Richard Lee, a club member, gave us a talk entitled “Adventures and a Misadventure in the Outback”.
In 2001, he fulfilled his dream of travelling from Adelaide to Alice Springs on the “Ghan” train, which was probably named after the Afghan cameleers who came to Australia in the late 19th century.
In Alice Springs, Richard was picked up by friends who were working on Bible translation with local people in the Outback, where he spent several days.
On the return journey, all cars travelling south on the highway were stopped by the police. The previous night, a British couple, Joanne Lees and Peter Falconio, had been kidnapped, and Peter was murdered. (In 2005, Bradley Murdoch was convicted of these crimes and sentenced to twenty-eight years’ imprisonment.)
Richard returned to Alice Springs and two days later, at the railway station, there was a land rights demonstration at the same time as a ceremony, attended by the then Prime Minister, John Howard, to inaugurate the extension of the railway line up to Darwin.
Arriving in Adelaide after a 19-hour journey, Richard picked up his car and drove back to Melbourne, where he was based.
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