Beating About The Bush

by Len Beadell

Rigby, 1976, [First Edition], ISBN 0727002260, black and white photographic plates, black and white illustrations in text, illustrated endpapers (maps), hardcover, dustjacket

Very Good Condition, a little edge and shelf wear, some rubbing and bumping to edges and corners, previous owners inscription on facing title page, dustjacket shows minor edge and shelf wear (see photographs)

“When your grader breaks down in the middle of the desert, there is only one thing to do: attach it to a bulldozer and tow it back to the nearest centre of civilization.  For Len Beadell and his road construction team, that meant a journey of 800 kilometres at three kilometres per hour – the longest towing operation in the history of Central Australia.
The party hitched together their “train” and set back along the road they had just built, prepared for a slow and arduous journey.  The last thing they expected was for their ration truck to melt.  This had its disadvantages: but as Frank Quinn remarked, it was the best entertainment they’d had for a year.  And it was only the beginning of a series of related incidents which marked out this particular journey as one of the more eventful episodes in the team’s experience.
As Len Beadell returns slowly over his recently-completed road, he recounts in colourful style the outstanding events of its construction and the many points of interest along the way.  We share his original excitement at discovering the surprises contained in this hitherto unknown country: unusual flora and fauna, impressive mountain peaks and fantastic piles of boulders, desert tribesmen, historic relics like the famous tree blazed by the explorer Tietkens three-quarters of a century earlier.”