Other drivers lived on a diet of black coffee and cartons of Marl­boro, while Phil ate five dollars of fruit and drank a bottle of ginseng at every stop. It is worth noting that Phil was amongst the fittest and most alert drivers at the end of the trek.

He commented on the general lack of press coverage in considera­tion of the overwhelming interest and support of the people all around Australia. He was amazed at the amount of fruit that would be returned to him after he’d pushed $5.00 into the hands of some bush store keeper and he couldn’t get over the support of people who sat out on their ver­andahs in the middle of the Nullabor at three o’clock in the morning to watch cars whip by in a cloud of dust.