Teacher’s Guide Tracks by Robyn Davidson **These notes may be reproduced free of charge for use and study within schools, but they may not be reproduced (either in whole or in part) and offered for commercial sale** SYNOPSIS ‘I was exactly the same person that I was when I began.’ (p 127) ‘I did not perceive at that time that I was allowing myself to get more involved with writing about the trip than the trip itself. It did not dawn on me that already I was beginning to see it as a story for other people, with a beginning and an ending.’ (p 136) Robyn Davidson set out in 1975 for Alice Springs with a dream to traverse the continent with only a few camels for company. At that stage, though, she had never even handled a camel, and so set about finding people to teach her. She also had no money to fund the trip, so had to rely on local casual work to support her training and later purchase of animals. She initially visited three cameleers in order to find a person willing to train her in camel management: an old Afghan trader named Sallay Mahomet, a tourism operator, and Kurt Posel. She began her apprenticeship with the latter who proved to be both a cruel taskmaster, and an Indian giver, and she eventually found her savior in Sallay, who offered her two months work in return for two camels for her proposed trek. But this was only the beginning of an arduous process of nearly two years tending two animals, one of which eventually had to be put down, and during which she almost gave up the challenge. Her real savior, though, arrived in the person of National Geographic photographer Rick Smolan who suggested she write to his employer for financial support. Her letter was unexpectedly successful so that she found herself with the wherewithal to embark on the journey, but also vexed by the need to submit to the prying eye of Rick’s camera for some parts of the journey, and eventually to the need to write her story, as well. In 1977, Robyn Davidson successfully travelled from Alice Springs across 2,700 kilometres (1,700 miles) of Australian deserts to the Indian Ocean with her dog and four camels. Rick Smolan documented her journey. She also became an international phenomenon as the ‘camel lady’. And the rest, as they say, was history. 1 Bloomsbury Publishing Australia www.bloomsbury.com/au Sign up for our enewsletter at www.bloomsbury.com/au/newsletter ABOUT THE AUTHOR Robyn Davidson was born on a cattle property in Queensland. She went to Sydney in the late sixties, then returned to study in Brisbane before going to Alice Springs where the events of this book began. Since then she has travelled extensively and has lived in London, New York and India. In the early 1990s she migrated with and wrote about nomads in north west India. She is now based in Melbourne, but spends several months a year in the Indian Himalayas. AUTHOR BACKGROUND Robyn Davidson was born on a cattle property in Queensland. She went to Sydney in the late sixties, then returned to study in Brisbane before going to Alice Springs where the events of this book began. Since then she has travelled extensively, has lived in London, New York and India. In the early 1990's she migrated with and wrote about nomads in north-west India. She is now based in Melbourne, but spends several months a year in the Indian Himalayas. See also Interviews: Krien, Anna ‘Robyn Davidson is a Nomad’ Conversations with Extraordinary People’ First Quarter, 2012 http://www.dumbofeather.com/conversation/robyn-davidson-is-a-nomad/ Morris, Linda ‘One hell of a life, born of claypan and coolabah Sydney Morning Herald, September 29, 2012 <http://www.smh.com.au/national/one-hell-of-a-life-born-of-claypan-and-coolabah-20120928- 26qng.html> Thompson, Peter ‘Talking Heads Interview with Robyn Davidson by Peter Thompson’ Screened ABC1 1/09/2008 <http://www.abc.net.au/tv/talkingheads/txt/s2345772.htm> Verghis, Sharyn ‘Angel and Beast’ The Australian January 12, 2013 <http://www.theaustralian.com.au/arts/review/angel-and-beast/story-fn9n8gph-1226551085370> Other: Davidson, Robyn No Fixed Address: Nomads and the Fate of the Planet. Quarterly Essay No 24, December 2006. (Black Inc.) Davidson, Robyn and Rick Smolan From Alice to Ocean: Alone Across the Outback Addison Wesley, 1993. Maloney, Shane and Chris Grosz ‘Robyn Davidson and Bruce Chatwin’ The Monthly No. 20, February, 2007 <http://www.themonthly.com.au/issue/2007/february/1290560449/shane-maloney/robyn- davidson-bruce-chatwin> ‘Robyn Davidson’ <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robyn_Davidson> 2 Bloomsbury Publishing Australia www.bloomsbury.com/au Sign up for our enewsletter at www.bloomsbury.com/au/newsletter THEMES SCIENCE Camels Discussion Point: Robyn Davidson begins her training knowing nothing about camels, but learns during her training from Kurt Posel a great deal about them: ‘I will now, once and for all, destroy some myths concerning these animals … I was hooked.’ (pp 13-4) Research the species and the qualities which make camels such excellent pack animals and why they have adapted to Australia’s climate so well. Activity: ‘When this book was written in 1980 there were ‘approximately ten thousand camels’ (p 4) roaming the outback. ‘As of 2009, the feral population numbered about one million, with a doubling time of about nine years.’ (<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australian_feral_camelNow>) See also Janeen Brian’s Hoosh! Camels in Australia (ABC Books, 2005) for more details. Read about The Australian Feral Camel Management Project (http://www.feralcamels.com.au/) which is designed to reduce these numbers. Research and discuss the growth of this feral population. Activity: Research the fascinating story of Afghan cameleers in Australia (<http://australia.gov.au/about-australia/australian-story/afghan-cameleers>) Activity: Research the trade in camel products at Camels Australia Export (<http://www.camelsaust.com.au/history.htm>) Discussion Point: Davidson is appalled by the brutal treatment of his camels by Kurt (p 25), but later she bemoans some of the treatments she sees administered such as castration without anaesthetic (p 83). Are cameleers unnecessarily cruel to their animals in your opinion? Australian Flora and Fauna Activity: The book mentions many forms of plants and animals which live in the deserts. Choose any one of them and research it further. Discussion Point: What effect has the large camel population had on the flora and fauna of this country? HISTORY Alice Springs Discussion Point: ‘It is a frontier town, characterized by an aggressive masculine ethic and severe racial tensions.’ (p 8) Research the history and cultural make-up of Alice Springs and discuss the origins of this statement. 3 Bloomsbury Publishing Australia www.bloomsbury.com/au Sign up for our enewsletter at www.bloomsbury.com/au/newsletter Discussion Point: ‘It is said that anyone who sees the Todd River flow three times falls in love with the Alice.’ (p 7) What makes the Alice so appealing to both visitors and inhabitants? Explorers in the Interior of Australia Activity: Research the history of key events in cross-country exploration in Australia. Davidson passes several landmarks which refer to this history. Activity: Research the history of any other towns she mentions on the journey. GEOGRAPHY Activity: Study the map at the front of the book and trace the journey which Davidson made through this country. BUSINESS / ECONOMICS Activity: Your students might wish to investigate the growing business of extreme travel or tourism since the time in which Davidson’s journey took place. Without sponsorship or personal wealth such a journey was then impossible. Her aim was not so much to invite danger but to experience complete freedom and to test herself in that environment. These days, people pay to be taken on such adventures to places such as the Antarctic. See for example, ‘World’s Most Extreme Adventures’ by Christine Pfeiffer February 15, 2013 <http://www.news.com.au/travel/holiday-ideas/worlds-most-extreme adventures/story-e6frfqer-1226377662951\> The ‘ultimate’ will be the tickets to the moon which are said to be planned by Sir Richard Branson. Research the business of ‘Extreme Tourism’. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Extreme_tourism> or ‘Adventure Tourism Products’ by R. Buckley http://www98.griffith.edu.au/dspace/bitstream/handle/10072/17265/47330_1.pdf? sequence=1 CIVICS AND CITIZENSHIP Australian Culture, Misogyny and Feminism Discussion Point: ‘One does not have to delve too deeply to discover why some of the world’s angriest feminists breathed crisp blue Australian air during their formative years, before packing their kangaroo-skin bags … I mean.’ (p 18) Is Australia still like this or has feminism successfully challenged stereotypical macho Australian culture? Discussion Point: Davidson traces the ‘Australian cult of misogyny’ (pp 18-9) back to convict times. Research and discuss this history further. Discussion Point: Davidson maintains that her fame grew from an out of date concept of what a woman is capable of. Her description as the ‘camel lady’ became a burden to her. 4 Bloomsbury Publishing Australia www.bloomsbury.com/au Sign up for our enewsletter at www.bloomsbury.com/au/newsletter Read about the mythologising of her role in this journey (pp 236-7). Discuss what this reveals about attitudes to women. Aboriginal People, Culture and Conditions Discussion Point: Is the description of conditions in Aboriginal camps (pp 44-8) any better today? Discussion Point: Robyn gives a brief history of the re-settlement of Aboriginal people and the growing threat of multinationals (p 118). She was not to know then that later multinationals would be required to pay for use of land under legislation introduced in the 1990s.