Emma and James are those young people who help you believe good people exist in the world.  We meet them at a roadside rest area where we stop to stretch and change drivers, which we do every 100 or so kms.  Two people are sitting in the grass eating a snack. There are what look like bike trailers on the dirt in front of them.  When I go over to chat, I see the trailers are heavily laden carts, with two wheels and a handle.  

Emma and James are walking across Australia. You read that correctly. James started his trek pre Covid lockdowns and then couldn’t get into WA with border closures. With Covid dictating his passage, he suspended travel in Alice Springs.  

Now he and Emma are finishing the trip.  They have just come off 700 odd kms of the Tanami Road which runs from Alice Springs to the Great North Highway just south of Halls Creek.  Now, understand the Tanami Road is a sandy, rocky, rough 4WD road, not smooth bitumen, and they are pushing these carts.  I try one out for a few metres and yes, they are well balanced, but I can not imagine a full day pushing this in front of me.  With heat, flies, dirt, boredom and pain for company, then no hope of a hot shower at the end of the day.  Emma tells me they average 43 kms a day.

Why? You have to ask.  Why? They are raising money for Purple House, a charity that provides medical care for the remote indigenous communities they pass through on their journey. There’s a gofundme page and you can read more there. 

We offer water, food, a toilet, but they cheerfully decline. They are totally self sufficient. They are amazing.