REMOTE REGIONS

Southland Times, Issue 20016, 2 November 1926, Page 7

REMOTE REGIONS

AUSTRALIAN ISOLATION. MEDICAL MISSIONARY’S TOUR. Sydney, September 23. An adventurous motorist, who, on two trips by car around Australia, has done much good in outback regions, is Mr. N. R. Westwood, a young Western Australian, who is a travelling representative of the Seventh Day Adventists Board of Missions and Medical Missions. Mr. Westwood was the first motorist to encircle Australia, having performed the feat in a small car from August to December last year. He then pioneered a route from Perth, through the north-western region of the continent to the Northern Territory, eventually working through Queensland and the capitals of the eastern States to Adelaide, and thence to Perth again. The length of that journey was 15,000 miles. That trip was made principally for the purpose of spying out the land for philanthropic reasons, and so appealing was the need of medical-mis-sionary work that Mr. Westwood resolved to make a second tour. ’Phis time he chose the opposite points of the route, going from Sydney through Queensland to Cairns, then through the Gulf of Carpentaria country to Alice Springs, in the centre of the continent, next almost due north to Darwin, thence along the north-western coast to Perth. Mr. Westwood is now on the last stages of his long tour from Adelaide to Sydney. The length of the last journey is approximately 25,000 miles. OUT OF THE WORLD. Naturally Mr. Westwood and his companion Mr. Shick a medical graduate, met with many adventures and strange characters. Among the latter was an interesting outbacker. They met him in a silent, trackless region, 200 miles from the nearest telegraph line. He had been working for some weeks 70 miles from a human habitant. He had run out of food and so had contented himself with a menu of purely Australian delicacies. These included lizards, iguanas, and bardies (white grubs that infest hollow trees.) Mr. Westwood gave him some of their civilised commodities, and he showed his appreciation by sitting down and having a square meal. Mr Shick further earned his gratude by extracting an aching tooth. Mr West wood and Mr Shick found many people in the more isolated regions in need of medical help and they treated both white and aboriginal patients exceeding 500 in number. Some of these dwellers at the “back of beyond” had the real pioneering spirit. They came across one family of four members, three of whom were women. For 18 years they had resided in that fastness, and had never seen train or town. Dental work was done for them, and they were amazed when it was explained that the travellers’ mission was seeking to help them. Another family they saw in the Darwin district contained two girls, and they spoke to the motorists of Sydney. One of them said: “If it is anything like Enrangulan, we shouldn’t mind the trip." Emungulan, Mr Westwood explained’ waa a settlement of » dozen houses and one smaH store!