Circumnavigation of Australia by Douglas motorcycle, 1925

[cardan]

Grady's photos, from the second installment of his story in The Motor Cycle (UK), 4 June 1925.

Leon

[cardan]

And from the third installment, 11 June 1925.

[Hutch]

Great pictures Leon - well found (no pun intended). I have been trying to match up the well shown in your reply #23 with those in the Vestey collection with no luck. The one shown in your latest post looks more like the ones from the collection. If we find  a match I will post it.

We have the telegram from Flora Valley postmaster (the only one from an independent person I have seen) that has Grady at Soakage Creek and now photographs of a well possibly at Inverway or Wave Hill, so looking like he did do the stock route along the Sturt Creek between Soakage Creek (Gordon Downs) and Wave Hill via Inverway.

-I'm sliding off the fence towards he did do it (apart from the 80 mile beach part...) But the sceptic in me still wonders why this section of the map showing Grady's route is hidden by pictures overlaid over it tho'.....and not all the pictures show the CW (looking to be in very good and clean condition). I have also been pondering why the signage (i..e map of Australia etc) on the panniers is missing in many of the pictures. Looks like it could be detached but if so where did Grady put it when we don't see it in the pictures?)

-Hutch

[cardan]

And a couple more from June 11.

[Hutch]

Leon,

I think the picture in the top left from Motorcycle in your reply #50 above is at Weaner Crossing on the Victoria River. Gradys picture looks to be re-touched by an artist - hard to tell but the reflection of the Duggie looks to good? :-). This crossing was upgraded in 1924 with the addition of a concrete causeway, so one would guess it was there when Grady crossed. Before that it was deemed to be a difficult crossing. Information and comparison photo from the Vesteys Collection.

Hard to see the causeway in Grady's picture but it may have just been where he placed the bike?

-Hutch

[cardan]

Almost like he was actually there...

[Hutch]

Does anyone know if Grady actually carried a camera? He was travelling light but he might have had room for a Kodak Brownie? Other travellers cameras i.e. Leica, of the day, were fairly expensive items and I think that, unless they were provided by a sponsor, Grady would not have carried one?

What Grady says on what he is carrying from Doug's first post;
"Space and weight are strictly limited, so the comforts which are generally deemed necessities, such as blankets, towels, razors, etc, were left behind. My whole "swag" comprised an army oil ground sheet and mosquito net, which, tightly wrapped, were attached to the front of the forkside. Tooth-brush was carried in a pocket.

Two gallon cans braced to the sides of the carrier gave me an extra petrol capacity of 3 gallons. The ordinary tank in the machine held 1-1/2 gallons of petrol and 1 quart of oil. An extra gallon of oil was also carried. On top of the carrier was a Nobels cartridge box, which contained spare parts, tyre mending outfit, etc. Outside the port petrol tank the 2 gallon water bag was swung.
 
     All on, including myself, we tipped the scales at 450 lb, a big weight for a little Douglas to carry. I also took a small first-aid outfit with a good supply of fever mixture to combat troubles with mosquitoes and dysentery from constantly changing waters, and for general ailments.
 
     A 2lb. jam tin bolted to the back number plate served as a tea billy. It was often mistaken for a rain gauge. Some hard corned beef, usually wrapped round the handlebar, tea and sugar constituted the cuisine."

No mention of a camera. I think if he was carrying one he would have said?

-Hutch

[Dave]

In the photos that Leon posted above, they all seem to feature the Douglas but no Grady. So my assumption was that he was taking the shot. If someone else had taken them, surely Grady would have been standing there too? Also, all those photos look to be a similar style to me - fairly wide shots.

Who would have been on hand to take this one?

[Hutch]

Agreed Dave, but where was the picture taken?  It could be almost anywhere and not necessarily on his circumnavigation journey. Of the pictures where the Douglas is in shot I have been trying to match them up to actual locations that he said he visited - only possibly matched up one so far - at Weaner Crossing on the Victoria River - so if the picture is an "original" then we would have to say he actually visited that location. Weaner Crossing is not far from Victoria River Downs Station and there are a few pictures of this location in the Vesteys Collection - so Grady could have possibly got someone from there to help out with a picture (after all he said he was welcomed there as the Prodigal Son)? The other picture of a crossing on the Victoria River is also possibly Weaner Crossing but hard to tell. The Douglas is not in shot as far as I can see (?) - so the picture could have been taken by anyone?

Edit - I would like to find some irrefutable independent evidence that says Grady did the section from Soakage Creek to Wave Hill directly after he left Flora Valley but it has so far proven to be difficult! :-) ...but will keep looking. Station Managers records possibly still exist in some dusty archive somewhere that say "Grady turned up from the West on such a such day etc" but I have  not found anything online so far....would be nice to find something like that.

Grady has left us with an interesting puzzle...:-)

-Hutch

[cardan]

Boy, I'm not going to mention the moon landing.

[Hutch]

 I won't enter into that one ...or a few of the other conspiracy theories that float around - this one is enough for me ha ha. I have found out a few more "interesting" items about the Grady trip -but maybe will leave that for another day. I think he mostly did the circumnavigation but maybe not quite n the way he has told the story. I guess debating this is probably about as meaningful as arguing who reached the top of Everest First.......

[Dave]

... evidence that says Grady did the section from Soakage Creek to Wave Hill directly after he left Flora Valley...

Where is Soakage Creek and what has created the doubt about this leg?

Leon's map from post #25.

[Hutch]

Dave,

First one, where is Soakage Creek.

Soakage Creek was the old name of Gordon Downs Station. What I should have said was Soakage Creek Homestead. As can be seen from the pictures of the temporary homestead called Soakage Creek (see picture in reply #44 above) in the Vesteys collectio,n it did exist but I have not been able to find out exactly where it was located other than it was in the general vicinity of the (now abandoned) Gordon Downs Homestead. If anyone has worked out exactly where Soakage Creek Homestead is please post it here! - I am still looking.

Michael Terry visited Soakage Creek Homestead after his near death experience with Yockney in 1923. I found this marked up map (by Terry himself I presume, as it was in his private collection) from 1934 It shows all his expeditions up to 1934 (Reference attached also). So I assume Soakage Creek Homestead is somewhere on Terry's solid line for 1923 (roughly somewhere in the circle I added?).

This map can be found in Trove

https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-1935965004/view?searchTerm=michael+terry+1934#search/michael%20terry%201934

I have added the Google Earth map of Gordon Downs Homestead (abandoned). I did store this as a .kml file as used by Google Earth but was unable to upload it.  Will investigate further as this is the method I have used to create my map of Grady's trip in Google Earth (not complete yet). Easy enough to locate tho' just search for Gordon Downs Homestead WA and it should come up.

-Hutch

[Hutch]

Dave,

Second question asking about my doubts.

Part 1

When I first started making my (Google) map I thought that Grady definitely did the section between Soakage Creek Homestead and Inverway Homestead via Birrindudu (outstation?) and was just reading his narrative and searching for the place names he described using Google Earth so I could make up a .kml file of the locations.

Then I came across this statement by Grady

"... At last to my comfort, I reached the second well, and there spent another hour following pads until I at last saw the few rough buildings of Burrindoodoo on the left of the Sturt River..."

Looking at Google Earth I thought it was strange that Grady placed Birrindudu on the left of Sturt Creek as from the general direction I think he was travelling (i.e. along Sturt Creek) I would have thought he would have said it was on the right. I don't think Birrindudu has moved so how can this be? Did Grady approach Birrindudu from another direction i.e. from the North or possibly North West, or is there another explanation i.e. where the wells are that he visited ? (Edit there are two in the Birrindudu area on the 1920 Pastoral Lease Map https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-1994233536/view  but not sure they are the two that Grady visited. The second appears to be just south of Birrindudu?) 

Then it occurred to me that when saying something is on the left or the right of a stream or river the standard (?) way is to say that it is in reference to looking downstream. Did Grady use this method of describing the location of Birrindudu? Don't know. He could have, as Sturt Creek flows generally South West into Lake Gregory then his comment makes sense.

Sturt Creek doesn't flow all the time so determining which way it flows at a particular location could be problematic, maybe a better way of saying where Birrindudu is, would be to say that it is to the East of Sturt Creek? Anyway it caused me a minor doubt as to the direction that Grady actually approached Birrindudu

Part 2

When leaving Birrindudu, Grady says (and he quotes directions given to him)

"..Late that evening Mr. Robinson came home, and during the night we had a tremendous thunderstorm, so I had to trespass on his hospitality for two days until the country was dry enough to travel, and started with the following directions. "Follow the cattle pads heading due east to Wallamunga Lagoon and cross river between second water hole and some bogged cattle further down, then follow the creek for one mile and pick up pads and follow for 10 miles East. Cross the Creek and make for the right of a big hill where a faint cattle pad could be discerned, which leads to Inverary, and make for a green tree on the plain." All went well until I got to the Creek, "Bunda" by name..."

This seems fair enough except that Wallamunga Lagoon is North of Birrindudu as is Bunda Creek (Wallamunga on Google earth appears to be in the wrong place but I used the attached Pastoral Lease Map for Northern Territory from 1920 (Edit https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-1994233536/view)
 to see where it would be in Grady's day. I put some red dots approximately where Birrindudu, Wallamunga and Bunda Creek are) .

Naming a Mr. Robinson at Birrindudu places Grady there, and I guess would be easy to check that out, but so far I have not been able to trace a Mr Robinson at Birrindudu (does anyone know?).

So the instructions are strange but Grady supposedly followed them and was ok as far as Bunda Creek. Only thing I can guess at is that there are geo-magnetic anomalies in this area that effected compass headings - and Grady did use a compass. Would they have effected the compass by 90 degrees tho? Enough to get North to be East? - not sure. Did have a quick look and yes there are geo-magnetic anomalies in this general area but not sure if Grady (and the locals) were severely effected by this.


...So I think Grady did travel through this area but I have some minor doubts due to the way he described of how he actual did it, but there are probably plausible explanations for that.

(Edited to fix typo 1922 for 1920 and add link to Pastoral Lease Map)

-Hutch

[hoejmark]

Hi All
 Thanks to Doug for posting the story of Grady back up and with better pictures than the very good but also very small illustrations than are in the Booklet. It is with great pleasure that I read all the comments and illustrations on Grady's great tour. Thanks to all of you until now.
 Five years ago, I did a story about Len Jones and his circumnavigation around Australia in 1926 with a back seat passenger for the magazine VETERANEN from Denmark's Veteran Motorcykleklub,DVM (Veteran and Vintage Motorcycle club) in the belief that, it was on Douglas. Finally in my research it turned out, that there was a name coincidence with another Len Jones also from the Sidney area. On the same evening that len Jones with Alfred Clarke in the back seat from Perth arrived at the Central Post Office in Sidney on his 1922 Indian Scout, they did a lap of honor on the speedway and at the same event another Len Jones driving the Dirt track on Douglas and won the Golden Gauntlet. Len Jones with his back seat passenger William Kennedy (to Perth) started out on the 6^th of March 1926 from Sidney. Len Jones didn't wrote any book about their adventures so I had to read in Australian newspapers on the internet to finally find out, that Len Jones and his passenger did not rode Douglas but Indian Scout.
 
THE REGISTER, ADELAIDE, SOUTH AUSTRALIA, TUESDAY , JUNE 15, 1926,
 MOTOR CYKLING AND CLUB DOINGS by FEXIT. PROGRESS OF INDIAN.
 JONES AND KENNEDY REACH PERTH.
I quote:  "During their stay in Perth the travellers propose to confer with Mr. Grady, who made the trip around Australia some month ago on a Douglas motor cycle, and prepare the best routes to follow through the north-west and the Northern Territory".

 I wonder if  they did ever meet Mr. Grady?  Does somebody know?

The photo below is from the Whitlock Track 1941-42 and, lying on the ground, taken by Eric Olsen from Adelaide in 1959. I wonder if Len Jones and Grady did pass this sign. Olsen is the danish way of spelling, and yes his grandfather was given the unofficial title of the Mayor of Assens. a little town on the island of Funnen  only 25 kms from where I live. Erics father went to sea at the age of 14 and eventually retiring as Harbour Master and chief ships pilot of Port Adelaide. That's how Eric came to be living in Adelaide



I am not sure that I searced for newspapers in Western and Northern Territory 
 maybe there is informations I there to find tellings about Len Jones and how he did it?
 
 
Cheers hoejmark

[hoejmark]

Hi again
 
Some more quotes from a few newspapers.

 THE SYDNEY MORNING HERALD, MONDAY , NOVEMBER 1, 1926,
 "After a final stage of about 250 miles, from a point within 20 miles of Dungog to Sydney, the two young motor cyclists, Len Jones and F. Clarke, who rode a motor cycle around Australia, completed their Journey on Saturday afternoon".
 From another page of the same issue of this newspaper:
 MOTORING. Speedway Royal. CLOSELY CONTESTED RACES.
 The principal event of the evening, the Golden Gauntlet sciatch race, was won by the Lithgow collum, Len Jones. and the two motor cyclistst L. Jones and F. Clarke, who are completing a ride around Australia, gave an exhibition drivie around the track.
  
 THE REGISTER, ADELAIDE, SOUTH AUSTRALIA, TUESDAY , JUNE 15, 1926,
 MOTOR CYKLING AND CLUB DOINGS by FEXIT. PROGRESS OF INDIAN.
 JONES AND KENNEDY REACH PERTH.
 With little incident, Len Jones and Will Kennedy, who are "double-dinking" round Australia on an Indian Scout, have reached Perth, in Western Australia.
 As far as Broome they will keep to the route of the aerial mail. During their stay in Perth the travellers propose to confer with Mr. Grady, who made the trip around Australia some month ago on a Douglas motor cycle, and prepare the best routes to follow through the north-west and the Northern Territory.
  
 

 THE GERALDTON GUARDIAN TUERSDAY , DECEMBER 2, 1926   MOTOR CYCLING AROUND AUSTRALIA
NOT A JOY RIDE.
"he had a very different opinion about the trip from that which he held when he set out". " said that we were doing it just for fun and adventure,"  he remarked, "but I would not do it again for £1,000,000. and we found all the fun and adventure we wanted, and more".
"Petrol was impossible to obtain at imes. From Soakage Creek to Wave Hill, in the Northern Territory, a distance of  250 miles, we ran on kerosene".
"Once, while we were crossing the Bight, we had to walk 15 miles and ride on horseback for 20 miles, and then had to pay 7/6 a gallon of petrol. But we paid as much as 15/- and £1 a gallon".
"At Pendan Sands, some distance from Broome, we had 43 crashes in a 32-mile Stretch of heavy sand".
"Owing to the terrible travelling conditions, and the mile upon mile of shifting sand, we had many spills". "Roads there are none. In fact, in the West, and in the Northern Territory we averaged about six crashes a day"
 "And now trip is over, and I am going back to Sydney — by train."
 
 Cheers hoejmark
 
 

[Hutch]

Where is Soakage Creek?

Simple ( :-) ), it was 18 miles from Banana Spring and 28 miles from Scottie's Billabong according to Tom Laurie in part 2 and 3 of "Notes on North Australia" in Sunday Times (Perth WA) 27 May 1923 and 3^rd June 1923 respectively (from Trove).....

-Hutch

[Dave]

Hutch,

Tried to home in on Banana Springs using Google Earth but the position marked on the map just doesn't seem to fit.
Back to the Birrindudu question...

Looking at Google Earth I thought it was strange that Grady placed Birrindudu on the left of Sturt Creek as from the general direction I think he was travelling (i.e. along Sturt Creek) I would have thought he would have said it was on the right. I don't think Birrindudu has moved so how can this be?

Comparing the map you linked in post #62 above and Google Earth map, the course of Sturt Creek looks quite different. In the Google Earth view, the creek seems to spread out and form some billabongs around Birrindudu.

The 1934 map may have oversimplified the course of Sturt Creek and placed Birrindudu on the right. If Grady was riding on the south side of the creek, according to Google Earth, Birrindudu was on the left ...or am I missing something?

Australia 1934 / compiled and drawn by Property & Survey Branch, Dept. of the Interior, Canberra



Google Earth

[hoejmark]

Hi all

Over the past 21/2
years I have written a little back and forth with Peter Whitager from the Australian Motor Cycle News.
Yesterday he send me this:
There appears to be some doubt that there were tracks across the Kimberley in 1924.

There were definitely tracks all the way from Broome to Katherine. A fact well documented.

I've no doubt Grady made the trip he diarised,

Earlier I got these informations from Peter Whitaker:
Quote: "The Douglas manufacturers claimed that Grady rode all the way around Australia but Grady never made such a claim. To avoid the Great Sandy Desert Grady and his bike travelled by sea between Port Hedland and Broome. And Grady did not travel through Darwin."

Quote: "Some years ago I wrote a magazine article about Arthur Grady which was drawn from a
publication titled "Around a Continent by MOTOR CYCLE". This publication, sponsored by
Douglas Motors Ltd., was based on Grady's diaries and infers that Grady rode around
Australia on a Douglas motor cycle, and my article propagated that myth.
Grady's published* account describes the journey from Fremantle to Fort (sic) Hedland, then
continues on from Derby omitting any mention of how he travelled from Port Hedland to
Derby.
Later in the published* account, which is remarkably detailed, Grady arrives in Katherine
then turns south as depicted on the map in the published account.
It was after my magazine article was published that I had the opportunity to interview
Arthur's brother Ernest who believed Arthur travelled from Port Hedland to Derby by ship
and that Arthur made no claim to the contrary.
I also interviewed Kevin Cass after his ride. Kevin was of the opinion that Grady probably
took the regular coastal freighter that was operating at that time.
*Grady's original hand written diary is long lost.
My conclusion is that Grady sailed from Port Hedland to Derby and that he did not
make the return journey from Katherine to Darwin. NOT THAT it's of any
consequence to the claim in the title of the published account."

Cheers hoejmark

[hoejmark]

Hi again

This is a pic of Grady himself in his 80s. Got it from Peter Whitaker 2 ½ years ago.

Cheers hoejmark

[hoejmark]

Hi again again

I must admit that I am far from feeling like an expert to adding pics but i take risk and upload a new one.

Here is a pic that I found a few years ago from an Australian website. (can't remember witch one). To me it looks to be Grady himself and his bike with his the tea billy jam tin.

Hopefully you will only get one pic this time

Cheers hoejmark

[hoejmark]

Well it didn't go the way I wanted. I have no idea of what failure I make. 
Sorry 

hoejmark

[Dave]

hoejmark,

Thank you very much for your interesting contributions to this topic and the great photos above. Don't worry about them appearing twice, it is easy to fix. The main thing is that we all get to see them.

There is a short video "Simplest method of attaching files to your message" that might help with attaching photos in future. I have taken a copy of the code that produced the duplicate image, will try to figure out the steps that produced it and let you know.

Dave

[Hutch]

The photo below is from the Whitlock Track 1941-42 and, lying on the ground, taken by Eric Olsen from Adelaide in 1959. I wonder if Len Jones and Grady did pass this sign.

Hi Hoejmark,
Thanks for your interesting and informative posts – I am slowly working through them as there is a fair amount of information to digest 😊.

I can possibly help with the question about did Len Jones and Will Kennedy  F. Clarke see the sign? - I don't think so as it looks like the sign was possibly placed in 1942 by Whitlock when a fire plough  track, but Jones and Will Clarke may have passed the location where it was later placed? (Edit -not sure, but probably not as at Tennant Creek end of the track).

(examples of fireplough tracks in the Vesteys Collection  i.e. https://digitalcollections.cdu.edu.au/nodes/view/4149?type=all&lsk=aafcffbd0dd361f1e0cc41da216e3cc0)

was put in as part of the Whitlock WW2 infrastructure, from tennant Creek to Gordon Downs. Attached picture  with caption from the xnatmap website ....

https://xnatmap.org/adnm/ops/prog/astro_new.pdf

An aside – quote about tyre puctures from the article;
"...After bashing out northwest of Tennant Creek through fire burnt scrub a brief, one line restrained diary entry for a really bad day reads: "Five punctures in a mile. No Observations!...."

It appears this picture of the sign was taken in 1948 according to the article which can be found here;

https://www0.anu.edu.au/linguistics/nash/kt/Whitlock.html

I'm looking into where the sign was actually was located on Whitlock's track, will post its location if I find out where, unless someone else knows?

Edit: Fix reference to F. Clarke as I mixed him up with Will Kennedy who left Jones at Perth

Cheers
Hutch

[Hutch]

Dave,

Yes Google Earth seems to have Banana Springs not quite in the correct position. I don't think it is far out and suspect it is a short distance to the South West (at 18°53'23"S 128°47'45"E)

https://earth.google.com/web/search/18%c2%b053%2723%22S+128%c2%b047%2745%22E/@-18.8897222,128.7958333,390.91276134a,794.54913811d,35y,0h,0t,0r/data=ClwaMhIsGXGGh9XE4zLAISuSZXd3GWBAKhgxOMKwNTMnMjMiUyAxMjjCsDQ3JzQ1IkUYAiABIiYKJAnatkZbmd0ywBEcq91fa-gywBkTtidz-BlgQCFXBJmYIhlgQA

There is a picture of the springs in Vesteys Collection – hard to say if it is this location or not. I guess any infrastructure there would be long gone?. Will see what else I can find out when I get a chance.

Grady never went to Banana Springs AFAIK, but he may have travelled past or near to Scottie's Billabong. This took me a little bit more searching to find and I had to resort to a Vestey's Collection aerial picture of it (from 1972) and match it to what I could find on Google Earth in roughly the area I thought it might be. Lack of water in the billabong in the Google earth image made it a bit more difficult but I think this is the correct location. Anyway, it appears to be at about 18°29'25"S 128°21'10"E

https://earth.google.com/web/search/18%c2%b029%2725%22S+128%c2%b021%2710%22E/@-18.4902778,128.3527778,359.38690501a,796.66903494d,35y,0h,0t,0r/data=ClwaMhIsGW_0jNiCfTLAISc4q_RJC2BAKhgxOMKwMjknMjUiUyAxMjjCsDIxJzEwIkUYAiABIiYKJAmRVuSMwN4ywBFJEmpZg-UywBnOpqr7jxpgQCFijIg3oxhgQA

After all that searching (...which was a bit of fun) it didn't tell me much except that Soakage Creek Homestead was roughly somewhere near Gordon Downs Homestead – which we already knew! 😊. Tom Laurie was travelling roughly North West through this country on horseback so without knowing his exact route, the distances he travelled don't appear to help us with any degree of accuracy - but at least it appears to confirm roughly where the homestead was and I think probably well enough for our purposes?

Cheers

Hutch

[Hutch]

Hutch,

Tried to home in on Banana Springs using Google Earth but the position marked on the map just doesn't seem to fit.
Back to the Birrindudu question...

Looking at Google Earth I thought it was strange that Grady placed Birrindudu on the left of Sturt Creek as from the general direction I think he was travelling (i.e. along Sturt Creek) I would have thought he would have said it was on the right. I don't think Birrindudu has moved so how can this be?

Comparing the map you linked in post #62 above and Google Earth map, the course of Sturt Creek looks quite different. In the Google Earth view, the creek seems to spread out and form some billabongs around Birrindudu.

The 1934 map may have oversimplified the course of Sturt Creek and placed Birrindudu on the right. If Grady was riding on the south side of the creek, according to Google Earth, Birrindudu was on the left ...or am I missing something?

Dave,

Yes I agree the Google Map or Earth picture is confusing due to the spreading of Sturt Creek near Birrindudu - it must be quite flat around that area!

I had a look at this area on Bonzle Maps and also in Garmin Explorer and I think they have a clearer picture of the path of Sturt Creek than Google Earth. It was a little difficult to see Gordon Downs Homestead and Birrindudu on the one map at a reasonable scale, so I made a mosaic from Garmin Explorer. It shows the modern tracks in this area - most of which were not there in Grady's day - Grady travelling through this area mainly following cattle pads and horse hoofprints.

Birrindudu appears to me to be on the right of Sturt Creek if you are approaching from the west or south. Grady states that he crossed a watercourse just before reaching Birrindudu that appears to be fairly wide (at least 100 yards?) so I wonder if he crossed just south of Birrindudu at Birrindudu Lagoon? i.e. just South West of Birrindudu- not sure.

According to Grady the country was in drought so possibly not much water in Sturt Creek and also it might not have been flowing? Not sure either. My best guess now, from Grady's comments, is that he approached Birrindudu from the general North West direction from the second well (I am still trying to locate this) and hence said that Birrindudu was on the left of Sturt Creek - rather than him following the Sturt Creek generally south of Birrindudu which was my first, and most likely incorrect ,assumption - It probably doesn't really matter.


-Hutch

[Hutch]

....
"Petrol was impossible to obtain at imes. From Soakage Creek to Wave Hill, in the Northern Territory, a distance of  250 miles, we ran on kerosene".
....

Hi Hoejmark,

I was having a quick read of Michaels Terry's account of his 1925 Expedition (Through a Land of Promise published by Herbert Jenkins in 1927) and came across this comment about the fire plough track that had been put in between Edit: Victoria River (via Wave Hill) and Flora Valley. I'm not sure exactly when this was done, but Terry comments on how much easier it was to follow this than on his 1923 Expedition (when he and Yockney got lost and nearly perished). I assume Grady didn't have the benefit of this navigational aid, but maybe Jones and Kennedy did?

Also has a good description of how they make the track.

I will see if I can find when this track was made - It was sometime between Terry's 1923 and 1925 expeditions. Terry followed some of it in 1925 so Terry's route for his expedition as marked up on the 1934 map so I guess would give a bit of an idea of where the fireplough track went.

Cheers

Hutch

[hoejmark]

Hutch
Thanks for the informations about the sign I uploaded. Grady and Jones could not have passed the sign as it was of a newer date. That is enough information to me for the time being, so please do not search more information. I understand it is in very very harsh and remote conditions they have travelled. I do not need to know the exact route they actually have followed. I live in the very small country of Denmark, with neither mountains nor deserts, on the opposite side of our planet and probably I will never be able to visit Australia - unfortunately - but I am interested to know about how and why those guys did the cirkumnavigation.

I am also of the opinion, that Grady with his Douglas travelled by ferry boat from Port Hedland to Derby, but never the less, i am in deep respect for what he did.
Quote Peter Whitaker:  It was after my magazine article was published that I had the opportunity to interview Arthur's brother Ernest who believed Arthur travelled from Port Hedland to Derby by ship and that Arthur made no claim to the contrary.

However it could be interesting to know if Len Jones actually met Grady during his stay in Perth the year after, as he wished to, and what would Grady then tell him? or could Len Jones have read Gradys story from a magazine of that time, and  what would he learn from that about getting from Perth to Darby/Broome? 
How did Len Jones (with Alfie Clarkee in the back seat) do the same distance the year after Grady - by ferry or riding his Indian? Could be interesting to know.
 In my search for Len Jones' cirkumnavigation, the main point was to find out that he did it and I documented their return to Sidney, unfortunately not on Douglas but on Indian. I was not aware of how severe the conditions was at that time, so I did not search for newspapers from that area of the West or North territories, to learn more. k

[Hutch]

Hoejmark,

Yes Grady does not shy away from his ferry trip and it was even confirmed in the press by Armstrong's.

https://www.douglasmotorcycles.net/index.php?topic=9801.msg39260#msg39260

I wonder tho', what else Grady has missed out from his story! :-)

I understand a road was constructed in 1925 (Edit see https://www.douglasmotorcycles.net/index.php?topic=9801.msg39667#msg39667)  to bypass this horror section called "Madmans Track", so I presume Jones and Clarke used this new road on their Journey?

https://www.douglasmotorcycles.net/index.php?topic=9801.msg39261#msg39261

I haven't looked into this new road at all since reply #4 earlier in the thread.

I'm not sure if Jones met Grady in Perth (or Fremantle) or not. A quick check of the newspapers in Trove doesn't indicate that he was on a trip away anywhere so I can only guess that he was in the Perth area at this time but have not found any information to confirm that they met - I will keep looking tho' as things do pop up when searching for other topics.

Yes the conditions they travelled in could be extreme and I take my hat off to all the travellers in this era in Northern Australia, plus the people who live day to day in these harsh regions - we have it considerably easier these days.


(Edit: Reading back through what I posted I can see that at one stage I was wondering if the Newspaper report by Armstrong's on the ferry voyage made by Grady might be a Furphy (i.e. that the newspaper admission was to cover for something else - like Grady was getting a new CW from Perth by steamer at Derby to replace the one he was riding for example), but Hoejmarks comments on Peter Whitaker's  interview of Grady's brother Ernest, confirms this is most likely not the case - Thanks Hoejmark for this information)

Cheers

Hutch

[Hutch]

An Aside: I just noted something, the criticism of Grady's Journey was by a Mr. A Bierman.

https://www.douglasmotorcycles.net/index.php?topic=9801.msg39340#msg39340

https://www.douglasmotorcycles.net/index.php?topic=9801.msg39341#msg39341

I found the following in the same newspaper, the Northern Times (Carnarvon WA) 24th April 1925 published just before the observations of Grady's movements at Derby.

So was this the same Mr. A. Bierman, who was Commissioner of Roads? Not sure. Looks like there was some Federal money to be spent on roads in the general area which may be related to the new road from Port Hedland to Broome? Also not sure - Will have to look at Hansard when I get a chance....

Edit: Yes could be but maybe Secretary to the West Kimberly Road Board at Derby rather than Commissioner?.

https://www.carnamah.com.au/bio/arnold-carl-adolph-biermann


-Hutch

[Hutch]

Hoejmark,

I understand a road was constructed in 1925 to bypass this horror section called "Madmans Track", so I presume Jones and Clarke used this new road on their Journey?

My presumption may be wrong about Jones and Clarke using the new road, but they did get lost......from  From Sporting Globe (Melbourne Vic) 18 August 1926.

So did Grady get to Wallal Downs and can we believe the telegram supposedly stating this??

Edit: Federal money was allocated in 1925 to improve the road between Port Hedland and Broome. Have not found out so far when this work was carried out but cars appear to have travelled this route in late 1926 - more investigations required.....

Cheers

Hutch

[hoejmark]

Hutch
Thanks for all this information.
We are going out now for two weeks so I will read careful when back again.
Cheers hoejmark

[cardan]

People are still lining up to cycle around Australia: at least they now have rules about the route that must be taken!

https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2024/sep/17/its-a-lot-of-pedalling-mate-cyclist-lachlan-morton-making-record-pace-in-14200km-journey-around-australia

Leon

"The rules for official attempts around Australia provide that cyclists must cover at least 14,200km and pass through eight locations: Sydney, Brisbane, Darwin, Broome, Perth, Esperance, Adelaide and Melbourne. Otherwise, riders can set their own route – although they typically ride anti-clockwise, to take advantage of prevailing tailwinds."

[Dave]

'It's a lot of pedalling, mate'   ... makes my knees ache just thinking about it.

[hoejmark]

When reading the newspaper copy in #80, it seem to me that Jones and Clarke did ride all the way to Broome on their Indian.

But did they also go to Port Darwin? In more newspapers I did read that they did so, but according to Peter Whitager they did not. Newspapers were nat always reliable.

I also belive that I read previously - in this thread - in a newspaper quote, that Grady did go to Port Darwin, but again according to Peter Whitager he did not. And his route in the Grady booklet does not claim that either.

Peter whitaker told me, that the first motorcyclist to visit all main capitals was Jeff Munro in 1929 (I belive) inclusive Port Darwin. Why did Grady and Jones not do so?
Could that be because of the railway. Not very long ago I followed on TV an australian railway enthusiast going from Port Darwin to Katherine by train, and on that occation it was told, that this line was opened in 1929. Could it be the reason why Munro did it, but not Grady or Jones?
hoejmark

[cardan]

Why did Grady and Jones not do so?

I suspect there was just one north-south road, so visiting Darwin from Katherine would be a case of "up the road and back again", a diversion from the trip "around" the continent. There were no rules back then!

Leon

[Hutch]

Peter whitaker told me, that the first motorcyclist to visit all main capitals was Jeff Munro in 1929 (I belive) inclusive Port Darwin. Why did Grady and Jones not do so?
Could that be because of the railway. Not very long ago I followed on TV an australian railway enthusiast going from Port Darwin to Katherine by train, and on that occation it was told, that this line was opened in 1929. Could it be the reason why Munro did it, but not Grady or Jones?
hoejmark

Hi Hoejmark,

Not sure why Grady and Jones chose not to go to Darwin - maybe they had no reason to (?) (Edit I am assumed neither went to Darwin as I have not found conclusive evidence that they did - still looking tho'), but I did a little searching and found that the railway line extension from Pine Creek to Emungalan was opened in 1917 and was well in use by 1919. Emungalan is near Katherine - on the north western side of the Katherine River.

The train didn't actually reach Katherine itself until the opening of the railway bridge over the Katherine River was constructed in 1926.

(See https://www.katherinemuseum.com/our-town/the-gallon-licence-store-2 for more information)

So Grady and Jones could have possibly have travelled by train to Darwin from Emungalan had they wanted to?

Cheers

Hutch

[Hutch]

Hoejmark,

I found this article from the Daily Examiner, Grafton N.S.W from 29th October 1926 on Trove. Jones and Clarke were interviewed by a reporter as they passed through and they state that they didn't visit Darwin. 

Some interesting comments about their journey in the article as well - only 4 punctures!

Cheers

Hutch

[hoejmark]

Hutch and Leon
Thanks for your informative informations. Reasons for me to focus on Darwin, comes out of my ignorance, that I believed Darwin was nearly impassable from land.
The cause to thinking so is, when going a little more than 100 years back, you met difficulties when trying to drive to the little fishing village Skagen on top of Denmark. The last 40 kms from Frederikshavn was heather grown moorland with some cart ruts. The local people prefered to sail their fishing boats to Frederikshavn rather than drive carts, I have been told.
In 1913 - 1915 there was held a motorized rally going from Copenhagen to Skagen and return for motor cycles and light cars, and surely they experienced great difficulties when passing over the moor. This is a tiny distance, but when scaled up to the size of your Continent, it migth be very problematic - I thaught.
To day Skagen is a very fashionable town for tourists, and ever since year 1965 we again run the annually three days "Skagenløbet" (Rally Skagen) on motorcycles up to year 1934 (incl.), starting in Copenhagen in even years and the opposit direction in odd years. Now on mainly good roads, I can tell.
hoejmark

[cardan]

Hi hoejmark,

Getting in to Darwin by road depended on the weather: the summer is "wet" and the winter "dry", and trying to travel in the wet was a recipe for failure.

The first South-to-North crossing of the continent in a motor vehicle was in 1907/08, when Harry Dutton and Murray Aunger drove a Talbot car from Adelaide to Darwin. Well, two Talbots actually, as they had to abandon the first car when the going got too tough. The started again with a new car (the Duttons were wealthy pastoralists) and a better weather plan, picked up the stranded car, and ended up on the beach at Darwin with two cars. The "overland telegraph" and the later railways made things a lot easier for motorists as both bits of infrastructure had maintenance tracks.

Years earlier, in the 1860s, our most famous explorers Burke & Wills crossed the continent from south to north (Melbourne to the Gulf of Carpentaria). They never got a view of the ocean at the northern end of their trip - the mangrove forests were too thick - but the water they encountered was salty and went up and down with the tide. Close enough. They died on the way back.

Exploration is tough!

Leon

[hoejmark]

Thanks Leon
hoejmark