Off the beaten track

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It’s some 3000 kilometres from Adelaide to Darwin. Nowadays the distance can be travelled quite quickly using the bitumen Stuart Highway. In the early years of the previous century the Australian outback had no such thing as a road, nor were there any service stations. Yet on June 30, 1908 two men, Harry Dutton and Murray Aunger, started off in Adelaide to attempt the first crossing of the Australian continent with their 1908 25 hp Talbot. 51 Days later they arrived in Darwin, after crossing deserts, negotiating creeks and rivers, even escaping a bushfire. This remarkable feat is commemorated by the National Motor Museum using the original Talbot as the centre of a travelling exhibition following the same route as Harry Dutton and Murray Aunger. The exhibition started on June 30 and will continue until August 20. It can be followed by means of a dedicated website and a daily blog. (black & white photos taken from the book “Across Australia by Motor”) (RB)

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