The inspiration for this work came from a road trip I had to undertake for a wedding in Middlemount in April [I am also a Marriage Celebrant]. Middlemount is a 300km drive west from Mackay.

On my drive from Mackay to Middlemount on the Peak Downs Highway I noticed many road markers indicating accident sites. I decided on the return journey home to count them. I counted 45 accident site markers in a space of only 60kms. The thought stuck me that I had just been part of a new threshold in life with the wedding and now I was viewing another threshold – that of death.

Locals call the Peak Downs Highway – the death highway. This highway travels between Mackay on the coast and the mining regions inland. Many fathers, sons, husbands and friends have lost their lives on that stretch of highway.

The works A Nebo Journey and Nebo Range were produced in reaction to the carnage on the highways around the Mackay area affecting the mining towns and the men who work there.