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Writer's pictureSamantha Elley
Sep 32 min read

He ran the 700km postal trip in a fortnight

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander readers are advised this story contains the name and image of a person who has died.


Mailman Jimmy, or Koolbiri, was a man dedicated to his job. During the 1870s, Mailman Jimmy would deliver the mail between Eucla, in Western Australia and Fowlers Bay, in South Australia, a distance of 371km. The amazing aspect to this story is he did it on foot, with no shoes.

Mailman Jimmy or Koobiri, was a dedicated mailman. Courtesy Spirit Walker Facebook page.


And while the Eyre Highway now covers that stretch of road, there was no such thing back in Jimmy's day.


Jimmy didn't just walk, he ran the 700km return journey managing it within the fortnight, only to do it all over again. It was said he could do the journey in faster time than a man on horseback.


It was a mystery to many how Jimmy carried food and water on the trip, but it was suggested he hunted for what he needed. It was believed, due to his superior knowledge of bushcraft and where the waterholes were along the way, he didn't need to carry much.


As one journalist of the day wrote, in tribute to Jimmy's life:


"I can imagine those tough bare feet padding across the scorching sands in summer, through prickly tussock patches as if they never existed and over rough limestone."


When the Eucla telegraph was opened, there was no need for Jimmy to run the mail anymore. By 1898, there was so much business going through the Eucla telegraph station that large new offices and quarters were built for the men working there.


Where Jimmy covered a distance of 700km within a fortnight, the replacement station had 11 operators and 1 linesman on the South Australia side, with as many on the Western Australia side, to maintain communications.


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