On This Road

In 1917, a message left the remote town of Halls Creek in the Kimberley.

It travelled south across the continent to Perth.

It was urgent.

This is a story about distance, communication, and an extraordinary attempt to save a life in one of the most isolated parts of Australia.

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On This Road— Travel stories from Australia

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On 31 May 2000, Whyalla Airlines Flight 904 departed Adelaide on a routine flight to Whyalla.

It did not arrive as expected.

This story is told from inside the search — from the perspective of someone involved, moving through uncertainty, long hours, and the quiet weight of not knowing.

There are no theories here.No reconstruction.Just a remembered account of a night that stays with you.

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On This Road— Travel stories from Australia

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit onthisroad.substack.com

Just outside Derby there’s a large hollow boab tree.

Not far from it, a long concrete water trough sits in the dirt.

Two things, in the same place.

This is a story about what happened here —and how the land was used over time.

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On This Road— Travel stories from Australia

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit onthisroad.substack.com

In the far north-west of Australia, Derby sits beside King Sound — a place shaped by distance, tides, and movement.

In the early days, getting from the town to the sea was not simple.

So a solution was built.

This is a story about that line…and the quiet role it played in connecting a remote town to the outside world.

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On This Road— Travel stories from Australia

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit onthisroad.substack.com

In the early 1920s, the north-west coast of Western Australia was a very long way from anywhere.

Derby sat at the edge of it — a port town shaped by cattle, tides, and distance.

Then came an idea.

To fly.

This is a story about the early days of aviation in the north-west…and a journey that would quietly change how Australia was connected.

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On This Road— Travel stories from Australia

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit onthisroad.substack.com

Queenie and Rover

In the Kimberley, two lives began not far apart, each shaped by the same country in very different ways.

Queenie grew up between worlds on a cattle station, while Rover came from deep within his own cultural law and story.

Their paths would later cross, in ways that reflected the time and place they lived in.

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On This Road— Travel stories from Australia

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit onthisroad.substack.com

In 1980, on a remote cattle station in the Kimberley, a dispute began over land, law, and who had the right to decide.

The Yungngora people opposed oil exploration on their country, leading to a long and public standoff that drew national attention.

What happened there became part of a turning point in how land, culture, and authority were understood in Australia.

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On This Road— Travel stories from Australia

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit onthisroad.substack.com

In the late 1800s, in the north of Western Australia, a Bunuba man named Jandamarra moved between two worlds.

He worked with police, learning their ways and their weapons, before turning against them and retreating into the ranges of his own country.

What followed became part of the long and difficult frontier history of the region.

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On This Road— Travel stories from Australia

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit onthisroad.substack.com

Before the railway pushed north through the centre of Australia, Beltana was one of the most important towns in South Australia’s far north.

In the late 1800s Afghan cameleers passed through here with camel trains carrying supplies deep into the interior. When the railway arrived, the train itself became known as The Ghan, remembering those early drivers of the desert.

For a time Beltana was a busy railway town on the edge of the outback.

Today the trains no longer stop, but the story of the Ghan still passes quietly through this place.

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On This Road— Travel stories from Australia

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit onthisroad.substack.com

In the 1860s, Surveyor-General George Goyder rode across South Australia studying drought, soil, and rainfall.

When he returned, he drew a simple line across the map.

South of the line, farming would usually succeed.North of it, the country was better suited to grazing.

More than 150 years later, Goyder’s Line still marks the boundary between reliable farming country and the dry pastoral land beyond.

Explore all episodes on the map — onthisroad.com.au

On This Road— Travel stories from Australia

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit onthisroad.substack.com