A Nostalgic, Historical Journey

My name is Jim Lamers. I am about to undertake a nostalgic journey that retraces a memorable journey undertaken by my family in 1930. We travelled from Swan Hill, Victoria to Perth, Western Australia in a Model T Ford. At that time it took 26 days to complete the journey, whereas this time however, it is expected to take only 10 days. Although I do not know the exact starting date of that original journey, I do know that we started out in May and I celebrated my 6th birthday on the 23rd of May on the side of a salt lake, somewhere in South Australia.

My nostalgia is due to my father and myself having planned to repeat the journey together in 1956. Unfortunately, our dream was never realised, as Dad died in 1954 from of the effects of being a POW in Changi jail during 1942-45.

My entire life I have dreamed of making that trip again, and at 79 years of age, I realise the time has come; if I am ever to do it I must do it now. My son Michael, my grandson Anthony and a good mate of Dad and myself, Ray Date, will be assisting me. Ray was a POW with my father.

The original journey was for the sole purpose of obtaining work for my father, Bill Lamers. Times were tough back then, and many were unable to afford simple items such as shoes, which caused great trouble for a man who owned five shoe stores. So, after several months of unemployment, my father was forced to close down in Swan Hill and surrounding towns during the great depression of the 1930’s.

My father’s search for work reached as far as Perth, where the effects of the great depression were not as severe as was the case in the Eastern States. This became the trigger for our journey of 3,500 kilometres.

Dad was undaunted by the prospect of taking Mum (Doll) and I to the other side of the continent, undertaking what most would consider to be a hazardous transcontinental journey. My mother was a tower of strength during the journey, with both her and myself frequently having to place pieces of shrub under the car wheels to get a good wheel grip through sandy patches.

Dad selected a 1926 year Model T Ford as the most suitable car to make the crossing. The logistics of the trip and the detailed planning were not to be taken lightly.

The route we followed was along the bush track used by maintenance workers along side the transcontinental telegraph line. At that time the “track” consisted of shifting dirt and sand, with many crossings over sandy water washes and tracks. There was no petrol available between Port Augusta and Norseman. This was a distance of approximately 1,625 kilometres as the crow flies, but it was further for us due to the twists and detours we had to make as we crossed the Nullarbor Plain.

We had to carry:

• 48 gallons of petrol in 12 - 4 gallon tins
• 4 spare tyres and plenty of tyre tubes
• 10 gallons of water in a 4 gallon tin and canvas water bags
• Car tools and shovels. We didn’t have the luxury enjoyed today of a winch, nowadays considered vital when travelling through such terrain.
• All our worldly goods and chattels
• Food.

My recollections of the journey are a little patchy given my age at the time and the passage of 73 years. Some of the things I can still recall include:

• Receiving a toy motor bike for my birthday and playing with it in a salt patch.
• Dad unpacking the car at Madura and driving up and down the pass several times in order to get the whole load over the pass. Going up the hill he drove in reverse whilst dodging boulders and stones scattered along the track. Mum and I walked.
• How, on one occasion we were bogged in sand for 3 days. Dad walked 30 miles to a station to get food, which turned out to be kangaroo meat. An Afghan, with his two camels, eventually rescued us from the sand.
• Staying in a hut at one welcoming station with aboriginal spears embedded in the walls. At this station there was a bore with water so hot we could not bathe in it.
• Dad caught a thorny devil lizard and I kept it as a pet for a few days.
• We called in at Kalgoolie and met Dad’s uncle Paddy.
• Staying in an abandoned house in Eucla that was surrounded and partly covered in sand.
• Following the water supply pipe from Kalgoorlie to Perth.
• Dad getting a job and starting work the day after we arrived in Perth.

Our Return Journey from Perth to Melbourne

Dad, Mum and myself made the return journey from Perth to Melbourne in December 1934 in an Oakland sedan. The track must have improved and Oakland travelled at a higher speed than the Model T, as we covered the distance from Kalgoorlie to Port Augusta in only 6 days. We experienced far less difficulties than those encountered during the crossing in 1930, although we still had to carry enough petrol for the 1,625km Nullarbor crossing. We were able to achieve this shorter time, despite towing another car that had run out of petrol for a distance of approximately 600km.

Before we reached Melbourne we took a detour through Daylesford, Dad’s hometown. Upon arriving at the family home we found no one there, as everyone was attending the funeral of Dad’s 97-year-old Grandmother Lamers.

We arrived “home” in Melbourne on the 26th of December with the city ablaze with banners. This was the first we knew of the Victorian Centenary celebrations.

I look back with nostalgia on that time in my life as a great adventure; a time when not too many boys of my age were privileged to have parents who were brave and resourceful enough to take on an enormous challenge to guarantee the family’s survival in desperate times.

William (Jim) Lamers
7th September 2003.