TRAVERSE Issue 08 - October 2018 | Page 71

We’d found a camp for the night, the ‘big red car’ followed us. “Wow! I don’t know how you guys are doing it”, remarked the driver of the ‘big red car’. “With my bloody sphincter clenched shut!”, I’d replied. “Well, it’s impressive. You should see the rear wheel bouncing from side to side. It’s never in a straight line. These bloody corrugations are shaking the shit out of the Landcruis- er. I don’t know how you’re doing it.” This was Oliver, a 23 year old from Perth, despite still being in his home state he’d been on the road for almost 5 months. It was clear Western Aus- tralia was a big piece of land. We’d met Oliver weeks earlier crossing another of Australia’s fa- mous ‘roads’; The Gibb River Road. We’d exchanged details but never re- ally expected to see each other again, until our first day on the Tanami. Late afternoon, near the infamous Wolfe Creek Meteorite Crater, a red TRAVERSE 71