The epic journey in Australia: The Movie may be fictional, but sometimes truth is more incredible than fiction. In the early days of settlement in Australia, plucky explorers took on incredibly dangerous missions in order to chart the Great Southern Land. Their discoveries opened up the country, and routes that we still use today. And in some places, it is possible to follow in their footsteps…
The Stuart Highway
The great highway down the middle of Australia was named in honour of John McDouall Stuart, the first person to successfully travel from the south coast to the north through the centre of Australia.
In 1859 there was a great desire to lay a telegraph cable across the continent, and connect it to Asia, so McDouall was sent off to explore. On his sixth mission into Australia’s harsh interior he finally succeeded in crossing the continent. In 1862 he emerged at Chambers Bay, to the east of modern day Darwin.
There is a memorial tree at Point Stuart (the headland of the bay), but it’s a fair old trek to get there. The nearest place of relative civilisation is the Point Stuart Wilderness Lodge in the Mary River Wetlands, a few kilometres away.
However, it is possible to more-or-less follow Stuart’s path by driving up the highway named after him. The road follows his route reasonably closely, and it’s possible to undertake a great expedition driving from Adelaide to Darwin, stopping off at Outback classics such as Alice Springs, Coober Pedy and Katherine Gorge.
Coopers Creek
The key word in Stuart’s story is ‘successfully’. The first party to actually make it from south to north was that of Robert O’Hara Burke and Robert Wills. From Melbourne, they reached the Gulf of Carpentaria (well, nearly – they were stopped by swamps about 3km from their destination).
The first major mistake was to leave midsummer, fearing that Stuart’s party would beat them to it.
They then decided to ditch half of the team at Cooper’s Creek in a mad dash for the top, telling them to wait there for as long as possible. Alas, Burke and WIlls arrived back a few hours too late – on their return, they found a message saying that the rest of the party had left that morning.
Desperately weak, and with few supplies, any attempt to get back to Melbourne was futile, and they died an agonizing death three weeks later.
Cooper’s Creek is a bit of an oasis in the middle of the desert, near where South Australia meets south-west Queensland. For those with the right vehicle, it can be reached along the Strzelecki Track – an unsealed former cattle route. The Creek itself is surprisingly luscious and green, but don’t expect much for miles around.
The Nullarbor Plain
The first people to cross the Nullarbor, which is to varied scenery what elephants are to ballet, were Edward John Eyre and his indigenous helper Wylie.
The mission was riddled with disaster – Eyre’s station hand was murdered by two other members of the team, their supplies were stolen, and they had no water. After living on a diet of diseased horse and flour, they managed to stagger to what is now known as Rossiter Bay on the south coast of WA. They were nursed back to health by the crew of a French ship before completing the last stretch to Albany.
The route they took in 1840 is roughly followed by the Eyre Highway, which is what anyone who undertakes to drive across the Nullarbor will follow.
To truly cross the Nullarbor, however, you need to go by train. The Indian Pacific from Adelaide to Perth goes right across the middle, whilst the Eyre Highway skims the fringe.
The mouth of the Murray
During the early days of Australia’s colonisation, there was a half-hope, half-belief that Australia’s interior was a massive inland sea. In a bid prove this, Charles Sturt and his team were sent to map the Macquarie River in 1829. Alas, there was no sea to be found, and all that was discovered were more rivers. A year later Sturt was sent back to discover where all these rivers – the Murray system – ended up. Eventually he got to the nasty tangle of islands, lakes and sandbars at Goolwa, South Australia where the Murray pours into the sea.
Unsurprisingly, the area around Goolwa is now a bit of a haven for boating enthusiasts, with the wetlands of the Coorong National Park providing the best scenery. Spirit Australia Cruises offers 4 ½ hour or 6 hour cruises, taking in the mouth of the Murray, plus significant Aboriginal sights and world-class bird-watching.
The Great Western Highway
One of the most important milestones in the first few years of settlement was finding a route across the Blue Mountains in NSW to the western plains. Credit goes to Gregory Blaxland, William Lawson and William Charles Lawson, who followed ridges to battle through in 1813.
Two years later, William Cox was commissioned to build a road across the Blue Mountains following roughly the same route, and this is now the Great Western Highway – still the main path across.
The road passes through Katoomba, where the stump of the ‘Explorer’s Tree’ has the three pioneers’ initials carved into it. It is though that it was the handiwork of the trio whilst en route.
This article was originally written for Ninemsn.
Copyright David Whitley
