Robert Anthony Beer (8 March 1942 – 3 July 2021) was an Australian adventurer who was the first person to run across the

Simpson Desert The Simpson Desert is a large area of dry, red sandy plain and dunes in the Northern Territory, South Australia and Queensland in central Australia. It is the fourth-largest Deserts of Australia, Australian desert, with an area of . The Wangka ...

, Australia. Bob_Beer

Background

Beer was born in Walcha, New South Wales and grew up on a rural property, near Ingleba, New South Wales. Beer attended school in Ingleba, Walcha and

Armidale Armidale is a city in the Northern Tablelands, New South Wales, Australia. Armidale had a population of 23,967 as of the 2021 census. Estimated resident population, 30 June 2018. It is the administrative centre for the Northern Tablelands reg ...

. Following school, Beer was a tent fighter in Selby Moore's Boxing Tent and was known as 'The Beast'. Beer lived in New Zealand for some time and worked as a professional deer shooter. During this time Beer summited Mt Cook via the Grand Traverse. Beer also worked in Australia as a deckhand, rigger, scaffolder and various roles in construction.

The Simpson Desert run and other adventures

In 1977, Beer cycled across Australia from

Perth Perth () is the list of Australian capital cities, capital city of Western Australia. It is the list of cities in Australia by population, fourth-most-populous city in Australia, with a population of over 2.3 million within Greater Perth . The ...

, Western Australia to

Port Macquarie Port Macquarie, sometimes shortened to Port Mac and commonly locally nicknamed Port, is a coastal city on the Mid North Coast of New South Wales, Australia, north of Sydney, and south of Brisbane, on the Tasman Sea coast at the mouth of the ...

, New South Wales in 36 days. Beer was not assisted by a backup crew. In 1978, Beer walked across Australia from

Port Augusta Port Augusta (''Goordnada'' in the revived indigenous Barngarla language) is a coastal city in South Australia about by road from the state capital, Adelaide. Most of the city is on the eastern shores of Spencer Gulf, immediately south of the ...

, South Australia to Karumba, Queensland in 52 days. Beer was not assisted by a backup crew. In 1980, Beer became the first person to run across the

, Australia. Beer ran 420 km across the desert in 6.5 days, starting at Alka Seltzer Bore, South Australia and finishing at

Birdsville Birdsville is a rural town and locality in the Shire of Diamantina, Queensland, Australia. The locality is on the Queensland border with both the Northern Territory and South Australia. The town is situated north of the South Australian bord ...

, Queensland. Beer was assisted by a backup crew which included adventurers, Hans Tholstrup and Neville Kennard. The trip was sponsored by Australian entrepreneur, Dick Smith. A documentary was made about this trip called "The Runner". In 1996/1997, Beer kayaked solo across Australia from Port Alma, Queensland to

Murray Mouth Murray Mouth is the point at which the River Murray meets the Southern Ocean. The Murray Mouth's location is changeable. Historical records show that the channel out to sea moves along the sand dunes over time. At times of greater river flow ...

, South Australia. Beer paddled up the Fitzroy River and then towed his Kayak on a trolley behind a bicycle over the Great Dividing Range to

Goondiwindi Goondiwindi () is a rural town and Suburbs and localities (Australia), locality in the Goondiwindi Region, Queensland, Australia. It is on the border of Queensland and New South Wales. In the , the locality of Goondiwindi had a population of 6, ...

, Queensland. Beer then kayaked from

to the

. Beer travelled a total of 4,562 km in 146 days. Beer managed to complete the trip despite contracting Ross River fever. Beer wrote a book about this trip titled "The inland sea man: across Australia by kayak". In 1999, Beer cycled around Australia in a figure of eight, travelling a total of 18,350 km to raise money for the

Garvan Institute of Medical Research The Garvan Institute of Medical Research is an Australian biomedical research institute located in , Sydney, New South Wales. Founded in 1963 by the Sisters of Charity as a research department of St Vincent's Hospital, it is now one of Austral ...

. Beer was not assisted by a backup crew.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Beer, Bob 1942 births 2021 deaths 20th-century Australian people 21st-century Australian people People from New South Wales