Description
At just sixteen years old, Gordon Wooton joined the Engineering & Water Supply Department’s road gang in Burra, South Australia. It was 1958 — the year the State Premier promised Delhi Santos that if they searched for oil and gas in South Australia, roads would be built to reach the remote Cooper Basin.
What followed was an extraordinary chapter in Australia’s outback history. Gordon and the Burra Gang were tasked with carving a route up the Strzelecki Track to Innamincka and across the vast, unforgiving expanse of the Cooper Basin. From Blanchwater to Mount Hopeless, through the Cobler Sand Hills and along the Strzelecki Creek, they built the roads that would open the desert to exploration and industry.
Working under blistering heat, enduring sandstorms, isolation, and hard living, these men forged a unique camaraderie and an enduring legacy. Outback Road Builders is Gordon’s firsthand account of those years—an inspiring story of grit, teamwork, and the pioneering spirit that shaped the Australian outback.
Featuring rare photographs from the time, this book captures the harsh beauty, the challenges, and the triumphs of building roads to the oil fields in the heart of nowhere.
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