Where Dead Men Lie

Co-authored by brothers Mike and Mal Leyland, this book tells the story of their crossing of Australia from West to East in 1966, following fairly closely the 26th parallel.

I have heard of the Leyland Brothers, but only because of the Kevin Wilson song ‘Living Next Door to Alan', but I understand they were a household name in Australia in the 60s & 70s. The two brothers, along with Mike's wife Pat, Ted Hayes (expedition mechanic) and Keith Davey (naturalist collecting species for the Australian Museum) make up the expedition team. Mike primarily operated the cine camera and Mal did the still photography.

Not only did they sell stories and photos to the newspaper, and write this book, they also made a feature length documentary film of the trip (Wheels Across the Wilderness). For finances, they received various equipment sponsorships, but the actual finance seemed to come from a private donor, the details of which are not really made clear.

Anyhow, to some statistics - ignoring the drive west to their starting point, they departed Shark Bay in WA on 3 May 1966, arriving in Byron Bay on 20 August, 111 days later. They had travelled 4248 miles (6836km) in their two Land Rovers (one short wheelbase 1963, one long wheelbase 1958, towing a heavy duty trailer made mostly of Land Rover parts, and a 1966 Bridgestone 90 Mountaineer motorbike (for scouting).

Without doubt the biggest challenge was the Simpson Desert, which comprises of huge sand ridges running north-south, which they had to cross. These were between 30 and 100 feet high, and their technique included driving one or both vehicles up and winching the trailer (and the other vehicle). Incredibly laborious. This desert contributed by destroying the fifth differential, most of the others falling victim to hard rough tracks. They crossed 1105 sand ridges, and took 22 days.

They were the first to cross Australia continuously, the first in motor vehicles to cross the Simpson Desert (Madagan in 1939 successfully followed a route a little further north, and Colson in 1936 on his route further south, both by camel train).

The story was presented in chapters roughly alternating between the two brothers, where they describe the various stages of the trip. The descriptions are good, including the insects and reptiles they collect for the museum on the way, Aboriginal rock art, the Olgas (Kata Tjuta) and Ayers Rock (Uluru). They encounter some horrendous weather (very hot and dry, and then unexpected rain and flooding), and somehow never end up arguing despite living in close quarters (leaking tents) for such a long time.

The name of the book comes from an Aboriginal and Dutch burial ground they encounter, bones scattered across the surface of the desert, and also due to the number of people who have perished in desert crossing attempts before them.

Easy to read, and interesting.
3.5 stars, rounded down.