Trudy Van Der Straaten

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First-born child of Sri Lankan parents who left their home for Australia in the mid-1960s, Throughout her childhood Trudy was fascinated, obsessed even; with Sri Lanka, and visited for the first time in 1991, when she backpacked solo for several months. That was the first of many trips ‘home’. In 2013 along with her husband, Trudy embarked on the first of 4 (so far) cycling holidays around Sri Lanka. With limited knowledge of Sinhala, equipped only with an old Apple iPhone and unreliable 3G coverage to access equally unreliable Google maps for navigation; they pedalled through paddy fields, tea plantations, national parks and chaotic dusty towns. Trudy is an addicted cyclist and has taken part in many racing events in Australia and the region.