Drove to Gosses Bluff today

Willem, Australian history never ceases to amaze me. For a start, our explorers weren't even Australian. (no wonder they thought xmas would bring cooler weather). They were on the whole an odd assortment of adventurers, looking to make their fortune and score a place in history. Which some did, often for the wrong reasons.
How many of them retired comfortably ? Very few. With noteable exceptions they weren't the sort of people that a Govt would pay for nor cause to be remembered.
The Jardine brothers cattle drive is almost unknown to travellers of the Cape. Somerset is in ruins thanks to the local owners.
The great thing is that with the advent of the 4wd tourer, more people are becoming aware of the fantastic mosaic of our early history. And with that will come recognition of those that have come before. (I wonder how many know of the Calvert expedition unless they've travelled the CSR for example).
I'm not a fan of how the indigenous people were treated, but the sooner we stop pretending that it just didnt happen, the sooner we can say "hey, this country came from convicts...and isn't it great to see how far we've come !" then we'll start to preserve our history properly.

Ooh...where did all that come from ? Not like me at all :))

Rant mode off now...sorry.

Hello Footloose

In the past I have been an avid reader of many expedition journals such as those of Liechhardt, Giles, Forrest, Canning, Terry, Carnegie, Eyre, Stuart, Sturt, Strezlecki and more modern day adventurers like Bartells, Tholstrup, Mangels and Douglas, just to name a few. I have mainly researched these explorers when I have been planning a trip to gather that extra information which could make a trip more interesting. It has paid off sometimes and I encourage others to read and research these subjects if they are interested.

David Carnegie wrote about Helena Spring, which lies 90km east of Well 42 on the CSR. He called it "The Diamond of the Desert". I conjured up totally unrealistic ideas about this place and decided I had to see it.. In July 1994 we were on a solo trip doing the Canning north/south and ventured off from Well 42 along a track which had been roughly made by a bloke from Melbourne only two years before.

Helena Spring is a depression a tea tree swamp and not very inviting at all. I did however dig open the Native Well and salty water soaked to the surface. Out of nowhere the birds arrived for a drink. They ofcourse could smell the water from a distance. This in itself was quite an experience.

I found a plaque left behind by an expedition dated 1982. Recently Equinox, the originator of this post, visited Helena Spring by following Carnegie's journey from the south. I think Equinox did it on a quad bike with vehicle backup. Quite an adventure in itself.

Hopefully now, with the advent of the Internet, more and more history will be retold and so become part of the cultural heritage of this great island.

Oh THAT equinox. Read the account of their adventures. Absolutely fantastic or mad, depending on your point of view I rekkon mad...because they did what I would of loved to have done.
Yes sounds like you have certainly revisited some stuff that I haven't seen, good stuff. I love hearing and reading about exploits such as yours and equinoxs'. Lets hope that you have lots to tell when you get back :))

Hi Willem,

I drove in directly from MLR, gee the range looks great from that road.

I believe the road into the range would be the same route that Giles would have taken too.

I wish I could have explored the whole range but it is banned now. It looks though that there may be another entry to the west of the range.

I envy you Willem.

Hey Footloose - Im not mad or fantastic :)
Just a guy looking to explore what this great country has to offer!!!!

I'm just glad at the moment to live in a place (kings canyon) where I can have a good look around at our early history.

Cheers
Eq.