Red Dust Tapes
OVER 55 YEARS AGO multi-award-winning journalist John Francis interviewed ageing Australian Outback characters, before their voices were lost in the red dust.
THIS IS UNIQUE Aussie history.
NEARLY ALL lived largely solitary lives, in the harsh and lonely inland, on the edge of deserts, in a world of searing droughts, and occasional fierce floods.
THEY WERE prospectors, sheep and cattle men, boundary riders, drovers, railway workers, truck drivers, Aboriginal groups, and isolated but hardy women.
AUSTRALIA'S AVIATION HISTORY also started in the red dust. You'll hear interviews with some of Australia's most famous pioneer airmen (many of whom started flying in the First World War), who used aircraft to make the Outback a little less lonely.
JOHN ALSO interviews the descendants of other unique characters, reads fascinating tales from Australia's Outback past, and spins tales of his own red dust adventures.
WEBSITE: www.reddusttapes.au
Red Dust Tapes
Latest Episodes
Learning to love the nauseating smell of castor oil, when you’re in a leather helmet and goggles, and bouncing about in an open cockpit
Greetings, Red Dusters. This is the 13th episode of Season Two, so I’m taking a break. But fear not, I have a dilly-bag full of tasty tales that I’ll be working up for Season Three.Now … I have a fascinating episode for you. I’ve mention...
Chuff-chuff-chuffing through the bush
Red Dust Tapes rocks and rattles back into the early days of Australian rail.You’ll hear:A 1914 account of the flies, the dust and the mind-numbing isolation, by a man who was right there with pick and shovel for the building of t...
Slow Slogging Over The Horizon And Beyond: Early Australian Transport
I’ll never forget roll-yer-own, coughing, cursing, tell it as it was, Nicholas Tallack. He was a bushman of wide experience, and with a swag of stories for every one of them.Nick Tallack was my favourite yarn spinner, and in this episode...
Our Andy's Gone With Cattle: The story of the Drovers
Hop on your horse, let's go. And be warned: your bottom will be rubbed raw after just one a day in the saddle. And you could be heaving and swaying up there for several months.I have some fascinating people to introduce you to. Like the ...