Somersaults in the Sand

Rollicking outback adventures and offroad battles with harsh terrain are usually remembered by stockmen and drovers. But here’s the story of people who went deep into the remotest parts of Australia, year after year, without any livestock at all. Geologists, cartographers, and field workers reached places only known to Aborigines, to put details on our maps for the first time.

Alistair Stewart was one of these modern explorers, who vividly recalls months living in a swag—meeting wildl…