On the road again.

Thursday Oct 3^rd 1929:

Was up at daybreak and had a good fire going to get warm by as it was a very cold night. Had breakfast of bacon and eggs and packed up and were on the road by 7.30 am. The next water was 90 miles away so we could not afford to wash during the day, in case we got stranded. We soon got into sand and then the fun started. It was an awful day, and qe thought we could never get through when Cec suggested letting some air out of the tyres, which when we did helped considerably. A couple of times we had to dig ourselves out and use the wire netting that we were carrying to negotiate some of the sand. The country was fearfully rough and there were dozens of steep banked sandy creeks to be crossed which at times looked impossible. The bus stood up to the job well though and only once held us up for any time. Crossing some rough country the oil pipe was knocked off the sump and looked very nasty for a while, but after an hour and a half during which time I got covered in grease oil and dirt, with the help of the soldering iron, solder etc and a bit of soap, we fixed her sufficiently well to travel on again. A welcome sight late in the afternoon was a well and there we filled up with water and had a good wash. Travelling on again we camped at dark near a soak, four miles from the field. Two chaps in a big ‘Chev’ truck, were camped here also and thinking themselves very lucky that they had got through safely.

Friday Oct 4^th 1929:

Did not hurry to break camp this morning but had a shave and clean up before moving on and reached the field about 9 am. Very few are here at present, as the first rush is over and all claims are pegged out and water being scarce has driven most back to safety. Hanlon, the finder of the field and a few of his friends are here, but not too responsible at present, through some of the mining heads bringing out refreshments. There are several of these men here also inspecting and it all depends on them as to what the outcome will be. One old chap showed us the reef and specimens etc and explained how promising it looked, which everyone seems to agree upon but by being in such an awkwardly getatable place is going to be a big drawback. We had a yarn with the men there and Hanlon gave us a donation of 5 pounds and all promised their support to the mission if anything goes ahead at the fiel. We left them some books and Spectators, and moved on. (The Spectator was a regularly published magasine of the Methodist Church in Victoria.) The field is right in the ranges and for 250 miles between the field and Alice Soprings we never got out of tem, except for one stretch of about 30 miles. I never thought that in Australia there were so many ranges and creek beds. It is wonderful country and the coloring of the ranges at a distance is glorious but they lost their beauty when we got into them and had to climb and wander all over them. We camped at night away in the wilds, having no idea where we were and kept the gun loaded in case of an invasion by blacks. Nothing disturbed our peaceful slumber though.

Saturday Oct 5^th 1929:

On and on among the hills and valleys . Rough and hard going. After this trip we are convinced Birtles has nothing on us. ( Birtles was an Australian adventurer in the early 1900’s. )

We passed through today a couple of mica mines where mostly Italians are at work. 67 miles from Alice Springs we came to the first home, rather rough, but it brought us back to civilization. Called in for a while and then 7 miles on came to a police station. ConstbHamilton has a lonely existence here and with him we had a cup of tea and some cakes. Our next stopping place was 10 miles out from the Alice, a station homestead and eventually at 8 pm we reached Alice Springs. Dirty, tired and weary. Found Jack Williams’ tent and nobody home and went across to the A I M hostel but he was not there. Heard he was in town so had a good bath and clean up at the hostel, in the midst of which Jack arrived. Plenty of talking for a while but as everyone was tired we did not stay up late.

Sunday Oct 6^th 1929:

The weather is father warm down here and bed is not inviting once thte sun is up so we were up soon after. Jack baches for breakfast and tea so we had ours with him. He has not much comfort here only a tent and today has been very windy and dusty and everything is a mess as a result. Had our dinner at an eating house in the place. ‘The Alice’ is a very pretty little place, right in the hills and plenty of trees and shrubs about, rather a contrast to Camooweal. Went across to the A I M hostel and had afternoon tea and stayed for tea. The 2 sisters there are very nice and have a great building with a big lawn in front. There were about 30 at the service at night which I conducted and at which Cec sang. A crowd of us sat on the lawn at the hostel afterwards and when lemon drinks and cakes were partaken of, home to bed.