Re: SER1 Across the Top with malcom Douglas

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For a precis of the movie all I can offer is the following, it is many years
since I last saw the flick.

In the mid 1960's Malcolm Douglas and a friend David ????? went on a trek
from Darwin in the North of the Northern Territory Australia (that's the big
bump in the middle), they travelled through the region called Arnhemland in
their SWB Series 1 Station Wagon.  This was and still is, essentially an
Australian Aboriginal reserve covering millions of square miles of Northern
Australia, to this day it is almost completely undeveloped.  Entry to this
region was restricted to individuals who could justify a bona-fide reason
for being in the region and needed a permit from the Federal Government (yes
Australia is a federation of individual states and has a "Federal
Government" too).  Australian Aboriginals at the time were not considered
citizens, could not vote and were protected much like endangered species are
today, a very unfortunate part of Australia's history from colonial times.

The journey traverses Arnhem Land through to the Gulf of Carpentaria (the
dip between the big bump in the middle and the pointy bit on the East) along
lines on the map that were considered roads but many had only been pushed
through years before and never maintained.  In many parts the road
disappeared completely.

The journey ends after they traverse to the top of Cape York (the pointy bit
on the East) getting caught in the "rainy season".  Along the way they have
to ford rivers up to the windscreen, get stuck in the mud and winch
themselves out and do things with an extremely overloaded Land Rover that
many now wouldn't even consider.

To the same journey today, you can get a ticket on a tourist coach, cross
the Jardine river on the back of a barge and stay in every night in tourist
parks which include cabins and dozens of other tourists in their BMW, VW,
Ford and GM sports utility vehicles.

The film is a bit of Land Rover history that we can never find again.

Aunti Kinus
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Mark Strangways" <mark.strangways@xxxxxxxx.xxx.xx>
To: <series1@xxxxxxxxx.xxx>
Sent: Friday, October 08, 2004 11:07 PM
Subject: Re: SER1 Across the Top with malcom Douglas


Hi Diana,

Can you let us have a bit more information on what this film is all
about please......?

Cheers
Mark
Halifax UK




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