The History:

Gold fever was big in Australia in the late 1800's and this interest continued even after the turn of the century and the gradual decline of the alluvial gold fields. There are some great stories and one of these is the basis of our expedition.

Harold Lasseter, born in 1880 and sometimes known as 'Possum', claimed in 1929 to have discovered a rich "reef of gold" in the region centering on the Petermann or Macdonnell Ranges on the border between Western and Central Australia. He claimed to have found this gold on a solo journey 18 years earlier when he was prospecting for rubies West of Alice Springs and he was obsessed with finding it again, raising money to finance an expedition.

He collected a bag of specimen gold and while trying to return to civilization became hopelessly lost. He was found by an Afghan camel driver, half starved, raving through thirst and delirious. He could not recall the location but remembered some specific landmarks.

With great expectations, his expedition set off from Sydney into the desert on 21 July 1930. Consisting of two trucks and an aircraft that could provide a wider view of the vast territory, the intention was for the entire party, including the pilot, to travel together to reach a suitable area where a landing strip would be constructed.

The pilot would then return to Alice Springs, collect the aircraft and fly to this location. After 9 days of relative easy going, they reached Taylor's Creek, some 240 miles west of Alice Springs.

Taylor's Creek proved suitable for their purposes, and asimple air strip was constructed. The pilot used the smaller truck to return to Alice Springs with another person who was to replenish the expedition's stores and drive back. The pilot flew back to Taylor's Creek, but the truck had difficulties. These difficulties were to continue...

The expedition was also plagued by lack of food and water, a variety of mechanical problems, a lack of direction and treacherous weather and environmental conditions. As the journey wore on, dissention broke out among those party members who lacked confidence in Lasseter's discovery. Disaster struck when Errol Coote, the expedition's pilot, crashed his plane near Ayers Rock.

The end result was that Lasseter eventually chose to go it alone with a few supplies and two camels. Lasseter ended up stranded and alone hundreds of kilometers from Alice Springs when the camels ran off. A group of Aboriginal people allowed him to join them, but he was sick and could not keep up as they moved about. He was not seen alive again.

Rescuers found his body in 1931 and buried it near Alice Springs, where a memorial still exists. But his diary claimed that he had rediscovered his lost reef and pegged his claim and his dreams of riches.

The Exercise:

Teams of four will manage their resources and journey to the Reef, where they will gather the Gold. Teams will have to choose between a number of limited alternatives and use the knowledge they have and the information they gather to find their way to the reef and return with as much gold as they can carry.

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