Camping and Travelling in Australia
Nine Things We Can All Learn from the Burke and Wills Expedition – Plus an Extra One
After reading Peter Fitzsimons’ book “Burke & Wills” (2017), I got to thinking that, while it’s a great yarn well worth reading from cover to cover (and I don’t read many books), it can actually serve as a great guide for anyone camping and travelling in Australia – or perhaps intending to (without scaring you too much).
Every day, these guys fell victim of one rookie error or one rare fluke of nature / human behaviour that they needed to address and sometimes overcome.
Without going into the history of the Burke & Wills expedition (during 1860-61) too much, I’ll try and convey to you (without giving away too much of the ending – or the in between bits) what I feel are the important lessons with a modern day twist.
1. Beware of committees planning your camping adventure
The Burke and Wills ‘Exploration Expedition’ from south to north was the result of some three years (from 1857 to 1860) of consideration and discussions at the highest levels of business, politics and science in the newly formed colony of Victoria.
It involved the Philosophical Institute (which went on to become the Royal Society of Victoria in 1860), the Institute’s Exploration Committee (32 members) and an Exploration Fund Committee.
If you have had any experience with committees or institutes, you’ll appreciate that many agenda are brought to the table and many levels of approval (and interfering) are often the go – often by those without hands-on experience.
Be sure that you have control or at least say / input into what’s going on in the planning and preparation end of any real adventure. You need to be aware of, and perhaps understand, the wheres, whos, hows, whats and whens.
2. Watch the weather when travelling
Due to delays at the start of the Burke & Wills expedition, they found themselves setting off – for a trip through central Australia – in August, at the very end of Winter.
This meant that they were travelling in the summer months with temperatures “often reaching 50deg C” (Wikipedia, Burke and Wills expedition).
So, it’s not just your start date and duration, it’s also the day-to-day patterns. Know what’s happening and why – as well as what’s coming up on the horizon.
Also keep an eye on the tides and plan your trips.
3. Don’t rely on ‘camels’ as your RV
The latest technology and all the stuff you see in magazines and in shops can be ohh so tempting…
In planning the expedition, a decision was made to take camels and to rely on them as a sure way to cross the desert.
This decision led to delays in the expedition’s start as the camels needed to be brought into Australia – delivery delays (just like online orders).
The camels also needed experienced Afghani camel herders with a leader (Mr Landells) to manage the handlers to boot.
The only animal that went on the expedition and survived ‘most’ of the trip was Bourke’s trustee steed – Billy.
If you do find yourself in this position, have a back-up plan.
4. Back-up plans for trips
At Camp 65 on the banks of Copper Creek, Burke instructed Brahe to wait three months “as it is impossible of me to be longer away…” (Fitzsimons, 20217, p.256).
There was also talk of Burke possibly heading back home by turning east and cutting through Queensland on a “…known practicable track…” (Fitzsimons, 20217, p.256).
Brahe even spoke to Mr King before they left and said, “I don’t expect to see you for at least four months” (Fitzsimons, 2017, p.262)
As it turned out, and quite historically known, Burke, Wills and King returned to Copper Creek (the Dig Tree) after some 18 weeks – just hours after Brahe and his team left the site. Burke and Wills soon perished and King survived long enough to be rescued and return to Melbourne – a broken man.
So, be clear about your ‘what-if’ strategies and back-up plans. Oh, …and be sure to communicate them clearly – and that they’re understood.
And remember that it’s a bit hard to say when you’ll be back if you don’t know where you’re going or what’s is between.
5. Travel Equipment multi-functions
With the exception of essential items, that by their nature, only have one specific use, everything you take should have more than one use.
In this way, each item you take replaces another item that you now no longer need to take.
For example:
- If you take a plastic box to do the washing up in, you would use that box during the day to carry stuff. You could take a bucket to wash up in, but round shapes can waste space.
- If you take a camp oven, it can also be used as a saucepan. Do you really need a full range of saucepans as well?
The Burke and Wills Expedition is often mocked for taking a lot of unnecessary items – such as a cedar-topped oak table with matching oak camp stools, a large iron bathtub, an anvil, grindstone and portable bellows for the blacksmith (Fitzsimons, 2017, p.75 & 77). As Beckler is reported to have written, the ordering and buying of these items was “…doubly seductive when someone else is paying for it” (Fitzsimons, 2017, p.77).
6. Ask for help
Perhaps the most important thing that the Burke and Wills expedition could have done before departing (or perhaps along the way) was to ask those that had gone before. Asking (Australia’s First Nation People) how they lived off the land for so long – not just one trip, but for the many preceding generations may have changed the outcome of the Burke and Wills expedition.
Instead, they relayed on identifying the rations they needed for the expedition and had to carry the whole lot (albeit that they ran out) for the whole trip.
Always seek, and in the majority of cases follow, the advice of others who may have undertaken such adventures previously.
7. Accept help
If you’re in a bit of bind (also known as ‘poo’), think very carefully before you decline that help.
On several occasions, the expedition were offered food and assistance by the First Nation People – but declined (or at least didn’t accept it).
This is very related to item 6 above.
I even recall offering assistance to a gentleman travelling by himself south of William Creek, South Australia, about 45 minutes before sunset. We had people in our convoy who had the skills and equipment to help with his predicament (flat tyre). But, he declined our help and chose instead to wait for the roadside assistance to come.
8. Good communications
Good communications isn’t just having a good mobile plan or citizen band (CB) radio. It’s about clear messages that are understood.
We have become very reliant on mobile phones when travelling. But, these too have their limitations. Optus drops out long before Telstra in remote areas, and your phone can quickly become just a camera.
Don’t rely on coin operated phone boxes either. Many telephone boxes in remote areas only accept Telstra cards – and these too can be very hard to find / buy. My tip – if you see one on a regional post office, BUY IT.
Spoiler Alert – The rescue team that went out in search of the Burke & Wills expedition, took with them messenger pigeons. The only problem was that the pigeons’ tail feathers got caught in the cane baskets used to transport them and, upon release, they became very easy prey for hungry birds or simply couldn’t fly (Fitzsimons, 2017, p.483).
9. Maps and navigation
One thing is very clear from any study of the Burke and Wills expedition. That is the level of the navigation and surveying undertaken by Wills.
Just try, setting off from Melbourne and heading to the Gulf of Carpentaria – and then find your way back to a midway point. Often, when taking readings from the back of a camel on the move.
By all means use a GPS, but also be sure you can read (and have) maps and use a compass – and that you can read contours.
Taking directions is also a valuable skill to have. Oh, and remember items 6 and 7 above.
10. The upside of taking ‘camels’
If you do take ‘camels’, you can always do what Mr Landells did and use them as an excuse to take “60 gallons” of rum “to administer to the camels to keep them in rude good health” (Fitzsimons, 20217, p.76).
Honest Honey… I need the rum just in case we break down!!
