Local identity Neil Marks has been Chasing The Dog for nine (9) days today. For those who haven't read about Neil's around Australia trip, he is riding his trusty Triumph about 16,000 km around our big island to raise awareness of mental health and to understand his own journey of depression.

Neil rode out of the Lismore Showground gates on Saturday, July 27, with wellwishers giving him a guard of honour.

Neil is enjoying a few rest days in Darwin before continuing his journey across the Northern Territory and into the north of Western Australia on his way to Perth.

That means Neil has covered 4,862.5 km in eight days, so nearly one-third of the trip in a week. He has ridden from Lismore to Brisbane to Marlborough to Townsville to Cairns, then had a little stop in Ravenshoe. Then moved on to Karumba, north of Normanton, to Gregory, to Camooweal.

For most of the trip Neil is sleeping in a one-person swag for most of his journey, apart from one night in a room above the Camooweal pub.

"It's in Queensland but about 10km from the Northern Territory border," Neil relayed. On a busy day, There are about 122 people in the town, and I had a room on the back verandah on a Friday night. It was a single room with a small TV and a shared bathroom. It was comfortable, but I could have done without the drunks."

Into the NT, Neil rode along the Barkly Highway until you hit the Stuart Highway north of Tennant Creek, Katherine and finally Darwin for the well-earned rest days.

What has Neil Mark's learned about himself in eight days of travel?

"I can ride a motorbike still", he laughed, "I've done more kilometres in a week than I have done in probably about three years. Look, it's been an interesting exercise as far as the head goes because you're in the helmet. You've got plenty of time to think, and I haven't listened to any music or podcasts because, basically, I couldn't hear them anyway. The speakers in my helmet are not that good at the moment, and you get a lot of wind going through, so you really can't hear anything. There have been a lot of conversations in my head.

"You just think interesting things and wonder why you think certain ways and what you've lost that you had before. Lots of posing those kinds of big-world questions. Sometimes, you just go shut up, don't be stupid and move on. I find I spend a lot of time practising for arguments that never happen. And I put that down to, I guess, as the doctor said when they first diagnosed this, you don't remember stuff because you've been in survival mode. You feel like you've been attacked all the time, so you're in survival mode, and you're not present in conversations. You can remember facts, figures and those sorts of things, but you're not in the present. I have a feeling that's playing out. You know, if someone said this to me, I'm going to say blah. That kind of stupid conversation, which is emotionally draining and completely off the plot.

"I spend a lot of time doing that, and I keep telling myself, don't, think about other things. It's trying to fight back the negativity, I guess."

As Neil fights the constant negative thoughts, he is trying to find the positive.

"It's easy for the world to criticise somebody, as opposed to saying, Hey, that's good, that's a positive thing. People will find fault in something, and I guess I've just got to that point where it bothers me, that really bugs me. Why do people think like that? Why do I react to people who think like that? I guess I'm trying to find that balance in things.

"The last couple of days on the bike have been absolutely fantastic. It's like a switch has flicked somewhere. I'm a lot more relaxed, and I'm just sort of going with the flow. I'm not in a hurry. I've gotten to Darwin in fairly quick time, but I don't feel as if I'm in a hurry now.

Neil described the first five or six days as listening to people's negativity about why he was riding on his own around Australia and why he is riding long stretches and not stopping more.

"It's that kind of negativity that really pisses me off. And, I take that on. So, here I am out here riding, thinking I've got to catch that car in front, and then I'll pass them. You're setting yourself targets of where to be and what to do, all those sorts of things not to satisfy yourself but it's to prove to them that you can do this."

"Why has my life turned out this way? I don't have answers, but I'm starting to get a clearer picture of what affects me and what triggers me."

As you would expect, Neil has met some interesting people on his travels so far.

"I met a couple of great guys up in Karumba. One of them was a school teacher. He spent a lot of time working in remote areas of the Kimberleys with the Aboriginal communities. His story was he grew up in Sydney in the '80s. He came out of a pub and was beaten almost to death, so he has a brain injury.

"He spent a lot of time in hospital, a lot of time in therapy and fully understood having to set challenges with yourself and to keep challenging yourself to get better. He wasn't in a good way. He got better, went through teacher's college or university and has now moved out of Sydney and has spent the last 25 to 30 years wandering around the Kimberleys."

As the Lismore App published earlier today, the inaugural Men’s Mental Health Forum started today. Its aim is to raise awareness of men's mental health, reduce the stigma surrounding mental health, and work to lower men's suicide rates.

Neil Marks is finding an alternative way to understand and improve his own mental health, as well as share experiences with others as he Chases The Dog.