She spends time with the animals and in nature and this is a source of connection that keeps her motivated, although at this stage she sees her trip as a ‘burning ember at the end of a long tunnel’. Perhaps influenced by Kurt’s wife who is a kindred spirit to Davidson, rejecting much of the local opinions regarding Indigenous locals, Davidson agrees to live and begin her training there.ĭavidson soon learns about camels and sees them as affectionate and intelligent. Although warned that he may be unstable, Davidson agrees to apprentice with him for some time in return for his help in preparing her for her trip and giving her a camel. This leaves the third, an Austrian named Kurt. The second does not exhibit the skills Davidson is looking for in a mentor. The first is an experienced gentleman, Sallay Mahomet, who appears to be an expert camel handler but who is not interested in taking on the inexperienced dreamer. She manages to secure employment at the local hotel, which proves to be a setting for the ‘Australian misogynistic cult’ that Davidson encounters.Ī transitory search ensues wherein Davidson successively seeks out the three camel handlers in town. Non-Indigenous locals are for the most part portrayed as racist and inform Davidson that the ‘blacks’ are lazy and dangerous. Her descriptions of Alice Springs are unflattering and she highlights the ‘ugly architecture’ along with the ugly attitudes of the people she meets.

She endeavours to catch and train wild camels and then journey with them from Alice Springs to the west coast of Australia.

Davidson has arrived after a long trip, and a brief encounter with one of the many misogynistic men she will encounter, with only a few dollars, inappropriate clothes and a plan. A train pulls into Alice Springs and we meet the narrator of the memoir, Robyn Davidson.

Dupe away abandoned tracks