For Emma, walking 1700kms is as simple as walking from A to B

While most of us might aspire to complete our daily 10,000 steps, Queensland Ambulance Service's Sunshine Coast Paramedic, Emma Williams walked 1,700kms from Alice Springs to Broome with her partner in just 39 days, raising more than $2,500 as part of their Footsteps for Good trek.

A Kawana Station ACPII, Emma is a Wakka Wakka woman (Gayndah and Eidsvold area), a QAS Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Leadership Committee Member and an Indigenous Liaison Officer.

Emma said she decided to embark on this journey to support her partner James McAlloon, whose original plans in 2020 to walk from coast to coast across Australia were thwarted at the halfway mark by the continuing COVID-19 Western Australia border closures.

“James works in travel and his 2020 walk raised $30,000 for those in the South American travel industry who had lost work due to the pandemic and were plunged into poverty,” Emma said.

This year, James and Emma set off on the second part of the trek from Alice Springs on a new path to Broome, bush camping on their way north to the Indian Ocean – still matching the distance James had originally planned to walk.

“This time, as part of our walk ‘Footsteps for Good’, we raised funds and awareness for Purple House, an Indigenous-owned and run Alice Springs-based health service which has 18 remote clinics through the Northern Territory including a mobile dialysis unit, called the Purple Truck,” Emma said.

“We chose Purple House as its focus is on getting patients back home so families and culture can remain strong, and it contributed directly to the communities we travelled through.”

Emma and James had previously taken on longer walk challenges, but this was Emma’s first significant trek.

“About 18 months ago, we walked unsupported, 230km over four days (with about 6000m of elevation) from Merimbula to the summit of Mt Kosciusko – one of the Sea to Summits on the seven continents,” Emma said.

“For the Alice to Broome trip we trained for about two months, just walking, which seemed really tedious as I prefer to run, swim and cycle – I had to shift my mindset and get used to walking up to 30kms a day and be able to back it up the next day which thankfully, shift work allowed for.”

The couple’s route followed the 1000km iconic red road of the Tanami Track, which included 700kms of dirt, sand and gravel road running through the Tanami Desert between Alice Sprints and Halls Creek.

“It’s a well-known track but it’s difficult logistically because of how remote it is, so we had to be very focused on our food and water consumption and where we could restock,” Emma said.

“At one stage we had 550 kilometres between points to restock our food and water supplies.

“While there was no phone service, we did have a satellite phone and two emergency position indicating radio beacons (EPIRB), just in case.”

Emma said there were only a few hairy moments during their trek – one at around 500kms between resupply points when they were low on food despite some rationing and became a little calorie depleted by the time they got to their next shop.

“We bought Nutella and peanut butter and calorie overloaded when we were able to stock up,” she said, “Although I haven’t eaten it since!”

The couple’s logistics were made somewhat easier thanks to their “engineering genius” flatmate who built them special trolleys for their luggage, equipment, and supplies.

“James knew what we needed and had learned from the negatives in the first half of his challenge,” Emma said.

“The trolleys had to be sturdy enough to carry up to 60 litres water and needed 26-inch mountain bike wheels, as they’re easy to fix in the middle of nowhere.

“We started with a trolley prototype and made modifications over the training period.

“Their total weight empty was 26kg, so we were able to take 40-60 litres each of water, 5-7kg of clothes, swags (about 10kgs) and about 15-20kg each of food (reducing daily).

“When fully loaded, they weighed around 100kg.”

Because of the trolleys’ weight, Emma said it was easier to push rather than pull them on the dirt roads.

“Pushing the trolleys through the sand was difficult because they were big and heavy, but if you got the right roll, you could go through the corrugations.

“The rocky surface was more difficult, as you could never get an even roll,” she said.

The couple was wary of the traffic as the road trains were huge and travelled at faster speeds.

“On the Tanami the traffic was okay –you had plenty of notice as you could see the dust kicked up by the road trains for kilometres.

“The road train drivers were great and if they could, they’d drive right over on the side of the road to factor in their dust trail, so we weren’t covered with it.

“We never felt threatened by anyone, and everyone was so friendly it was incredible.

“On the Tanami track, everyone was curious and engaging, but as soon as we got out on the bitumen of the Great Northern Highway, compared with the trucks, the motorists weren’t quite so considerate, and we had a couple of close calls from caravaners’ side mirrors.”

Emma said wildlife wasn’t a concern because of the desert ecology and there just weren’t a lot of animals around.

“There were occasional dingos, but they didn’t give us any trouble,” she said.

“We camped one night in a field of cows who were a bit curious, and James didn’t see a couple of the big tiger snakes we walked past – but all in all, we felt safe.”

One thing which didn’t cease to amaze Emma was the landscape.

“It was so refreshing to be disconnected from technology and to reconnect yourself with just being on country, in the middle of nowhere and enjoying that experience for what it was,” Emma said.

“The stars were spectacular, the magical sunrises and sunsets, and the sheer number of different colours – they were absolutely breathtaking.

“In the city we don’t take the time to stop and look at them and often, we’re in such built-up areas, we don’t have the real darkness, the space or time to stop and look around.

“Being out there, getting up at dawn and finishing at dusk it was all out on show and the skies were so clear and the stars were so bright.”

And how did the couple’s relationship survive the trek?

“No one got buried in the desert!” Emma laughed.

“There were always going to be difficult periods because it was physically and mentally challenging.

“But we worked as a team, so when one of us was down, the other picked us up.

“We never argued… but we had days when one of us wouldn’t want to walk as far, or was a bit cranky.

“We knew we could always walk a little apart – there was certainly plenty of space out there and we would always sort it out over dinner that night.”

Emma said they certainly got excited, and their spirits lifted when they finished the dirt section just south of Halls Creek – seeing the bitumen and knowing they only had 700kms to go to Broome.

“Once on the sealed road our legs were fine, but the trolleys got a lot more punctures,” she said.

“We went through three inner tubes each and needed an emergency dash to a shop at the end to get more!

“Walking along sealed roads meant we were able to punch out 45-50km days (instead of 35-40) which got us to Broome ahead of time.

“One day we chose to walk 57kms just to get to a free campsite which had tables and chairs – a bit of luxury compared with our fold out camp stools – so we worked hard to get there.”

Emma said the pair was extremely grateful to have finished their walk in one piece and uninjured.

“We finished five days ahead of schedule and were therefore able to explore and enjoy the beautiful Yawuru Country,” she said.

“A huge highlight on our arrival was receiving a Welcome to Country and smoking ceremony from Local Elder Aunty Pat Torres – it was lovely after travelling so far to know we were welcome to explore her beautiful Country.”

Emma said she and James were thrilled to be able to contribute to the great service Purple House provides and hoped to raise more funds for this important cause.

If anyone would like to contribute, click here

As for their future plans… it’s clear Emma and James won’t be storing their swags for long.

“James is already planning his Sea2Summit Antarctica which will be a world first in November 2023,” Emma said.

“For me, I am considering cycling from Alice Springs to the Sunshine Coast so I can also complete an unsupported transAustralian crossing….watch this space!”