BISCUITS AND BEER IN THE DESER 
2003 Reader Submission
Pending Acceptance
The Canning Stock Route in northern Western Australia is a 1872 km stretch of desert which is considered to be one of the most inhospitable tracks in the world. Most people who tackle this route do so with enough water, food and fuel supplies to replenish a small army. They also allow at least one month to complete the arduous journey across this rugged, isolated tract of country. Enter Kim Hardt, 36, a German tourist whose demise in the desert would have ensured that the Germans retained a gene pool of men who are respected for their organisational skills.
Mr. Hardt decided that he could traverse the Canning Stock Route in four days. Ignoring signs at the start of the route which indicated that he should inform someone about his plans, this intrepid adventurer proceeded in his hired four wheel drive. After becoming bogged in a salt lake, he endured blistering temperatures of 50 degrees Celsius for three days. When finally airlifted by helicopter, having been found by sheer good fortune (for Mr. Hardt, not the reputation of the Germans), he only had one litre of water and one packet of biscuits but ten litres of beer. The seventy remaining litres of fuel would have ensured, had he not become bogged, that he would have reached the middle of the desert before being unable to go any further. Further evidence of Mr. Hardt's contribution to the recessive gene pool, is the fact that he actually drank water from the salt lake in an attempt to avoid dehydration.
In a television interview, Mr. Hardt admitted that he had been very foolish, but stated that in Germany, he could ring an auto club and they would arrive within thirty minutes. Mr. Hardt returned to Germany almost immediately after his ordeal, leaving the car hire company to ponder the dilemma of how they would retrieve the vehicle.
Submitted on 10/30/2002
Submitted by:
Elza James
Reference:
http://heraldsun.news.com.au/c
Copyright © 2002 DarwinAwards.com
|
