Bush Bashers

In this book, Len Beadell tells the story of his second road across Australia which was driven 1600 kilometres from east to west, from South Australia to West Australia through the heart of the Great Victoria Desert. Construction took years, as the road was driven through the almost impenetrable mulga scrub and over sand ridges which until Beadell's bulldozer came along had stopped everything but camels. For five months the author's wife and infant daughter camped with him in the desert. The stay of this youngest member of the team is commemorated by the Connie Sue Highway, a 650 kilometre stretch of road which extends from the Warburton Ranges to Rawlina on the Nullarbor. Despite all the hardships and difficulties of battling the bush, the projects always had their lighter side. In his own inimitable style, Len Beadell tells the story with an eye for the human and humorous details that make a memorable enterprise into a lively and readable tale.

Len Beadell, who has been called the last of the true Australian explorers, was born on a farm at West Pennant Hills, NSW, in 1923. As a surveyor and road builder he has worked all over the Australian outback from Arnhem Land to the Gibson Desert. In 1958 he was awarded the British Empire Medal for his work in building the Gunbarrel Highway across Central Australia. In 1987 he was made a Fellow of the Institute of Engineering and Mining Surveyors (Aust.) and the following year was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia.