After two wonderful weeks in Broome, Nevill and Greg replenished their supplies and set out again on Sunday, 30 August for Derby, which they reached on Monday morning.
The driving as they headed east from Derby became gruelling as they crossed sand dunes and dodged huge anthills. Long grass often covered the whole area making it difficult for them to find the trail, and they were often stopped by fallen trees across the track.
In some places the bush had grown right over the track and they had to slash their way through the undergrowth. Up and down they went, through dry creek beds and gullies, sometimes having to pull themselves out with a block and tackle.
They were forced to cross the Fitzroy River three times, the Margaret twice and the Louisa once. The rivers were dry, which made it very difficult to cross due to the deep sand in the river beds. On one of the Fitzroy crossings their wheels sank in the sand and Bubsie was stuck. They tried packing the track with leaves and branches to give the wheels some leverage. Nevill pressed his foot to the accelerator while Greg pushed, but it was no use.
Fortunately a group of Aboriginals from the local community came to their rescue. They tied a stout rope to the front axle, and then a dozen men and women grabbed the rope and pulled while others pushed. Bubsie slowly emerged from the soft sand, and Nevill and Greg were able to continue on their way.1
Nevill had previously reversed the wheel hubs to give Bubsie a wider tyre track, but he soon found that mud and other rubbish was getting caught against the mudguards and slowing him down. So now Nevill took the mudguards oÄ altogether and threw them away before continuing their journey.
The men finally reached Halls Creek, the only sizable town they had encountered since leaving Broome, 685km away. Halls Creek was named after a prospector, Charlie Hall, who found an 870 gram gold nugget on Christmas Day 1885. His find sparked a three-month gold rush as 15,000 people rushed to the area to try their luck!
Halls Creek was now an important trading centre for the surrounding cattle stations, Aboriginal communities and miners, as it was at the northern end of the Canning Stock Route. Halls Creek is also 150km north of the famous Wolfe Creek Crater, but Nevill and Greg would have known nothing about that, as it wasn’t discovered until 1947.
If Nevill had expected to arrive in Halls Creek in a blaze of dust and glory he was in for a big disappointment. On Sunday night, 6 September, just as they were nearing the township, little Bubsie broke down, the first serious mechanical problem they had experienced. The gears in the gearbox were stripped and Bubsie refused to go any further.
So Nevill and Greg walked 6.5 km into town, found something to eat, and with the energy found only in the young, joined a group at the A.G.M. Presbyterian hospital in rousing hymn singing.
They hired a couple of horses the next day to take them back to the car, pull the gearbox off, and carry it to Moola Bulla where they found a blacksmith who could repair the damage. 2
Later in the trip the rear axle had to be removed and straightened, which is not surprising considering the rugged country they were bouncing over. That job was done on a railway line. 3
They did achieve some celebrity in Halls Creek, however. Nevill called it “the most isolated town in Australia” and consequently the locals were curious about the two young travellers. The men at the hotel where they stayed crowded into their room to find out more about them. Evidently Bubsie was only the second car ever to have made the long trip overland from Perth. 4
Nevill and Greg would have been happy to tell them of their mission, and no doubt sold them a few books while they were at it!
– Stay tuned for Part 7
REFERENCES:
1. Letter to Mother. August 29, 1925.
2. Letter to Mother. September 9, 1925.
3. Citroen around Australia. Retrieved from https://historicvehicles.com.au/historic-carrestorations/citroen-around-australia/
3. Australasian Record Article. December 14, 1925. Vol 29 No 50.
