It started in 1964, this love of being in the outback. My husband John and I were offered an opportunity to accompany a mate on a road trip to Darwin.
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We had a choice, of course. We could either spend our money on floor coverings for our bare timber floors, or we could pack a couple of sleeping bags, a small gas stove and a minimum of necessities for survival into our nearly new Cooper Mini and head out. We opted for the adventure and spent the next 18 days on a whirlwind trip of a lifetime.
There was not a scrap of bitumen between Port Augusta, Ayers Rock as it was called then; and Alice Springs, but we loved it more with every mile. And we thoroughly enjoyed comments we got at every watering hole about this ‘ridiculous little thing we were travelling in’.
The only incident that caused some momentary alarm, when just south of Coober Pedy, we ground to a halt in the darkness, with very little idea of what had brought us to a standstill. It took only minutes to discover that the distributor cap had been completely choked with bulldust, that talc-fine bane of travellers in those days that invaded every corner and crevice of our car, our luggage and even ourselves.
In 1967 we were asked to accompany another couple on a road trip to Birdsville, along the Birdsville Track. By the time they had finished asking us to go, we pretty well had the car packed. This time, we took our four year old son Craig along for the experience, much to the horror of our family and friends, who feared some horrible fate awaited us.
We returned home after this wonderful adventure perfectly intact, but with what had been until then a love of being out in this fascinating wilderness, was now a need to be out there.
It was then many years before we had the opportunity to experience more of this huge country as we dutifully stayed home to raise our children and establish our business.
When at last we were able to head off again, we did it with a vengeance, and for many years we made at least one lengthy foray into the great outback, sometimes two or three.
Our adventures were always with company, as we ventured into places where it wouldn’t be prudent to go alone. We often went on ‘tag along’ tours, where we had the security of travelling with experts and the ability to go to places that were mostly off limits to independent adventurers, without a great deal of organisation beforehand.
Names like Madigan, Colson, Lasseter, Wells, Canning and others, communities like Kiwirrkurra, Jigalong, Papunya and remote towns like Wiluna or Billiluna all have a special place in my memories.