Andrew Harper | Writer

Andrew Harper

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25.01.2022 Melbourne Cup Day 2017. I was thankful that I had two functioning legs. Currently I have 1.5 functioning legs, but the missing .5 is getting better.

25.01.2022 And so this happened nearly 4 months ago. A split tendon and three torn ligaments. And I wasn't even waking! Just turned and put my foot in a very small hole. A bit embarrassing for a chap who's walked over 25,000kms across deserts and the Andes and never broken a thing. Not a happy foot. Not a happy Andrew.... There was no walking with my camels this winter. And I had to postpone the next part of my walk in South America. So summer is spent recovering. Im off crutches now and starting to walk more normally, albeit slowly. But its on the mend. . #brokenfoot #brokenankle #swollenankle #swollenfeet #swollenfeetsuck See more

25.01.2022 Good on you Wilko!

23.01.2022 ...unavoidable. We can't actually get to the desert.

23.01.2022 Another day. Home is wherever I stop. . . .... #simpsondesert #outbackqueensland #queenslandoutback #greatdesertwalks #desertwalk #desertwalking #desertwalker #desertwalks #exploreaustralia #mygreatwalk #bushlife #bushliving #balancedlife #deserthome See more

22.01.2022 Air walking demonstration. By the time we neared the end of the walkabout in early September, some of the country was beginning to dry off. The catheads (prickles) and bogan-flea (burrs) are a major humbug if you have paws. ... Gidgee rarely wears boots and wasn’t too sure about wearing her new red desert boots at first, but she quickly got used to them. September 2020. . . #simpsondesert #kelpiesofinstagram #kelpiesofaustralia #kelpie #kelpiegram #kelpiesofficial #kelpielife #kelpies #kelpiesofig #kelpiesarethebest #kelpiesdaily #kelpiesoninstagram #outbackaustralia #desertlife #outbackqueensland See more

20.01.2022 What my tree stumps look like after 24 days and 350-ish kms in the desert back in 2017. Wrinkly knees and wobbly legs. Reasonably clean though. .... . #cameleers #cameleer #cameleerlife #desertlife #desertliving #simpsondesert #walkingaustralia #deserttrekking #deserttime #deserttrek #deserttreks #bushwalking #bushwalkingaustralia #greatwalks #greatwalksofaustralia #greatdesertwalks #walkingtrek #hiking #hikingadventures #hikingadventure #hikingadventures #hikingadventuresforwomen #desertwalk #desertwalker #desertwalking #desertwalks #slowtravel See more

20.01.2022 Hug-a-Hump. If you work from Monday to Friday, then Wednesday is Hump Day. So Hug A Hump today! ... #australiancamels #cameleer #cameleers #cameleerlife #australiancameleers #bushlifeoz #camelsofinstagram #instacamel #camelphoto #camelphotography #aussiesofinstagram #australia

19.01.2022 It was 20 years ago today, Sgt Pepper told the band to play And just like that it was 20 years ago today that my walk across Australia finished. At least the ...physical part of the journey ended. Somewhere in my mind Im still walking, as that particular walk never really ended at the Pacific Ocean and the imaginary line continues. Life is all just one great big walk really, changing form with every year and every desert explored, but never really ending. In 1999 the first step was in the Indian Ocean, and the final was 229 days later in the Pacific Ocean. Skin touching sand on both beaches, calm waves plopping over ankles, eyes fixed to the horizon. December 10th - the last of six million, eight hundred and thirty thousand, one hundred and sixty-seven steps (give or take a few), or four thousand six hundred and thirty-seven kilometres, over 229 days. And that was it. And so the wobbly walk across Australia now recedes into the desert sands. Well and truly blown away. Or is it? Upon reaching the Pacific Ocean horizon in 1999, I had to wait 18 years to meet it again, this time with it against my back rather than out front, as I set off to walk 1000 kilometres across the Atacama desert and then over the small hills otherwise known as the Andes. How did all this start? Once upon a time in late 1982, as I poked along on my motorbike moving a mob of sheep on Kelso Station, near Longreach Queensland, I crossed a minor backroad that dissected the property. I stopped at the Tropic of Capricorn sign, and distinctly remember thinking ...if I followed that imaginary line across the landscape to the Western Australian coast, what would I see? That question sat at the back of my mind for 17 years, occasionally pushing to the front and making the 'list of things to do', but then inevitably drifting back to the vague ideas department, as life's multitude of events came hurtling along leaving little time for wild dreams... Then one day in November 1999, I stood under that sign with TC. And I knew exactly what lay along that imaginary line. Every. Single. Step. Each empty thought witnessed and (to balance things) each useful thought filed away to be used another day. So even when the coastal rains and desert winds would wash and blow my footsteps back into the earth, 'it' was no longer imagination, having morphed from my imagination into my reality." And so 20 years later, the reality is once again ebbing back to being part of my imagination, existing as memories, photos and journals, all of which provides the nourishment for new ideas. www.capricornexpedition.com.au

19.01.2022 Raj has a closer look at the claypan. The rabbit fence is in the background. . . August 2020. #camels #camel #simpsondesert #outbackqueensland #rabbitprooffencewalk #rabbitprooffence #greatdesertwalks #exploreaustralia #desertwalk #desertwalking #desertwalker #desertwalks #mydesertwalk #mygreatwalk #outbackphotography #outbackphotographer

19.01.2022 October 2017. Walking across the Atacama in Chile, a truck had broken down and I stopped to say hello. It was a very hot day and the shade was welcome, as was my Spanish translation book. Though it didnt seem to contain the words gearbox or transmission oil. Though Francesco and I agreed that 'truck was kaput. #walkingtheworld #greatwalk #greatwalks #akubra #akubraoffical #atacamadesert #atacamachile #whynot #letswalk @ Atacama, Atacama, Chile

19.01.2022 Which way Boss? Bloody compass is buggered mate, Im sure theyre the same termite mounds we saw two days ago.... Central Australian Expedition, Tanami Desert 2002. .... Photo Kieran Kelly . #camel #cameleer #cameleerlife #desert #australiandesert #tanamidesert #tanami #akubra #desertexpedition #desertexpeditions #bushlifeoz #termites See more

18.01.2022 CamelCam! From ReconXpedition 2012. The view from TC-Cam (Tall Camel-Cam) as we ascend a sand ridge in the Simpson Desert then stop on top to check out the view. ... I had 5 camels with me on this 35 day, 750km walk from Andado Station in the NT to the Birdsville Pub, Queensland. So as there were 6 of us, the trip definitely wasn't solo. This was the first major salt lake that we encountered, just over the border in Queensland. The expedition route was in a wobbly line from Andado to Geosurvey Hill, the Geographical Centre of the Simpson, down to the NT/SA border then into Birdsville. Though this was my 13th crossing of the Simpson (in various directions on different transects), it wasn't technically a complete crossing of the desert, as to do that I would have to depart from the Finke River and finish at the Diamantina River. It's the same principle as climbing Mount Everest - technically you have to begin at sea level and finish at the summit, not start at base camp. But nevertheless for 33 of the 35 days I was walking cross country, following my nose (and the camel feed) as I explored more of the desert which I have basically called my second home since 1995.

17.01.2022 We know it's not quite the same, but we thought that as our camels can't get to the desert this winter, we would open the archives and bring a digital desert to... you. The Travelin' Thru Archives, 2014. So let's begin with Andrew & Morgan sharing an orange. Morgan, along with Bindii and TC, walked right across Australia in 1999. He was a noisy fella but if you produced an orange he instantly became a giant teddy bear.

17.01.2022 Our cameleers and trekkers spend a lot of time with our camels in the winter. And our cameleers form very close and special bonds with particular camels over th...e years, sometimes extending to decades. So it is very sad and sobering when a stalwart of the team leaves, as Sultan did on Tuesday. Yes, he was certainly cranky sometimes, regularly terrifying the trekkers and some crew with his phantom air bites and growling 180 degree head swings. I think he quite enjoyed it all. But it was all a hoax. And I liked all that, as it showed he was strong willed with abundant energy. I bought Sultan in 2003 from Denis & Tania Katzer, who had caught and trained him in Western Australia. He was originally called Jasper, but I renamed him the far more imposing Sultan. Sultan was the best anchor camel you could ever hope for. At the back of A String, poking along at his own pace regardless of what shenanigans some of the newly trained camels may have been up to in front of him. That's what anchor camels do - a calm & steady weight at the end of the string, observing everything but reacting to nothing. He had two speeds stop & go. Thousands of times I would look back at him as we ascended or descended a dune, to see him calmly and securely poking along at the back regardless if the rope was tight or slack. Wait for Sultan was my call to the mob. Though he once did find top gear. I was directing him towards his tie up tree one afternoon, and he wasnt too impressed and chased me flat out along the flat for about 100m. Hobbles and all. But then he just stopped, and we looked at each other, discussed the situation and life in general, then resumed our original walk towards the tree, chatting away as if nothing had happened. Until in the last few years, Sultana was never one for tenderness, and he never took oranges or apples. The attached picture shows only the second time that he decided that oranges were actually ok. I remember that day well - he was standing at the back of the string, and was watching some of the other camels receiving human attention. No one would dare approach him of course, lest they receive a growl. But I sensed that this time something was different. He was actually watching and taking it all in and I had the feeling that he was thinking why nobody ever went and gave him an orange. I went up to him and put an orange peel in my mouth, and the old bugger leant forward ever so slowly & carefully and took it. A camera was hurriedly fetched, and the attached photo is the second orange peel. For the last decade or so Sultan was elevated to free-roaming at night to do as he pleased. He received the extended name The Prince of Darkness a few years ago, as it just seemed so appropriate. So he now joins Jhumpa in the sky paddock. Rest peacefully big fella. We'll miss you. AH

15.01.2022 I've always liked this photo, though it's taken 15 years for it to emerge from the archives. There is something timeless about it. Almost as though we had come across an explorer chap from the 1880s who was lost in the Gibson Desert and was just waiting for the rest of the chaps to catch up.

15.01.2022 ACROSS THE ANDES CHANGE OF CIRCUMSTANCES - Deniliquin lecture - March 18th. Due to possible health concerns for residents, the lecture I am giving at Orana Aged... Care on Wednesday March 18th is now for residents and their families only and not the general public. Orana apologises for any inconvenience.

14.01.2022 You looking at me? A lone Gemsbok (Oryx gazella) out on the flat. On assignment for African Safari Magazine, Namibia. #namibiadesert #namibiaphotography #gemsbok #desertphotographer #desertphotography #getoutthere #animalsofinstagram

13.01.2022 Every 5 miles along the fence a distance marker was attached to the top wire, to indicate the distance north from the SA border. The numbers on these tin rectangles were probably punched with a hammer and heavy nail. . . August 2020... #simpsondesert #outbackqueensland #rabbitprooffence #rabbitprooffencewalk #greatdesertwalks #exploringqueensland #exploreaustralia See more

11.01.2022 Isolation is a matter of perspective. Some people may drive into the desert to get away from it all and consider themselves to be isolated. I spend up to 5 months a year walking in the desert and consider it to be home. Over the years Ive chosen to spend many multiple weeks by myself isolated with my camels where slow travel and silence are the biggest ingredients of the day, the polar opposite of modern life. But of course Im not alone, as one is never alone when walking... with camels. Ive always thought that there are people in cities, surrounded by hundreds of thousands of people, who are actually very isolated. After all, the best place to hide is in a crowd. Perhaps this enforced isolation will bring some silence and slowness into peoples lives. A new realisation for some. Perhaps even a renewed connection to nature. No doubt the planet is taking a bit of a breather at the moment without its plague of humans running around preoccupied with the busyness of life. . . #cameleer #cameleerlife #outbackaustralia #australianoutback #greatwalks #greatwalksofaustralia #greatwalksofoz #greatdesertwalks #hikingadventures #hiking #hikinglife #hikingadventure #worklifebalance #solitude #solitudeisbliss #walkingaustralia #alonebutnotlonely #alonebutnotalone #slowtravel #slowtravelling #slowtraveller #slowtravelstories #slowtravelmagazine #rmwilliamsoutbackmagazine #slowdownandbreathe #slowdown See more

10.01.2022 Lake McKay, WA 2005. Happiest in big spaces. #greatsandydesert #outbackwa #outbackwesternaustralia #cameleerlife #exploreaustralia #exploreaustralia #getoutthereandexplore #greatdesertwalks #saltlake #bushwalkingaustralia #balancedlife #balancedlifestyle #subtleartofnotgivingafuck

09.01.2022 Another day waking up beside the ute after a long drive into the night. Birdsville Track, 2017. #bushlife #bushlifeoz #ontheroad #ontheroadaustralia #birdsvilletrack #outbackaustralia #outbacksouthaustralia #australianoutback #tuffbullbars #kelpie #australiankelpie #kelpiesofaustralia #sunrise

06.01.2022 Eventually everyone needs a wash. During my 226 day walk across Australia in 1999, I would take most of my photos on Kodachrome slide film, and when I reached places like Alice Springs or Longreach, the film was sent to Sydney for processing. From there it was forwarded to the recently launched RM Williams Outback Magazine who were publishing my story.... After leaving the Alice, it was just a short 18 day walk across the northern Simpson Desert, following the Tropic of Capricorn. It was a very dry year with bugger all feed for the Humps. At the (unfenced) NT/QLD border I came onto Carlo Station and as luck would have it, the first two bores were sunk right on the ToC. So the camels had a drink and I had a scrub. Being the first opportunity for a wash, I took a photo - all part of recording the journey. At Marion Downs Station between Bedourie and Boulia I had a resupply and sent off a batch of film. Of course as I was still walking, I never saw my photos and had no idea how they had turned out or indeed if there were any good ones in the batch at all. I just left it to the RMW Outback editors to select what they thought best summed up that particular section of the trip. Imagine my surprise to discover in July the following year that I had become Outbacks first naked stockman centrefold, gloriously spread over one and half pages of issue 12. Evidently the editor thought this photo best summed up the journey across the Simpson... Whereas I never thought that it would end up in a magazine. Whoops. Carlo Station, Simpson Desert, western Queensland. Self-timer, camera sitting on the trough cover. #simpsondesert #mygreatwalk #greatwalk #greatwalks #greatwalksofaustralia #greatwalksofaus #rmwilliams #rmwilliamsboots #rmwilliamsoutbackmagazine #rmwilliamsaustralia #rmwilliamsmagazine #walktheworld #whynot #nakedfarmer #thenakedfarmer #cameleerlife #lifebalance #getoutdoors #getoutstayout #getoutside See more

05.01.2022 July 2019, and with freshly minted torn ligaments and ripped tendon in my ankle, I was confined to logistic duties for the rest of the season. So yet another 740km run from Mount Isa to Birdsville after a shopping trip. I did this 9 times last winter, just over 13,000kms in total, but I never tire of a long drive. #outbackdriving #outbackaustralia #landcruiser #landcruiserlifestyle #toyotalandcruiser #79series #79serieslandcruiser #79seriescruiser #toyotaaustralia #ontheroad #australiandesert #tuffbullbarsaustralia #tuffbullbars #tuffbullbar #gmeradio #bushlifeoz #outbacklife #hema #australiankelpie #kelpiesofaustralia #kelpielife #kelpiesofinstagram #kelpies #kelpie #kelpiegram

05.01.2022 I only found this photo in the archives today. All 19 of my camels at work in the Simpson Desert.

05.01.2022 Checking the map with John Wilko Wilkinson. Id just bought a pair of white socks. Gibson Desert, WA, 2005. . .... #cameleers #cameleer #cameleerlife #gibsondesert #hikingadventures #hiking #sandalseason #sandals #socktan #akubraofficial #greatwalksofaustralia See more

04.01.2022 Gidgee watching the sunset, southern Simpson Desert, 2018. In between camel treks I spend a lot of time driving about the desert on logistics preparing for the next treks. Usually its just The Dog & I. ... * * * * * #simpsondesert #kelpie #kelpies #kelpiesofinstagram #kelpiesofaustralia #kelpiesofig #kelpiesrule #kelpiesofficial #australiankelpie #australiankelpies #australiankelpiesofinstagram #kelpiesofinsta #saltlakes #desertsunset See more

04.01.2022 Once again, we see the value of using my packcamels to traverse our remote deserts.

04.01.2022 This is what my camels and I get up to in the winter.

04.01.2022 Leading my team of 18 camels towards Birdsville on the last day of the Simpson Desert Expedition, 2014. The 28 day journey was about 400kms from Old Andado Station on the western side of the desert in the NT. Like all our expeditions across this desert, the entire route was a new transect, all cross country, well away from any vehicle tracks. We had just crossed the last (and very small) dune about 2kms from town in mid morning.... Next stop would be outside the Birdsville Hotel at about midday. . Ive walked across the Simpson on various transects in different directions, solo and with groups, 13 times. Each trip is different and each is remarkable and challenging in its own way. . . #camel #camels #camelexpedition #camelexpeditions #camelsafari #camelsafaris #cameltrek #cameltrekking #cameltreking #cameltrekaustralia #cameltreksaustralia #simpsondesert #simpsondesertchallenge #greatdesertwalks #greatdesert #desert #cameleer #cameleerlife #outbackqueensland #outbackqueenslandtourism #outbackaustralia #australianoutback #wildernessexplorers #explorers #seeaustralia_qld #seeaustralia #walkingaustralia #walking #animalshadows #akubraofficial See more

04.01.2022 October 1999, and enroute across Oz, I called in to The Australian Stockmans Hall of Fame, in Longreach, Queensland. We camped in their grounds for the night. And my legs are bent in this photo as well... Photo Sue Sendall... #mygreatwalk #mywalk #acrossaustralia #tropicofcapricorn #letswalk #camelexpedition #capricornexpedition #australiancamels #australiancameleer #cameleerlife #camels #getoutthere #exploremore #greatwalk #greatwalks #greatwalksofaustralia #greatwalksofoz See more

03.01.2022 Poking along with my camels, 2009.

03.01.2022 Finally got to the desert this winter. Gidgee enjoying the view from a Simpson Desert dune, July 22nd. . #simpsondesert #outbackqueensland #kelpie #kelpies #kelpiesofinstagram #kelpiesofaustralia #kelpiesrule #outbackaustralia #kelpiesofficial

02.01.2022 Tanami Desert 2002. Trudging through knee high spinifex on the Central Australian Expedition. It was definitely the highest, thickest spinifex I have ever walked in. Normally you can walk around it, but in the Tanami it was like a wheat field. Ouch.... Photo Kieran Kelly #australiancamels #cameleer #cameleers #cameleerlife #australiancameleers #australiancameleer #australiandesert #tanami #tanamidesert #ntoutback #outbacknt #outbackaustralia #australianoutback #greatdesertwalks #deserttrek #greatwalks #exploreaustralia #exploreaus #explorethedesert #wildernessexplorer #wilderness #outbackphotography #spinifex #camels #cameltreksaustralia #cameltrek #ecoexplorersaustralia #explorerpage #desertexpeditions #desertexpedition See more

02.01.2022 Anzac Day 2020. Australias National day if commemoration. In memory of my great uncle, 2nd Lieutenant Alexander John Robertson, 11th Battalion, 1st AIF. Alex was a mining engineer & geologist with the Geological Survey Department in Perth, Western Australia.... Alec departed Fremantle on the transport ship 'Geelong' on June 6 1915. He was killed in action at Leane's Trench, Gallipoli, on 6 August 1915, aged 28. I have a handwritten note in the family archives that reads: "The Colonel instructed me to make some inquiries as to how Lt Robertson met his death. Men who were with him on the trench (Leane's Trench) on the morning of the Turkish attack, state that in order to inspire confidence into the men in the trench, he sprang up into a recess, and raising himself head and shoulders above the parapet, he fired his revolver into the foremost of the enemy. This he continued to so, until a bullet struck him, and he fell backwards into the trench, expiring almost immediately." 15/8/15. I visited his grave at Shell Green cemetery, Anzac Cove on Anzac Day 1991 where 408 of his fellow Aussies, his mates, are also buried. It was quiet that morning. It was cold. It was distressing. And it is the saddest place that I have ever been to. That's Alex on the right, pictured with a geologist mate out bush at one of their camps, in WA. #anzacday #anzacday2020 #anzacdayathome

02.01.2022 My friend Kate Kate M Leeming will soon depart on her latest expedition, this time in South America. Kate is an extremely experienced long-distance rider, but this trip is at altitude, so there is an extra dimension present. Her path across the Andes from Chile to Argentina will be along the same route as my trip in 2017, via Paso Sico. It was just over two years ago that I walked there, but seems like a lifetime ago!

02.01.2022 Small termite mounds make excellent hat & belt racks. . Central Australian Expedition, Tanami Desert, 2002. ... #bushlife #bushlifeoz #northernterritoryaustralia #outbackaustralia #ntoutback #tanamidesert #camelexpedition #camelsafari #greatwalksofaustralia #akubra #akubraofficial #akubrahat #akubrahats #rftte #cameleer #cameleers #cameleerlife #stockman #termites #termitemound #termitemounds See more

01.01.2022 So, this happened two weeks ago. Torn ligaments in my ankle. It didnt even happen whilst out walking in the desert, in fact Ive never had an injury from about 25000kms of desert walking. A small uneven surface combined with being distracted by other people, and my leg went one way and the ankle the other. Oh well. Itll get better.... But no more desert walking with my camels this winter. ...and I wont be returning to Argentina in October to continue Capricorn Expedition. I have 2600kms to walk, and by the time I make a 100% recovery, I wont be able to do that in the time available. And it would be stupid and irresponsible to attempt that whilst only partly recovered. I'm bitterly disappointed...but the time at home in spring/summer is an unexpected and great opportunity to allow me to pursue some new and different paths... See more