Another great report/blog
Stephen. You and Fiona certainly know how to immerse yourselves in the areas you visit. Not much slips by you. A fantastic report and a great resource for anyone thinking of visiting this area.
I was particularly happy to see you following up on a bit of the history surrounding the explorer
Richard Thelwell Maurice, a pioneer of South Australia and another of our ‘lesser known’
explorers and a particular favourite of
mine (I've been retracing his 1902 route for several years now).
Between 1896 and 1903 Maurice explored much of South Australia and the Northern Territory from his base at
Fowlers Bay SA. In 1902, with Surveyor William Murray, Maurice crossed the continent from
Fowlers Bay to
Wyndham writing a remarkable anthropological and exploratory record. He discovered and named
places that are still significant to many of we outback travellers today. Tallaringa
Well on the Anne Beadell Hwy is one such location.
You mentioned and thanked Murray Collins of
Ceduna in your blog. Murray’s brother, Neville Collins from
Adelaide has researched the life, times and travels of Maurice and has recently (self) published a book on Maurice - “The Unknown Explorer”. It’s a great read and gives a great insight into the man, the times and the outback. It’s definitly one more for the reading list.
You've seen more of the
Great Victoria Desert than most
Stephen so you know that Maurice and his men must have had nerves of steel to head into a harsh and totally unknown environment.
There is some further background on Maurice here;
http://www.samemory.sa.gov.au/site/page.cfm?u=218
And for anyone interested in purchasing Nevilles book, he can be contacted on his email;
nevillecollins@
adelaide.on.net
Thanks for the effort you’ve put into this one
Stephen. Happy travels,
Mick