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He walked out of his tiny Mitcham unit nine years ago to clear his head and finished almost 11,000 kilometres later in the CBD.
Rob Olifiers, a primary school teacher and 18-year State Emergency Service volunteer, has gone through 22 pairs of shoes to trek every road in Melbourne.
Robert Olifiers completes his 21st and last metropolitan Melbourne council walk on Friday afternoon.Credit: Luis Ascui
On Friday, the 64-year-old took his last steps on Swanston Street – one of the about 71,000 thoroughfares he estimates he has wandered – and was welcomed by the Deputy Lord Mayor Nicholas Reece at Melbourne Town Hall.
Melbourne’s ever-expanding urban sprawl means Olifers’ metropolitan map may have different boundaries to the state government surveyor, but you’d be hard-pressed to find anyone to deny him the title of Melbourne’s Forrest Gump.
He claims to have covered every street, court, and lane in the city’s 21 most central council areas – from Calder Park in the north-west, to Chirnside Park in the north-east, down to Patterson Lakes in the south-east, and across to Point Cook in the south-west.
Olifiers explains the journey began in less than ideal circumstances: he split from his wife and moved out of the family home in 2014.
Armed with a counselling background, Olifiers knew he had to break his funk and decided to walk an hour a day near his Mitcham unit for his wellbeing.
“I’m a person who likes variety – I hate doing the same old block,” he says. “So I got a Melways and started marking the streets I’d done.”
After running out of options exploring his new suburb, Olifiers grabbed a map from the local Whitehorse council and the journey continued.
Once that was done things snowballed.
Rob Olifiers and his daughter Sarah upon finishing his trek along all the roads in the Merri-bek council area.
Nearby Boroondara was next. Then Maroondah, where he grew up. Next was Manningham. Much later, during COVID, the five-kilometre radius rule imposed during lockdowns saw him explore the streets of Darebin, Banyule and Yarra councils near his new home in Alphington.
Once 2023 rolled around, he was driving more than an hour to get to Brimbank on the other side of town, early on weekends, to tick off 15 or so kilometres – tracking it all on his Fitbit.
“It’s a big impost on your day,” Olifiers says. “It didn’t get any easier.”
Thankfully, the relatively small City of Melbourne was saved for last. On Friday, he marched up St Kilda Road alongside friends, family, and SES chief operations officer Tim Wiebusch to complete the odyssey.
Olifiers outside Melbourne Town Hall on Friday.Credit: Luis Ascui
Olifiers walks in an SES hat and shorts and speaks with a measured tone. He trekked without music or podcasts, preferring to be attuned to the communities he passed through. Although he started out for himself, he now tries to raise awareness of the SES’ work and remains fascinated with the city’s diverse neighbourhoods – prompting an Instagram account dedicated to his favourite unique letterboxes. He also plans to create a photographic book about his travels for his students at Kingswood College in Box Hill.
The best council area? Boroondara.
“Just because of the beauty of the parklands,” he explains. “It goes by the Yarra … and the old-style houses.”
The battle-weary runners Olifiers wore on the final leg of his journey on Friday.
The worst area? He’s too nice to tell. But he’s had a few bad days after being bitten multiple times by dogs – turning a love for canines into a bit of a fear, and harbouring some anger towards their owners.
Socks wore through quickly. New shoes were a reward for each complete council. But Olifiers ultimately used one extra pair of runners than local government zones he traversed, thanks to a bizarre and frightening moment.
It was early on a hot summer’s day last year when he drove to Sunshine to start his hike. He spotted smoke rising in a park nearby and soon realised it was coming from a fire in dry scrubland. He called emergency services and began stamping on the flames.
“By the time they got there, it was out,” Olifiers says. “But my runners had pretty much melted … that was an interesting day.”
He has considered extending his expedition to Melbourne councils covering regional roads, on the city fringe, but is satisfied with the effort so far.
“I’ve loved it,” he says. “[But], petrol isn’t cheap these days.”
“It’s helped me through those last years immensely with wellbeing of mind and body, but it’ll be a relief it’s over.”
Olifiers alongside SES chief operations officer Tim Wiebusch (left) on the final leg of his journey.Credit: Luis Ascui
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