UK to Adelaide, a Kookaburra’s story

I came across a UK YouTuber whose journey of discovery and change began in Adelaide. “The UK to Adelaide, a Kookaburra’s story” I felt is interesting and inspirational. By any measure a remarkable journey.

One other reason for this post is what Adelaide means. To people both locally and those that come from abroad.

YouTuber Katie “Kookaburra” Butler hails from Leeds and had issues with bulimia and weight. In 2013 having sorted out the first she decides to travel thru Australia on a working backpacker trip. Something that is common among the young and not an exception both ways.

Katie Kookaburra is a character from an old children’s show in the UK and Kookaburra a pet name given by her parents when she was a child.

Adelaide was on her agenda due to a local Youtube channel covering diet and cycling to keep fit.

While working in Adelaide city she makes two life changing moves. In April 2014 at the age of 28 she invests in her first road bike and starts her YouTube channel – Katie Kookaburra.

Fast forward to the present

Before going into her journey of discovery from UK to Adelaide, let’s see what Katie has achieved in 7 years since leaving Australia in 2014.

Katie worked in journalism in the city of Manchester, is superbly fit and runs a Youtube channel. The continued passion for cycling has led her to become a full time content creator for her channel, covering cycle reviews and adventures. She has since acquired 80K subscribers.

Her travels cover well known cycling locations in Europe, US and elsewhere. She has secured channel sponsorship from the likes of Ribble Cycles UK, Michelin Tyres and others.

On the cycling passion front, she is into endurance cycling having done up to 600 km rides. She also takes on challenging climbs including Mow Cop in the UK called the “Killer Mile” with an average gradient of 11% and maximum gradient of 28%.

Now back to the beginning

Back to April 2014, when Katie pops into the Giant store at Hindmarsh Square for a bike. It’s a road bike with drop bars.

The Giant Avail 3 is an alloy aluminium frame bike with carbon forks and Shimano Sora groupset. It also comes with additional top bar brake levers. It is part of Giant’s Liv line for Women. The top bar brake levers for instance helps those with smaller hands.

I mention the specs because she received good advice on it. She does mention that prior to the purchase she had little understanding of bikes and gears. My guess is that she still has the bike.

She begins commuting to work from the suburb of Windsor Gardens which is 10 kms away. There is a scenic bike path that she uses for much of the way.

Adelaide Bike Kitchen

Within 2 weeks of the bike purchase she is at Adelaide’s Bike Kitchen which is a superb community initiative. Volunteers give their time to teach beginners to maintain and do repairs on their bikes. You only have to pay for parts. Do watch her video here on the Adelaide Bike Kitchen getting her hands-on lessons.

The Adelaide Bike Kitchen is yet another reflection of the city’s character. A testament that there are people out there who are prepared to help others, and it does not matter where you come from.

The Adelaide Bike Kitchen is at 22 Gibson Street, Bowden just North of the city. If you have unused spares and wish to donate, please drop by the Kitchen. I am sure they will appreciate the help.

What a wonderful notion. It reminded me of similar initiatives in London and my visit to Brixton Cycles in London. A worker’s collective. It does impress me how we pick up on good ideas from bigger cities.

Credit though to Katie for picking up the skills. Forward thinking. She will need them as her bike becomes her ride and travel companion on commutes, weekend forays and overseas travels.

On weight and fitness

Katie has been candid about her battle with weight having reached 100 kg. Her videos do show the transformation. More remarkable is her focus on achieving a balanced lifestyle with her career in journalism, her health and her new found cycling passion. Moving eventually into full time content creation.

3 months after the bike purchase in Adelaide, she leaves for Chiang Mai, Thailand to attend a fruit and cycling festival.

One of the daily morning rituals is to ride up to Doi Suthep mountain which is slightly over 1,200m in height. It is a 15km ride with an average gradient of 6.4% and maximum of 28%. The elevation change is 924m. She attempts it with over 50 riders leading and she is the last.

Not long after and a year later, at the same festival and this time she is seen encouraging others who are trailing behind her. So something has begun working for her.

One of her frequently mentioned tips over the years is do things in marginal steps and not to be overly ambitious. I have seen her rides on her videos and on Strava and they are tough. She however does them at increasing levels of difficulty, pushing the bar each time. So she does what she says.

The Alps and back to Norton Summit

Since leaving Adelaide she has gone on to climb the beautiful and legendary Alpe d’Huez in France followed by the Col de la Ramaz a year later. Both are regular features of the Tour de France and the first is a cyclist’s dream. How many keen cyclists can make that claim or even had such lofty aims. How many riders from her first Doi Suthep ride in Thailand where she came last have gone on to do Alpe d’Huez.

Here is a lesson for all of us. Over the years I have seen cyclists buy ever more expensive bikes, wheels and riding gear, raced harder but never made it outside their home patch with their bikes.

On 29th January 2020, 6 years later, Katie took to Norton Summit again, having returned to Adelaide for the Tour Down Under. In 2014 she took 2 hours to climb Norton Summit shortly after acquiring her bike. This time she did it in 17.03 mins.

The QOM record for the Summit is 13.38min held by by Melbourne raised Australian pro and rising star Sarah Gigante. Katie’s average cadence was 98 and average speed 29.2 km/h, very impressive and a remarkable transformation. An avid cyclist will appreciate the figures and know what it means.

Adelaide City

I was keen to do this post because it is also about Adelaide and its mystic influences. Without taking anything away from Katie, I felt that Adelaide played a significant role.

Firstly Adelaide city is small. Nice small. It does not have the urban sprawl like other cities. It’s pretty much a walking city. I can walk from Apple Store to Giant Bike store in 10 minutes. JB Hi Fi is a 5 minute walk. Chinatown is 20 minutes away by foot. I can walk to the Adelaide Oval in 30 minutes to watch Test cricket.

Yet Adelaide has all the infrastructure and necessities of a full city. After all it is the capital of the State of South Australia. Surrounded by parklands that are so sacred that no urban planning effort can take it away.

The cycle route that Katie took for much of her work commute is called the River Torrens Linear Park Trail. Quiet, serene with no traffic fumes with the river keeping you company.

Part of it runs alongside the unique O-Bahn Busway where ordinary buses latch on to rails no different to train tracks. They cover longer distances on rails and exit into the city and back on the roads. An idea copied from the German city of Essen.

The ride therefore is not much of a commute, more a pleasurable and rewarding ride. A ride lost in thought. You gain in health both physically and mentally. My guess is this is where her love of cycling took hold.

I have covered the city in greater detail in this earlier post.

Adelaide Hills

On weekends the Hills which are within 45 minutes from the city centre by bike appeals to cyclists and others as well.

There are no need for car or train journeys to get to a start of a cycle route. There is little traffic on weekends, the routes are scenic, clean air, green vegetation, vineyards, orchards, lots of interesting flora and fauna and elevation means cooler climate. I know it’s a long list. There are hamlet like towns dotted around the Hills with cafes for cakes, tea and coffee. Not to mention wine cellars for tasting and meals.

It is a welcome change from the general Australian climate and terrain which tends to be hot, dry and harsh at times.

We do appreciate our fauna and we see them often. Visitors to the country on the other hand have a different take. I have yet to see a visitor cycling up the Hills remaining calm when they spot a Koala on a tree or a Kangaroo hopping by. There is the dramatic change in facial expression followed by a squeal. We all come to a stop.

Other frequent sights are bright coloured Rosellas and Lorikeets, bands of Galahs and Cockatoos. And let’s not forget the omnipresent Magpies.

There are others and for other reasons

Katie Kookaburra is not the only UK to Adelaide story. I am sure there must be many like her and it may not be on fitness and cycling.

My guess is the UK to Adelaide story will be a recurring theme of discovery for others. Katie’s story is the result of her sharing her journey on YouTube. There must be others who have kept their experiences to themselves and not just those from the UK.

Fellow UK Youtuber Francis Cade with 132k subscribers falls under a different category. A visitor who is attracted by an event and then returns again. I typed “Adelaide Hills and cycling” on Youtube search and his video on his ride thru Adelaide Hills popped up.

Francis made 2 visits, the first for the 2018 Tour Down Under. A second in Oct 2019 for a ride from Perth to Melbourne via Adelaide and the Adelaide Hills. And he picked the right route leaving Adelaide. From the city centre, up Greenhill Road, over Mt Lofty passing thru Stirling, Hahndorf and Mt Barker.

I am told that the Tour draws them in but they return for what Adelaide has. Which then leads to the question on why are you not cycling if you are in Adelaide?

Hopefully social media continues to be the platform for other UK to Adelaide stories to be told. It need not be about UK or Adelaide.