General News
26 December, 2024
Life is a highway for John
The name Grant (John) Cadoret might not mean a lot to many, but mention his alias, John the Highway Man, and he'll be familiar to many people in the Wimmera.
And residents of the Wimmera can keep a lookout for the face of familiarity, with the Highway Man currently in the region.
Although his family knows him as Grant, by his followers and along the roadside he is known as John, so for the purpose of this story, that's what we will call him.
John was at Lascelles earlier this week with speculation on a dedicated page to following John that he will be heading onto Hopetoun and Horsham next.
If you aren't familiar with John, here's some background information.
- John grew up in Minyip and recently celebrated his 70th birthday.
- He was a finance worker in 1977 in Melbourne before, after feeling restless and stifled, he decided on backpacking around the country.
- He planned on returning to work, but became content as a wanderer.
- He has never received benefits or Government money.
- John's family reported him as a missing person and this lasted for more than 20 years.
- He continued to walk Australia's back roads and highways before he was eventually reunited with his family and now visits them at least yearly in country Victoria.
- Now, John is content with traveling along roads in NSW and Victoria, occasionally venturing over the border into Queensland.
With a following of more than 27,000 on socials to follow his journey, John's journey is an interesting one, and often people ask what they can gift him on his travels.
Administrators on his page suggest: beer, coke or water, envelopes, paper and stamps, AA batteries, or food like cakes, cheese, cooked sausages, creamed rice, KFC, salmon (tinned), salami or sardines.
He will accept only what he can carry, but does love a chat.
People who bump into John are asked to keep in mind his safety when sharing his location as to not make him a target for anyone to take advantage of him.
He also appreciates a book to read and the offer of a rubbish run to dispose of his waste.