Karl left Rockhampton with a studio portrait in hand, dengue in his system, and dingoes tracking him in the bush.

Despite the odds, he made it to Mackay—where the town hosted a concert in his honour (initially a “smoke concert,” it was opened to women thanks to local support). After his second public lecture, the night ended in dance, applause, and admiration for the young cyclist’s grit.

Alongside the fanfare, Karl was learning: about Queensland’s sugar industry, its complicated history of labour, and the agricultural backbone of towns like Mackay. He wrote home to his younger sister, sending her a postcard of cane fields and workers, adding simply: “You never saw sugar cane growing did you…”