FRANK FEAST: 1919, Uncle Hugh Hudson brought Dr Basedow to the old Green Point homestead in his capacity as a geologist. This was where I first met Dr Basedow who subsequently I accompanied on four different expeditions to central and northern Australia.
On departure on the medical survey expedition in 1920 with Dr and Mrs Basedow, I was made a presentation of a Kodak camera. I was only given the camera a few days before departure. And the only instruction I received was from the Kodak people from whom I took possession of the camera in Rundle Street, Adelaide. So the effort was only an amateur effort.
That particular year, 1920, happened to be an outstanding year from the point of view that there was copious rain. We struck a very, very severe rain storm on Bloods Creek Plain, and it was a matter of waiting on the plain for two days for the track to dry up before we could proceed with the camels. Good travelling with driving camels is to accomplish in eight hours or thereabouts 20 miles per day. And that would depend partly on the nature of the country over which we traversed.
Then we come to Stuarts Creek. From Stuarts Creek we come on to Blanche Cup. From Blanche Cup there's Coward Springs and the lake of freshwater then Beresford would be a small settlement along the railway line. Then the Strangways Springs, Two Sister Springs, Frances Springs then we come to the station of Anna Creek.
On the track we just slept out. There would be a fire. Punch would be on one side of the fire, and I would be the other side. Oh well he'd just walk along beside the buggy, the same I did myself for hundreds of miles. Then we come to Allandale that was north of Oodnadatta. From Oodnadatta we would go south-west to Todmorden head station. Then we come to old Macumba and Stevensons Creek bore. Somewhere along that line there is the Ten Mile bore.
We went from the South Australian-Northern Territory border to Horseshoe Bend then north-west from there we went to Idracowra station and then to Henbury station. And then we go to Hells Gate and from then you're practically in the sandy bed of the Finke River right until you get to Hermannsburg. From Hermannsburg we went to Gosse's Bluff. Then from Gosse's Bluff we came back and we went up in the bed of the Finke River to Glen Helen Gorge.
Then from Alice Springs after a stay of some days we with the camel buggy drove back to Horseshoe Bend. From Horseshoe Bend we proceeded to Oodnadatta and then finally boarded the train to Adelaide. And that was the end of the expedition.