Tracks by Neil

Norman Bull

Feature image is of Mr Neil Bengston.

‘Neil is embarking on an adventure of a lifetime “Living the Dream” as he describes it, travelling solo around Australia.’

4WD Trek Throughout Australia

Neil has embarked on an adventure of a lifetime, building a custom 4WD and travelling solo around Australia.

He has converted a “working ute into a luxury vehicle” and has spared no expense, by contracting the best, to ensure a comfortable, safe and dependable vehicle for all eventualities and to camp wherever he wishes. This wholly self-contained Toyota GXL 70 Series Cab Chassis has the ability also to carry out maintenance on route and is fitted with Recaro orthopaedic leather seats imported from Germany, just to keep himself fatigue free, especially after a long day off road.

Customisations include additional power, gas and water, bull bar, safari snorkel, rails, steps, roof rack, recovery gear, 160 litre fuel-tank and slide off canopy with a fully integrated kitchen, storage system and retractable work bench. Above the canopy is a rooftop tent with awning, comfortable mattress and bathroom.

Now equipped and with a new place to call home, Neil has planned the first stage of his trek to depart Redland Bay and arrive at Charters Towers, 5,000 km away.

Charters Towers

After bidding his farewells, Neil begins his adventure and after a 6-hour drive, he arrived at the 150-year old town of Nindigully, 12 km south of St George and home to Queensland’s oldest hotel, Nindigully Pub, voted the Best Country Pub in Australia and famous for their amazing hamburgers.

The following day Neil ventured into St George and completely by chance, met the daughter of one of his friends, who now works at the Saint George Tourist Information Centre. Neil met with the owner of a vineyard, David Blacket, who also by chance, is related to an old family friend.

Travelling on to Surat, he found himself at a 7,000-acre sheep station that afforded Neil with an opportunity to be involved in a muster of 1,600 sheep, an experience he will never forget!

He then made his way to Roma, where he met up with an old friend, originally from Mount Cotton who became a policeman for the local area.

Camping at Carnarvon Gorge, Neil set off to explore the area by bush walking throughout the National Park and trekking to the Bluff, with a 300-metre steep vertical climb up steps. The reality of how cold the temperature had become since travelling inland, had suddenly hit, as he found comfort and warmth from using his Space Blanket on those frosty nights and mornings with temperatures dropping to -6 degrees.

His journey then took him to Emerald at Fairburn Dam, through to Sapphire and stopping at the heritage mining town of Rubyvale with a sapphire mine and mining museum, Neil gained an appreciation for how difficult the days of mining were back then, after seeing the primitive machinery used.

He travelled to Claremont and stopped at the Theresa Creek Dam before taking off to Barcaldine, where he would see the Tree of Knowledge and the AMU Museum.

The parched and dusty landscape approaching Ilfracombe is the home of the Machinery Mile and the Memorial Tribute to the many troops of the Lighthorse Brigade.

Visiting the ‘School of the Air’ in Longreach and the Qantas Founders where he took the 707/747 Jet Tour and ended this leg of the journey, with the Australian Stockman’s Hall of Fame.

By coincidence, he arrived at Winton and experienced the camel races, then continued to Lark’s Quarry Conservation Park to see the carefully preserved dinosaur footprints of a stampede.

Neil visited Fountain Springs, a small gorge where part of the film ‘Crocodile Dundee’ was filmed. He setup camp at the location of the unforgettable scene where Linda Kozlowski was leaning over the waterhole as the crocodile grabbed hold of the canteen around her neck. He was woken in the middle of the night by a horrid roaring sound of a camel taking a dislike to Neil being on his turf.

Continuing to West Leichardt Station, Neil made camp for a week to enjoy the Mt Isa Rodeo with 20,000 other spectators and met up with one of our writers, Mr John Daffy, then off to Richmond to visit the Dinosaur Museum, passed through to Hughenden and Porcupine Gorge, arriving at Charters Towers, 400 km shy of Cairns.

Mt Isa Rodeo

Winton Camel Races

Fountain Springs

Darwin

In the tropical North Queensland region, Neil visits Cairns and makes his way north through Cooktown to Lakefield National Park situated 340 km north-west of Cairns, situated by the Coral Sea and encompassing a massive 537,000 ha of picturesque land filled with lakes, billabongs and wetlands. Neil made camp, enjoying the solitude and beauty of the area but always mindful of the neighbours that are waiting for their next feed, crocodiles.

Travelling to Weipa, Neil encountered many corrugations in the road which he knew would require a mechanical inspection, prior to heading to the Cape.

Positioned in the Torres Strait between the Australian coastline and Papua New Guinea, Horn Island played an important role in the Australian history of WW2 as an aerodrome for both Australian and USA Squadrons. It is a small island with such a rich history of at least 8 Japanese bombing raids and several plane crashes during the war. Neil, as an Australian history buff, was overwhelmed with his visit to the island.

Neil forged on to the top of the very windy Cape, mission accomplished, he made it!

Making his way into Somerset Bay, he was confronted with more history with the ruins of the abandoned settlement of Somerset, which still stand with numerous graves and a wreck of a DC3 plane that crashed during WW2, about the same time that the settlement was abandoned.

Neil enjoyed some great 4WD tracks during his visit to the Daintree, testing his truck and driving skills and again by chance, met up with more relatives.

Making his way to the town of Herberton of the 1880s, he took a tour of the Undara Volcanic National Park to experience the fascinating lava tube caves, which are reportedly, the longest in the world. Hiking into the rainforest and granite outcrops to Kalkani Crater and visited an extinct volcano that had erupted violently circa 190,000 years ago, creating the awesome surrounding landscape of the parks we see today.

Travelling through Burketown, then south-west on a track through two cattle properties to Kingfisher Camp, Neil drove up a steep hill to discover a large white cross at the very top, which was the grave of the first owners of the property. Neil recalls a past 4WD show at this very location and took great delight in knowing that he outperformed their drivers, by making it to the top.

A cruise at Katherine Gorge offered Neil the opportunity of a slower pace before taking on hiking and swimming at the breathtaking Edith Falls.

An unexpected encounter with around 30 cars from a “4WD Variety Bash” driving from Darwin to Broome and the “Creek to Coast” film crew which saw Neil as an instant celebrity.

Travelling onto Kakadu and then to Darwin, Neil took in the sights, visiting the WW2 Underground Oil Tunnel, which was used for storing oil for the ships, then out to Stokes Hill Wharf, where the movie Australia was filmed, then onto the museum. Venturing off to Litchfield National Park, Neil was in awe and swam under the amazing waterfalls. Neil then approached Surprise Creek through a water crossing of around 150 metres and at a depth of 70 cm.

Travelling onto Mataranka, Neil spent the night at the thermal springs within the Elsey National Park, then to the Devil’s Marbles and onto Wycliffe Well, before free camping his way to Alice Springs from where he would then drive to Simpson’s Gap and onto Ormiston Gorge.

Olgas and Uluru (aka Ayers Rock) could only be described as spectacular! Yet, one thing he did decide after experiencing the heat, was that it was probably not the best time of the year to undertake such an adventurous walk in summer.

Millstream Falls

Undara

Kakadu

Redland City

Neil has travelled and witnessed first-hand, the diversity of the ever-changing landscape of our beautiful country. His journey has taken him through central Queensland, north to the tip of Cape York and across to the Northern Territory, then across to the South Australian border.

Neil realised that this was not the most appropriate time to be travelling this region with temperatures exceeding 40 degrees. As he drove to Coober Pedy, the heat was so relentless that after a little sightseeing in the area, he made his way to Port Augusta. After passing the legendary Dingo Fence he travelled down the Stuart Highway through the wheat belt to his destination. Surprisingly, the temperature was so cool upon his arrival to Port Augusta that he was looking for a blanket that night.

Travelling onto Ceduna and Streaky Bay he took the 31-km scenic loop to see the magnificent High Cliffs on the Eyre Peninsula whilst enjoying the views overlooking the Southern Ocean.

The subject matter of sand dunes and cliff formations presented our enthusiastic photographer Neil with amazing opportunities for some great photographs which were very different from his previous images of dusty roads and bush.

Another discovery for Neil was the phenomenon created entirely by mother-nature, the weathered granite inselberg structures known as Murphy’s Haystacks standing as if they were silent sentinels.

No visit to South Australia would be deemed complete without making a visit to the Clare Valley where Neil took time out for some wine tasting at Taylor’s Winery and further south to the McLaren Vale Wineries.

Following the coastline, Neil travelled to further south to Kingston, where he visited the Cape Jaffa Lighthouse, opened in 1872 and which is now in the care of the National Trust. In 1976 the lighthouse was opened as a museum and relocated from the Margaret Brock Reef to Marine Parade Kingston.

Having a farming family background, Neil took special note of the wheat harvesting which had just commenced as he made his way to Mount Gambier, then travelling across the Victorian border to Portland, then onto Warrnambool, where he visited the Flagstaff Hill Maritime Museum. Relics of shipwrecks, survivor accounts of maritime events in Australia early history and stories of the rugged Shipwreck Coast. At Anglesea, Neil met up with friends then off to the Victorian high country for a few days and negotiated Billy Goat’s Bluff, a thrilling, steep vertical climb of 1200 metres in 7 kilometres of rocky track, proving to be a very slow, yet still terrifying, hanging on to the steering wheel for dear life. Once making the climb to the top of the bluff, which at 1423 metres, the views of the mountainous high country were amazing.

Wonnangatta Station has 4 x 4 tracks with steep rocky sections and across creeks along Moroka Road at Mount Kent, continuing north through to the Dargo Plains Road, then on to the Blue Rag Range, where the views to the Victorian Ski fields seemed to go on forever.

The experience of seeing the alpine region in summer giving a new meaning to its beauty of wildflowers and foliage come to life after the snow had melted. By this stage, Neil felt the cold, as the temperature had dropped to a chilly 4 degrees at the heart of the Australian Alps, the Mount Kosciusko National Park.

Continuing along the coast road and stopping at Tilba where a woodturning gallery bears a blackboard illustrating a daily quote.

Written this day: “Opportunity is missed by most because it is dressed in overalls and looks like hard work.” Thomas Edison. Travelling through to Canberra, our nation’s capital, and viewing the remembrance walls, the time was right to travel back home to family and to plan the next adventure.

Snowy Mountains

Streaky Bay

Flagstaff Hill Maritime Museum

Birdsville, Bungle Bungles

Prior to this next trek, Neil has reduced non-essential equipment to improve fuel consumption and performance and now has superior solid rims with vast mechanical improvements to the clutch and breaks. Neil then departed from Brisbane to Roma, Mitchell, Charleville, Quilpie, Windorah, then Birdsville for the Big Red Bash.

Held over two days, this massive music festival features many headlining acts including Jimmy Barnes, Jon Stevens, Diesel, The McClymonts, Frankie J Holden, Wilbur Wilde, Mick Lindsay, Victoria Edwards and Heels on Wheels, set against the red desert scene and promises to be an unforgettable experience.

Camping along the Diamantina River and Cuttaburra Crossing, Neil retraced the mail delivery route made famous by mailman Tom Kruse, travelling the 570 kilometres of unsealed track (road) from Birdsville to Maree, then along the Oodnadatta Track for another 620 kilometres to the town of Marla. This long trip was made memorable by the incredible natural phenomenon of the artesian “mound” spring belt, which stretches from Marree through to the splendidly warm Dalhousie Springs and the vast numbers of roadside artworks and small towns with deep and amazing histories, the amazing views of Kati Thanda – Lake Eyre National Park, home of the largest Salt Lake in Australia, with an area spanning 144 by 77 kilometres.

Travelling north along the main highway to Alice Springs then Katherine and at the banks of the Old Victoria River, Neil met up with Nathan Griggs, who currently holds the world record for speed whipping, achieving 596 cracks in 1 minute.

Approaching Kununurra, the gateway to the east Kimberly region, Neil explored countless gorges, waterfalls, large tidal rivers, dozens of small streams and creeks, Lake Kununurra, Lake Argyle and a diamond mine, the time passed by too quickly. There were many things to do, with boat trips and a plane flight over the Bungle Bungles, the hidden world of magnificent gorges, tropical pools, dramatic caves and Aboriginal rock art.

Heading into Western Australia to swim with whale sharks, then following the coast line then across to the Nullarbor Plains, through Victoria, to “strike it rich” in the Victorian Gold Fields around Ballart and Bendigo, then along the central road to return home to Brisbane.

Uluru (Ayers Rock)

Cathedral Gorge

Bungle Bungles

Kati Thanda, Lake Eyre National Park