Monday Matters - 'Whispering Wire'
Author, Rosamund Burton, in her book, 'Whispering Wire' looks at how the 3200-kilometre-long Overland Telegraph Line from Adelaide to Darwin, with its Morse code messages, heralded the dawn of instant global communication for Australia. Completed over 150 years ago in 1872, the line transformed Adelaide into Australia’s communication hub, and connected the continent with the rest of the world. Rosamund traced the path of this largely forgotten strand of wire through the country’s vast desert interior to the flood-prone Top End.
Rosamund and her friend cycled the first 800 km from Adelaide to Farina, then she continued in a 4WD along remote dirt tracks searching for derelict telegraph repeater stations to Alice Springs and eventually by campervan to Darwin. She moves across the continent, sharing its sometimes brutal history and listening to those who live in this harsh but beautiful country.
Rosamund Burton was born in Ireland and grew up in England before returning to Ireland. Her first book, 'Castles, Follies and Four-Leaf Clovers', follows the ancient Irish pilgrim route, St Declan’s Way. She moved to Australia in the mid-1990s fascinated by her mother’s stories of growing up here. She is currently writing her third book about walking from Florence to Assisi and onto Rome following the Way of St Francis.
Free event, bookings essential.
Rosamund and her friend cycled the first 800 km from Adelaide to Farina, then she continued in a 4WD along remote dirt tracks searching for derelict telegraph repeater stations to Alice Springs and eventually by campervan to Darwin. She moves across the continent, sharing its sometimes brutal history and listening to those who live in this harsh but beautiful country.
Rosamund Burton was born in Ireland and grew up in England before returning to Ireland. Her first book, 'Castles, Follies and Four-Leaf Clovers', follows the ancient Irish pilgrim route, St Declan’s Way. She moved to Australia in the mid-1990s fascinated by her mother’s stories of growing up here. She is currently writing her third book about walking from Florence to Assisi and onto Rome following the Way of St Francis.
Free event, bookings essential.
Monday 13 April 2026 10:30 AM - 11:30 AM (UTC+11)
Location
Barry O'Keefe Library (Mosman)
Library Walk, 605 Military Road, Mosman NSW 2088
Contact Details
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Monday Matters - 'Whispering Wire'
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