In 1908 Alfred Canning and his men build 53 wells along what was to become that longest stock route in Australia. Some of them still have good water. Not a drop of water as far as you can see. But with help from aboriginal guides, Alfred Canning found water even in this landscape. The world's only wild camels roam the dunes along the Canning Stock Route.
Nils checks out one of the big obstacles along the route, Savory Creek.
We got over this quite easily, but water put a stop to our trip further north. Canning Stock Route is more than just a challenging safari through some of Australia's least accessible nature. It is also a trip through the country's history, and nobody can drive these 1900 kilometres without thinking about Alfred Canning and his men that almost a century ago built this ambitious project. In 1906, 46-year old Canning left on a surveillance trip to find potential sources of water along a route that would bring cattle from the farmers in the north to the people in the south. But without help from local aboriginals they wouldn't have gotten far, and Canning was so afraid that the guides would run away that he kept them in chains - day and night.