Ben Carlin book: THE LAST GREAT AUSTRALIAN ADVENTURER

[Richard Coutts-Smith]

I was fascinated by this book when I was given a signed copy some 35 years ago, in my mind it was a fantastic feat, such a thrill to see Half Safe at Corowa, bit of a shock to find out it was yellow!
I always thought the pic of Ben sitting in a shed staring at the stripped jeep summed him up in many ways.

Back a few posts Lang mentions First Overland (by Tim Slessor), coincidentally that was the day we left for the High Country, I came across a copy while looking for some tent time reading material. It appears that I was given a copy in 1991.... time to read it again. Written with some entertaining dry humour (German Autobahn comment springs to mind) it was a delight. In hindsight this trip (32 000miles, 6 blokes, 2 series 1 SWB Landies) was only possible for about 3 years. It was filmed, with the unprocessed film being sent when possible to their contact at the BBC, a young chap by the name of David Attenborought eventually shown in B&W, sound dubbed in. A few years back a documentary with lots of the film (in colour) and interviews with some of the guys was released, Magnificent.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OS8G-103ZRE
Rich.