A Parksville woman plans to ­celebrate her 80th birthday by rollerblading 350 kilometres to raise money for the B.C. SPCA.

Instead of a birthday cake and candles Sonya Bardati plans to lace up her black and green roller blades and hit the road, skating from Port Hardy to her home in Parksville. She expects the journey on Highway 19 to take about a week as she rolls 50 kilometres a day, at speeds of up to 10 kilometres an hour.

She will tackle the whole route save for a section that has an eight per cent incline.

“I can make it up the hill with no problem,” said Bardati, who has osteoporosis and has broken nine bones in the past five years cycling and rollerblading. “It’s the downhill part I won’t do. I’m crazy, but I’m not that crazy.”

Bardati has had a set of wheels under her feet since she was about four or five years old. “I still remember the roller skates that attached to your shoe with a key.”

She was so proficient that the nuns at the orphanage she was a resident of in her youth arranged for her and another girl to put on shows for seniors, performing so frequently she acquired a wardrobe of costumes for the different shows — something that has carried on to this day.

For her latest journey, she plans to wear a different outfit each day including Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz, a casino girl, Princess Fiona from Shrek, a gaily dressed Mardi Gras reveller, and a First Nations-themed costume, in honour of her Metis ancestry.

Bardati is no stranger to long-distance trips, having cycled across Canada twice, but this is her first fundraiser.

She picked the B.C. SPCA as the beneficiary partly because she loves all animals and partly because of Holly, her cat.

Holly came into her life as her first husband was succumbing to cancer. Adopted close to Christmas 15 years ago, Holly kept her sane through the grief following her husband’s passing.

Through the fundraiser, Bardati aims to give thanks to the organization and make sure that others can find similar companions in the future.

In preparation for her journey, Bardati has been rolling up to 35 kilometres a day. She also trains six days a week, going to the gym and cycling in addition to rollerblading. “My trainer said I had to take a day off.”

After this adventure, there is just one more she has planned: “I plan to skydive for the first time on my 100th birthday.”

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