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‘It’s true companionship’: He’s biking around the world, with a cat on his back
DEAN Nicholson was pedalling up a hill in Bosnia, near the border of Montenegro, when he heard a plaintive meow.
He looked over his shoulder. In the winter light he saw a grey-and-white kitten chasing him up the incline.
The burly and bearded 31-year-old itinerant with a thick Scottish brogue and a Maori design inked on his left upper arm, put on his brakes and dismounted.
Nicholson had set out three months earlier from his home in Dunbar, a town on the eastern coast of Scotland, to traverse the world on his bike. He cycled from Scotland to England, hopped on a ferry to the Netherlands and then travelled through Belgium, France, Switzerland and down to Italy. From the coast of the Adriatic, he caught a ferry to Croatia and then made his way into Bosnia.
He was seeking distance from his job as a welder, which had left him listless and depleted.
“I couldn’t do the 9-to-5 thing,” he said in an interview with the Washington Post. “I wanted to see the world and see what state it’s in.”
That meant choosing a bike and the open air over a bus or train compartment.
“Otherwise you miss out on the smaller towns,” he explained.
And it meant going alone.
Or so he thought. The Balkans had a surprise in store for him in the form of a feline and fellow traveller. He called her Nala, after the lioness friend in his favourite film, The Lion King. The tiny animal with eyes like jewels wouldn’t leave his side.
So began a second, not-so-solo leg of his round-the-world ride as Nicholson and Nala took their place in the pantheon of epic duos melding man and beast, from Snowy and Tintin to Snoopy and Charlie Brown. Their journey became a sensation on social media this week.
A video posted by the Dodo, an animal-centric website, had been viewed nearly eight million times on Twitter by Thursday morning.
“If you’ve got a pet, you know what it’s like,” Nicholson said. “You’re never alone. It’s true companionship.”
At first, Nicholson didn’t know what to do with the desperate kitten on the side of the road. He was already carrying too much cargo. Besides, he had grown up with dogs and considered himself loyal to man’s best friend. But the animal seemed intent on joining him.
“As soon as I got her to relax, that’s when I decided to bring her with me,” Nicholson said.
He plopped her in his front basket, clearing out some digital equipment to make room for his companion.
She wasn’t satisfied with that perch, however, and instead climbed up onto Nicholson’s shoulder. From there, she kept watch and nuzzled him. Quickly becoming accustomed to the bumps and swerves of the road, she dozed off.
Nicholson found a vet in Montenegro, where he learned that she was about 7 weeks old and had no microchip.
“So I was like, ‘I’ll just keep her,’” he recalled thinking. He had a chip installed and made sure Nala got the vaccinations that would allow her to accompany him across borders.
He found a proper cat compartment – which even boasted a small window allowing Nala to peer outside – and purchased a harness to make sure she stayed by his side.
With that, the pair returned to the open road, making their way to the ancient Montenegrin city of Budva, with winding stone streets and sweeping views of the Adriatic.
“Nala stole the attention of every passing tourist and even managed to get me a free pint,” Nicholson wrote of the visit in December on his Instagram page, which quickly drew loyal followers.
The two were inseparable, as Nala clung to Nicholson’s back when he was cycling or burrowed in his armpit when he stopped to pitch his tent at night. They shared meals at their deserted campsites as he devoured pasta and fries and she ate cat food. He sipped coffee. She lapped water.
Bouts of bad weather slowed the journey to Tirana, the Albanian capital, but the time passed quickly for Nicholson, who was distracted by his furry friend.
Passers-by were distracted, too. Nicholson wasn’t used to getting so much attention. But he understood why heads turned to follow the cyclist with a cat strapped to his handlebars or hanging from his neck. “It’s an unusual sight,” he allowed.
They spent Christmas in Himara, in southern Albania, where holiday treats left Nala tuckered out.
On the beach, he taught her how to hunt, filming her pursuits with his Gopro. He even took her out on the high seas, plopping her between his legs on a kayak.
At the end of the year, Nicholson briefly put their journey on hold. The rain and cold that had trailed them down the Albanian coast had left Nala with a chest infection. She was given antibiotics and he stayed with her in a hostel for several weeks of recovery.
By early January, things were looking up, as Nicholson documented his companion’s second cough-free day.
“She’s fearless,” he said of the feline.
Meanwhile, he pitched in at the hostel, chopping logs for firewood and collecting oranges for juice. He also with a slotted spoon.
♦ Place onions, garlic and carrots into the pan. Fry for 5 minutes.
♦ Add lamb, wine/beef stock,
Worcester sauce. Sprinkle flour and allow to simmer for 30 minutes until lamb is tender.
♦ Place potatoes into salted boiling water, boil for 15 to 20 minutes until soft.
♦ Mash potatoes, add butter and cream, season to taste.
♦ Taste lamb for seasoning, add as required.
♦ Place lamb in an ovenproof dish, pipe mashed potatoes onto lamb, sprinkle cheddar cheese over the top and bake for 20 minutes on 180ºc. passed the time by clearing nearby beaches of plastic and other waste.
Nala, ever observant, watched from his shoulders.
On January 17, they were ready to set off once again, with a more secure – and waterproof – set-up for Nala. Greece beckoned.
They tootled through the birthplace of democracy, sunned themselves on beaches and hiked through forests. Nicholson scored his first shower in a month when a random family in Athens agreed to take them in for a week.
As spring came, Nicholson was moved to make explicit Nala’s imprint on him. He stopped in Thessaloniki, in northern Greece, to tattoo her paw print on his right forearm.
Their relationship hasn’t been without hiccups. At the end of last month, Nicholson knocked her cat THE INDIAN BRIDAL EXPO
SA
Eastern weddings are acclaimed as an extravaganza of fashion, food and culture. If you are planning an Indian wedding or are attending one, then you are in for a treat this weekend.
The Indian Bridal Expo SA will be held in Gauteng tomorrow. Those who attend will get the opportunity to shop for Indian wedding attire for the bride, groom, as well as their guests that is suitable for both traditional and contemporary Indian weddings. The event will also feature beauty treatments, skin analysis and mehndi applications.
There will also be food samplings, cooking demonstrations cake tastings and a beer garden. Youngsters who attend the expo will not be bored as there will be a play area at the event to keep them entertained. Attendees can also look forward to live entertainment, a guest appearance by Miss India Gauteng 2018 as well as competitions and give-aways. The Indian Bridal Expo SA will be held at Everwood Country Weddings in Muldersdrift. Tickets cost R99 per person while children under the age of 16 get in free. For more information, visit: www. indianbridalexpo.online. food from the tree house where they were sleeping. Dogs got to it, leaving Nala with only plain spaghetti for a stretch.
Now, Nicholson and Nala are in Santorini, the crescent-shaped island in the Aegean Sea where they plan to pass the summer months. He landed a job as a sea kayak tour guide.
When autumn rolls around, he’ll pack his bags and head for Australia, passing through Turkey and Georgia and then making up his route as he goes.
From Australia, he plans to fly to Argentina, and then to cycle all the way up to Canada.
By the time he’s finished, Nicholson will have seen remote corners of the world.
“I’ll also have seen this cat grow up, which is maybe even more incredible,” he said.
SOWETO FAMILY FUN DAY
Enjoy the autumn sunshine spending quality time with your loved ones this weekend. The Soweto Family Fun Day, which will be held at the Dobsonville Stadium today, promises to be a treat for people of all ages.
Some of the activities at the event includes thrill rides for bigger children, face painting, horse rides and quad biking. There will also be indigenous games, a mobile train as well as inflatable rides. The Soweto Family Fun Day is expected to start at 10 am and will continue until around 6pm. Tickets are R60 to R80 per person but there are family discount packages, as well as early bird discounts.
THE AUTUMN GARDEN
SHOW
It is no surprise that many people consider autumn to be their favourite season.
Fans of autumn will enjoy witnessing the leaves changing colour as well as the warm colours of nature this season brings. This weekend you can enjoy all that the beloved season has to offer at the Autumn Garden Show, which will be held at Blue Hills in Midrand.
Here you can take a tour through the spiral labyrinth garden and participate in the talks and demos from industry specialists. Attendees will also have the opportunity to buy plants, crafts and gardening goodies which will be on sale on the day. They can also stop for a meal, a botanical gin or a cup of tea in the enchanting and relaxed setting.
The event started on Thursday and will end today.
Tickets cost between R10 to R70 per person.
For more information, visit: Webticket’s website.