I travelled west for about five kilometres until I found the turnoff for the Stuart Highway and then started to head north. The Stuart Highway is the main highway which travels through the centre of Australia going from Port Augusta in the south, to Darwin in the north and covers a distance of around two thousand eight hundred kilometres. It is named after the Scottish explorer John McDouall Stuart who made the first south to north crossing in 1861 - 1862 with nothing more than a kilt, bagpipes and a sackful of haggis. The Scotsman Mr. Stuart, while stalwart and brave, should not be confused with the Englishman, Mr Sturt. Sturt is one of my personal heroes and only he could empathise with my daily struggle to cope with the rigours of driving through the Australian outback where I would have to endure sitting for long periods of time. Oh; the hardship !
