Engineers Janell Clarke, 39, and her husband Stuart, 44, set off in early 2014 to motorbike around the world for two years. Ten years, three rescue dogs and one head-on collision later …
Janell and Stuart Clarke with their three dogs (from left) Azra, Shadow and Weeti.Credit: Danielle Smith
Stuart: I met Janell in 2004 during my third year at ADFA [Australian Defence Force Academy]; she was a first-year Air Force cadet. We were playing soccer and I accidentally kicked the ball in her face, but she kept on playing. Six months later, at a navy cocktail party, we really hit it off. We had the same interests – camping, sport, adventure – but she was also very caring and an animal lover. I knew she was special. I proposed in July 2006 on a camping trip to Cape York, and we got married two years later.
When we got engaged, we adopted Skyla, a staffie cross. I thought dogs should sleep outside; Janell believed that, as family members, they should sleep with us inside. She doesn’t insist on much; when she does, I know it’s important.
I’d always wanted to travel. Janell did, too, but she didn’t want to leave Skyla for longer than six months. One night, I said, “Let’s take her.” With Skyla on board, we needed our own transport – a motorbike each – and we designed a special carrier for her. We planned our departure for December 2013, but then Skyla was diagnosed with lymphoma, which delayed us while she had chemo and a bone marrow transplant. Sadly, her symptoms returned once we finally got under way, and she died in Venezuela in 2014. We were distraught.
‘There were no toilets or showers but we felt so bonded in adversity – one night, we found a deathstalker scorpion in our tent – this lull turned out to be a highlight.’
Stuart Clarke
I’d posted all this stuff on Facebook about losing Skyla, and it was too much for Janell: we had a big fight. I’d been in South Sudan for six months before we left Australia, and now here we were, learning how to live on the road, camping out, covered in mud all the time from riding our bikes on dirt roads and grieving Skyla. Janell packed up her bike and drove off into the night. I thought we were over.
We didn’t have phones, so I sent her an email telling her I didn’t want it to end, and she sent one back saying she didn’t either, then rode back. We decided to concentrate on being each other’s best friend again – and to extend the trip.
On a ferry to Norway, 2019.Credit: Courtesy of Janell Clarke
We adopted Weeti, a street dog who’d given Skyla a blood transfusion, while we were still in Venezuela. Eight months later, in rural Colombia, we picked up a small, black dog by the side of the road that had been hit by a car. We called her Shadow. We found Azra, a young puppy with Parvovirus, three years ago in Turkey.
