1st despatch from the expeditioners

4 September 2010

Instead of camels the 2010 Burke and Wills Environmental Expedition is using two Mitsubishi Pajeros to travel from Melbourne to the Gulf of Carpentaria to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the original 1860 exploring party which was the first to cross the continent of Australia.

“Having used the Pajero to cross Australia myself on family trips from the nineteen eighties I know they are reliable”, Dr. Jonathan King, the expedition leader told journalists at the 20 August departure from Melbourne’s Royal Park 150 years to the day that Burke and Wills left with their camels and from the same spot.

“As a father of four young children I drove our trusty “Pajo” as the kids called it from Melbourne to Uluru and then right up to Kakadu and deep into Aboriginal territory” said Dr. King “and some days we drove 1000 kilometres a day on back roads without seeing another car – so we had to have faith in the vehicle”.

Dr. King said he even allowed his children to learn to drive on the remote dirt tracks where on some days they drove for hours at a time perched up on pillows as they were so young. “That is why our kids are such good drivers today, they learnt in the open spaces behind the wheel of a rugged Pajero” he said.

Speaking at the 20 August departure, expedition patron Jack Thompson said the environmental expedition being conducted with the aid of the Pajeros was “a timely audit of the countryside which will enable us to see just how much the bush has altered since Burke and Wills reported on the outback 150 years earlier”. Thompson, who played the role of Burke in the 1985 classic film “Burke and Wills,” said Wills had written a very descriptive diary which Dr. King and his team would use as a basis for comparison. “The bush needs friends” Thompson said, “as we have used it pretty hard in the last 150 years and we have to make sure we can use it productively for another 150 years”.

The famous actor also said there were many environmental issues to be examined along the 1860 track including feral pests like rabbits, foxes, pigs, goats, camels and cane toads all causing damage to the soil. It was time, he said, to repair the outback along the track of Burke and Wills and replant trees and vegetation to keep the topsoil intact so that it does not blow dust storms onto Sydney like it did in September 2009.

Dr. King’s honorary team of four environmentalists – the same number as Burke’s - includes himself as the Director, Documentary Film Presenter and journalist ; and also his deputy Steve Broomhall, the Outback Operations Manager and Stills Photographer who was a stockman on the legendary Brunette Downs cattle station; Michael Dillon, the world renowned film maker who is Director of the Documentary Film being produced for Channel 7 and who has filmed on Mt. Everest with Sir Edmund Hillary, the first man to climb this mountain – the highest in the world; and Ben Beeton, the Expedition’s Artist in Residence who has served on many outback projects and who will be recording the environment through which they pass.

They have also named their two Pajeros after Burke’s horse “Billy” and Burke’s camel “Raja” and painted these names on the front of the vehicles. They also fitted two trailers to the Pajeros courtesy of Get Around Campers of Gordon, Victoria to carry their film equipment, tents, sleeping bags, camping gear and supplies. Fully outfitted, and with supplies of food stashed in the two huge 60 litre Engel fridges, fuel and water, these modern adventurers can travel in the Outback for long periods of time in relative comfort. The original expedition was plagued by shortages of food and water and moved through the landscape under extraordinarily arduous conditions. Telstra has provided the modern expedition with satellite phones and are paying for the data transmission in case they need to make or receive calls outback.

After leaving Melbourne in their two Pajeros, the four adventurers started following Burke’s route as faithfully as possible interviewing old timers along the track whose ancestors had met Burke and Wills or who had inherited their stories. They drove to Moonee Ponds, where they parked the Pajeros for the first night stop over camping nearby with Victorian Operations Manager Christine Lasowski and husband Henry and where they spent time interviewing local environmentalists fighting to preserve local creeks and MP Kelvin Thompson, Member for Wills .

They then followed the route through driving rain with the Pajeros performing well despite their heavy load to different places Burke visited or stopped at including in order Bulla, Clarkefield, Lancefield and Mia Mia where they stayed with Heather and Andrew Paterson at the Burke & Wills Winery right on the original Burke and Wills track. The intrepid adventurers enjoyed conversation and splendid glasses of Dig Tree and Burke & Wills wines deep into the night. They also visited the memorial to John Dighton the farmer who became the first Australia to fly a powered plane in the early nineteen hundreds. The people of Mia Mia also put on a 150th anniversary festival to greet the modern expeditioners with Land Care displays explaining how the locals were caring for the land today. They also visited the Mia Mia Art Exhibition celebrating the 150th anniversary of Burke and Wills where Jonathan interviewed the artist and TV presenter Peter Russell-Clark and bought a painting of the two 1860 explorers he had done called “Ghost Riders in the Sky”.

After Mia Mia the Pajeros pulled the smart purpose-built trailers past Bendigo where they interviewed local experts on film about conserving the water in the rivers. Pressing onwards to Boort, they visited Mt. Hope Station where Burke had stayed and also Pyramid Hill which Burke’s artist Ludwig Becker had climbed and from where he painted a view of Mt. Hope.

The first of the resident environmentalists then visited their campsite - Alfred Hupermann, a specialist on the rising salt levels and Doug Small a specialist on environmental issues in that part of Victoria. They explained in great depth the impact settlement had had on the environment over the last 150 years and what local farmers were doing to improve their land and ensure production for future generations.

The famous “Fish Lady” Fern Hames then joined the Pajeros as the next environmental specialist. She spoke about the need to study riverine ecology and the interactive part played by various species including native fish. Such studies will help protect and build up the native fish populations in rivers like the Loddon which the expedition visited. Fern displayed models of Murray Cod and Silver Perch and explained the strategies that were being developed to protect these species against introduced species like European carp

The expeditioners then interviewed old Laurie Martin who confirmed how difficult it was to catch fish in the Loddon compared to the old days when he would catch more than sixty a day “just sitting by the bank of the river”. Another local Ollie Jane confirmed the decline in native fish stock and blamed this on dams, reservoirs and pollution. He went on to explain how the rivers were being repaired for future generations.

Moving on to Swan Hill in the tracks of the earlier explorers Dr Jonathan King interviewed local Aboriginal elder Ivy Bell whose tribal people were living on the track in 1860. She reflected on the enormous cultural and social changes that occurred to the detriment of her people after early pioneers swept into the country in the wake of early exploration. She pointed out that over the ensuing years much of indigenous culture had disappeared. Although she blamed ignorance and racism Ivy said things had improved in recent years and she had high hopes for future generations of Aborigines who would not suffer from the same discrimination she had suffered from.

Then it was time for the Pajeros to pull the Get Around Campers trailers over the mighty Murray River and into New South Wales. That proved a lot easier than ferrying across the thirty or forty camels, horses and heavy wagons and equipment that Burke and his team struggled with at the same spot 150 years earlier.

Although Jonathan suggested they try and drive the Pajeros across the water – just as he had done with his children back in the nineteen eighties in the outback when crossing shallow rivers – he was persuaded to use the interstate bridge.

Once in NSW the expedition drove the Pajeros on to smaller bushy tracks where Burke and Wills had actually travelled inland west from Balranald. While in Balranald they met Ron Dueyea a shearer whose great grandmother had cooked the meals for Burke and Wills when they stopped in Balranald. As Dr. King remarked “It just shows how close our history is when a .local comes up to you in the street and explains their family connection with explorers from 150 years ago!”

Striking out across the Mallee and driving through Mulga Scrub country the Pajeros took to the gravel roads as smoothly as if they were on bitumen despite the heavier weight on the towbars exerted by the camper trailers. “It just goes to show” Jonathan said “I was right to select Pajeros for this challenging expedition. Their suspension is terrific, and being able to move from H2 to H4 at speed makes for stable and safe driving in sand and gravel”.

Whilst staying at “Turlee”, a 145,000 acre sheep station, they interviewed owner Des Wakefield. Speaking on camera for the documentary of the expedition Des said, “Well, like most graziers we’ve learnt to live with the weather. These days they call it climate change. But for 37 years we’ve been coping with fluctuating weather patterns by adjusting our stock numbers to the seasons. Our stocking strategies have always been closely tied to climate and with well-planned stocking and supplementary feeding strategies we’ve found we can run a good business.”

Driving over to Wamberra the expedition interviewed on film the most visionary pastoralist they had met to date – Patti Byrnes. Patti’s great grandmother had also cooked for Burke and Wills when they camped on her ancestor’s property Arumpo Station and her great grand father had carted supplies for Burke up to Menindee. She explained how she was saving native vegetation and protecting native species like the Mallee Fowl by building large reserves on her land and reducing stock levels to give the land a chance to recover from past levels of over-stocking. Working with indigenous people she has built fences around their reserves to protect the Mallee Fowl and native trees, shrubs and bushes – the names of all of which she knew off by heart.

Hearing that heavy rains were forecast the expeditioners then decided to follow local advice and drive a couple of hundred kilometres through the Belah and Mulga trees to Mungo National Park and then on to Pooncarie which was the first inland village on bitumen. Although the Pajeros and their trailers would have got through despite the forecast rain the party decided to play it safe and not get caught on these sticky roads. Because four-wheel drivers and heavy vehicles can cause enormous damage to these clay-based roads during and after heavy rain, there was also the possibility of road closures being enforced to prevent damage.

It does pay to get local advice because no sooner had the Pajeros reached the bitumen at Pooncarie than the skies opened up and it rained steadily all night as the happy campers lay snugly in their sleeping bags inside the Get Around, safely in Pooncarie.

Now after more than one inch of rain the expedition members are waiting for the rain to stop and then – even though they have two trusty Pajeros which can cope with muddy roads and would undoubtedly get through – they will resume their trek up to Menindee, where Burke and Wills established their first major base camp after leaving Melbourne.

It may take days for the rains to stop and then they have to wait at least two more days for the gravel roads to dry out before they set off deeper into the outback again but they are more than happy to wait in the sure knowledge that come what may once the roads have been declared open by the authorities they will get though to Menindee and then resume their drive to the Gulf of Carpentaria. As deputy director and Outback Operations Manager Steve Broomhall said “We may have to set off along wet roads eventually but at least our Pajeros will not get bogged like Burke and Wills camels did and we wont have to abandon them like the explorers had to do with one of their camels because they could not get the camel out of the bog. From my experience of years in the bush – come hell or high water I know our Pajos will make it for sure”.