The first person to drive right around Australia achieved this great feat without realising they would be first!
The speaker up the front of the tent raised a challenge to the audience after finishing his presentation. Who would be willing to travel to the isolated regions of northwest Australia to share the gospel? With anticipation in the air, one young man called out from the crowd, “I’ll go!”
Nevill Westwood had always had an adventurous spirit, right from his childhood growing up in Lancefield, Western Australia. At the age of 18, he attended a Bible Prophesy Seminar and was baptised shortly afterwards, enrolling as a student at the Darling Range Bible School.
It was at a 1924 Bible camp that Westwood accepted the challenge to travel through the northwest of Western Australia as a literature evangelist. Packing everything into a small bundle, Westwood set off on his first journey to the northwest of Western Australia on his bicycle! In the space of six weeks, he travelled more than 1600 kilometres, selling literature from town to town.
After returning, Westwood realised he needed a new mode of transport to reach more people. After picking out an AJS motorcycle, Westwood was ready for his second journey! This time, he travelled 1000 kilometres from Perth to Carnarvon and back. In all, he managed to get orders for £500 worth of books . . . and all this in a full suit and tie with patent leather shoes!
During his travels, Westwood realised just how big Australia was, and how much of his home country did not have access to or awareness of the wonderful information that had changed his life. Upon his return to Perth, Westwood was determined. For his next trip, he would travel right around all of Australia!
Westwood purchased a 1923 Citroën 5CV, a car with good clearance—which would be needed for the rough Australian roads! Because of its small size, Westwood dubbed his new acquisition “Bubsie”. This car had no windows to protect from the rain, no air-conditioning to warm or cool and only a canvas hood.
Fellow student Greg Davies joined Westwood, and the two of them set off on August 4, 1925, with only the bare necessities and plans to rely on hospitality for their meals. Excited and confident as they were for doing God’s work, their journey was not without difficulties! They traversed across heavy sands, dealing with flat tyres, petrol shortages and brackish water. Yet they were never without faith, and as Westwood himself accounted, “I knelt down and asked God to bless us in our trip through and our work in the Northern Territory, as we were the first Seventh-day Adventists to set foot [here]” (Australasian Record, December 14, 1925).
The two friends found help along the way from kind strangers—Indigenous people as well as those living on the vast outback stations—and continued on despite their challenges, selling £346 worth of literature and giving away many books to “drovers, travellers and carriers who did not have ready cash on hand” (Record, December 14, 1925). On this third journey, Westwood covered 17,200 kilometres in 148 days, sharing the beautiful message of Jesus everywhere he went.
This year (2025) marks the 100-year anniversary of Nevill Westwood and Greg Davies’ journey around Australia. To commemorate this occasion, The Incredible Journey is retracing the steps of Nevill Westwood on his missionary trip around Australia in a similar 1923 Citroën 5CV, beginning on February 19. In line with Westwood’s own vision, The Incredible Journey will visit major cities and towns along these routes, sharing the gospel as they go!
Information for this story has come from two main sources, outbacktravelaustralia.com.au/destinations-bush-yarns-poetry/the-first-around-australia-drive/ and rightaroundaustralia.tij.tv/.
