The last explorer: autobiography of Michael Terry

Abstract

Michael Terry's autobiography is the story of a hard, adventurous life, much of it in northern and central Australian deserts. Born in 1899, Terry fought as a mechanic in World War 1 in a British armoured car brigade in a little known action in Russia. Gassed, he was invalided out and came to Western Australia in 1919 where, on a cattle station near Carnarvon, he discovered his love for the outback. After a spell as a car salesman in Sydney and as a pioneer truckie in northern NSW, he drove a 10-year-old T-model Ford from Winton, Queensland to Broome, WA, much of it across trackless country. The story of this journey brought him fame in Britain and further expeditions followed, testing vehicles in the desert and, in the thirties, exploring for minerals in Central Australia. On one trip he discovered the mysterious Cleland Hills carvings. He chronicled the building of part of the Stuart Highway in World War II and throughout published accounts of his journeys. His autobiography, written in retirement at Terrigal and in Sydney, was compiled after his death by his sister, Charlotte Barnard.