who was this person?

I just found this after a quick Internet search:

"last resting place of Bob Collard RIP

We heard of Bob Collard when we drove along the then Gunbarrel Highway in our new VW Kombi, in July 1968. He led what are now commonly known as tag-along tours, from Perth to Alice Springs. Most of the vehicles he led were two wheel drive; 4WDs were a bit rare then.

We accompanied John Arnold, who was taking passengers in his Land Cruiser up the Warburton Road to Giles, Ayers Rock and the Alice.

In order to travel through this area, you were required to have access to a Traeger radio. If you didn't own a radio, you would travel in an organised convoy, or with somebody that did.

Bob Collard was stuck on the northern side of the Blackstone ranges (see shot below), with a number of cars in convoy, playing cricket and waiting for the rains to clear and the mud to harden.
We left Perth when we heard he was able to move on.

We were several days behind him, and the ground was still drying out. We finally got seriously bogged a few miles beyond the Giles Creek crossing, within a sigh of relief of the NT border and the Olgas. We retraced our track 800 miles back to Coolgardie, and crossed the Nullarbor on our way to Canberra."

On a trip I lead for our 4WD Club way back in the late 80's, early 90's, I organised for Bob to spend the night at our campfire. What a character.

Claimed he was from European aristocracy; knew where Lassiter's reef was. And I wouldn't doubt any of it.

He was also the undertaker in Leonora in his latter years.

A lady who helped out at the Leonora minehead museum told me a biography was being written but I don't think it ever eventuated.

Anyway, he was most definitely one of Australia's best outback characters.