Too Long in the Bush

TOO LONG IN THE BUSH is the story of how, from 1956 to 1958, Len Beadell and his team made the first road to cross Central Australia from east to west, 1500 kilometres from the Alice Springs road to Carnegie homestead 650 kilometres north of Kalgoorlie. On the way he surveyed and built the Giles Meteorological Station and aerodrome before moving on to skirt the edge of the infamous Gibson Desert. Beadell, using astronomical observations, world survey up to 400 kilometres of the projected road entirely alone, often in country then known only to small groups of Aborigines. Returning to his construction team, he would supervise operations as the road was pushed slowly forward through the heat and dust, over sandhills and desert, rounding the desolate salt lakes. In the telling of their adventures, Beadell's happy nature keeps his tale bubbling along with humorous touches that made this remarkable journey one that every armchair traveller will enjoy.

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.