings bought Mr Wakker lunch at The Hub as a show of local support.
Mr Wakker is now very close to the end of his journey, which will conclude once he reaches Sydney.
“I’m hoping to write a book about my journey once it’s over, and I still want to be active in the field of sustainable mobility,” he said.
“I also hope to catch up on plenty of sleep!”
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Sam Bolt
"I'm not in the business of telling people what to do. I'm much more in the business of describing things, situations and stuff like that and leaving them out there, and you can make up your minds about them." -Nick Cave
"I'm not in the business of telling people what to do. I'm much more in the business of describing things, situations and stuff like that and leaving them out there, and you can make up your minds about them." -Nick Cave
