Alice Monkton Duncan-Kemp , one of the country ’ s most prominent outback authors in her day . She wrote about her experiences growing up on the property that , following the deaths of her father and eldest brother , was managed by her mother , Laura , with a lot of help from the local Aborigines ( Mithaka ). Her formative years with the people who made it possible for their family to stay on their property showed through in her writing and she was one of the earliest authors to recognise the Aboriginal people as the original landowners . Interest in the old homestead has been piqued by the discovery in the national archives of a policeman ’ s notebook with a small hand-drawn map sketched next to one of his reports . In 1902 , the policeman had gone to the station to speak to a stockman there , and in his report , he mentioned the presence of 103 mud huts . The early Mithaka people made igloo-like structures from mud taken from the river . The huts provided effective protection from the heat of the desert sun , the mud insulation keeping the inside temperature stable enough for the inhabitants to use it as semi-permanent shelter . The Cameleers is a group of former ADF members , many carrying illness and injury , who have a common sense of adventure and fun . Members range from 18-72 years of age , male and female and all share a desire to explore and learn more about their country . “ Just as we did when we wore the uniform , we train , we rehearse , we visit and revisit every part of our objective so when we are on the ground and doing the mission , we all know our bit of the puzzle , and this trip definitely helped us do that ,” George said .
The photographs are of the ruins of an old homestead - “ Annandale ” - in the Simpson Desert . The homestead was the site of a walkoff by station workers in 1920 . There are also two graves there - brothers , still at their mothers ’ hip when they died , cause unknown . Their mother , apparently having stayed with her sons for six days after they died , wandered into the desert and was found out of her mind , 24 hours after the boys ’ bodies were found . She was alone in the homestead while her husband was away for seven months droving cattle to Adelaide .
George Koulakis takes a moment to get his bearings
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