Tracks

Alice Springs, last stop.

'Dear Sir, I am planning to walk across the Australian desert,

from Alice Springs to the Indian Ocean... a distance of 2,000 miles.'

'The trip will take six-to-seven months.'

Dickheads.

'I arrived in Alice Springs over a year ago.

There are herds of feral camels roaming freely throughout Central Australia

and my idea was to capture a few and train them to carry my gear.'

Diggity, stay.

'The trip wasn't conceived as an adventure,

in the sense of something to be proved or conquered.

And when people ask me why I'm doing it, my usual answer is "why not?".'

I was wondering if you had any work.

- What kind of work? - Behind the bar, anything.

Ask the missus. She's out the back.

Got a place to stay?

I was planning on camping somewhere.

Got a tent?

No.

One meal per shift is provided,

rent's deducted from first week's pay, the loo's down the hall.

Great. Thanks.

I have a dog.

'I'd always been drawn to the purity of the desert,

its hot wind and wide, open spaces.'

Alone?

Yeah, well, I'll need to train some camels to carry my gear

and... then there's Diggity, of course.

You go right ahead, love. Go right ahead.

'But mainly I was bored of life in the city,

with its repetitions,

my half-finished, half-hearted attempts at jobs

and various studies.'

'And I was sick of carrying around

the self-indulgent negativity that was so much the malaise

of my generation, my sex and my class.'

Come on!

'The decision to act was in itself

the beginning of the journey.

I believe when you've been stuck too long in one spot,

it's best to throw a grenade

where you're standing, and jump...

and pray.'

Hey. We are closed today.

Your plan is ridiculous.

My father crossed the Kalahari in 1935...

that wasn't so ridiculous.

Nothing's in the blood.

I'm a hard worker.

You can work for me for eight months... for free.

I'll show you how to train them.

After that, I give you... two wild camels.

And that will be that.

So... do we sign a contract?

I'm good to my word.

You can stay here.

I'll clean out one of the sheds.

That's OK, I'll find my own place. Thanks.

Misch-Misch, Khartoum, Ali, Fahani and Aba.

And these are my new wild bulls... Dookie and Bub.

What's wrong with him?

Nothing's wrong with him. He's in rut. He's a bull.

Those other males are bullocks.

These are still bulls.

Die haben eier.

In rut season, they become extremely aggressive.

Very dangerous.

He doesn't look very dangerous.

He's young. He will learn.

Hey, Dookie.

Hey, Dookie. Hello.

Hey.

Come on.

So you want to play with the camels?

Always watch the animal.

Watch how he thinks.

Let him know who's boss.

Come on. Try it again.

Careful.

Hurry up. We open soon.

Are you finished?

Yep.

What's that?

Sorry.

Take off those shoes. You must toughen the feet.

There are two species of camel.

Neither is native to Australia.

Some of the first camels brought into the country

were for the Burke and Wills expedition in 1860...

Louder. More effort!

Today there are over 50,000 feral camels across Australia.

Hey! Goldie!

Here, Goldie! Come on.

Hold it.

Wait.

'If my trip was inspired by anyone, it would be my father.

He trekked across East Africa in his youth

and was happiest on his own out in the bush.'

'When I was young, he showed me a tree on our property

marked with the letter L by the explorer Ludwig Leichhardt.

In 1848, he attempted to cross Australia to the ocean

with 7 horses and 20 mules.

He disappeared and was never found.

I remember imagining Ludwig alone in the desert

with the animals,

and it sounded like a dream.'

Yeah?

Can we talk about my trip? My camels?

Your camels?

Yeah, our deal.

I've tried to talk to you about it already... twice.

I need you to get up early tomorrow.

I want the camels in by five.

I've been here for over eight months now,

I don't have to do shit for you.

You're fired.

I'm going to talk to Gladdy about it.

Gladdy's gone! And I want you gone, too.

I want all bitches gone from my sight.

'The early settlers needed beasts of burden

better suited to the harsh climate of the outback,

so they imported camels.

When trains and cars came along

and there was no longer any use for them,

the camels were set free.

But instead of perishing, they flourished.

Now Australia has the largest feral camel population

in the world.

I just needed three of them.'

Hey. What do you think, Dig?

Home sweet home, eh?

You must be mad, girly. You know that's about 2,000 miles?

Six months of hard walking.

It gets tougher if you get an injury.

No it's easy enough to get lost, run out of water, food...

You don't have to be unlucky to die out there.

I just want to be by myself.

Oi, oi, oi, oi, oi!

Well, we don't train these camels for kiddie rides. Hm?

We catch 'em, we sell 'em.

So, will you help me out?

I can teach you how to break one.

The rest of it you do in your own time.

You'll hire me?

Anyone who can put up with Kurt Posel for eight months

deserves a chance.

Come back tomorrow. See how you go.

'I went to work for a camel wrangler named Sallay Mahomet.

He came from a long line of Afghan cameleers.'

Righto! Arms up, you've gotta look tall.

Stand tall, arms up.

'He offered me one wild camel for a month's work at half pay.'

Robyn, shut the gate.

You'll have to break her.

Thanks.

You've earned it.

You're an odd girl, Robyn Davidson.

Rob?

We know you're here!

You can run but you can't hide!

What are you doing here?

How did you find me?

Well, I asked around.

I guess there's not too many camel ladies in this town.

Mm. I hate that. It makes me sound like a crazy woman.

Hey, come on.

- Hi. - How ya going, Robbie?

This is Peter, Bernard, Annie and Annie's mate Rick.

He's out from the States.

I love your place. I didn't realise how big camels are.

It's like a cow and a giraffe mixture...

They're beautiful.

Going to invite us in?

Yep, come in.

That's what I have, that's what I don't have.

Plus I need two more camels.

Mostly I just need money.

Money, money, money.

The eternal, uh... the eternal explorer's dilemma.

Hm.

Well, why don't you just shorten the trip?

To the Rock and back?

I mean, Toly and I will come with you. We can chip in.

- Yeah. Why not? - Mm...

Have you looked into sponsorship? Like a magazine?

- Rick knows lots of editors. - Yeah, I know lots of editors.

I could put in a good word for you.

I think they'd think it was fas... I think it's fascinating.

So I know they would.

Oh, it's OK. I'll do it myself.

Do you know what's going on politically?

It's about acting on what judgements you make...

It's about making a critique...

Hey, Zelly. Hey, girl.

Hey.

Kangaroo!

Hey, do you mind?

Sorry, bad habit.

Oh, I, uh... I made you this.

You're a darling. Thank you.