Extreme Journey - (Suitable for Grade 10 and Grade 11)

Author: (Australia) Davidson, (USA) Bloom, (New Zealand) James / Country: Mainland China
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-06-01
Features: One morning at 5 a.m. 18 months ago, Robin Davidson came to Alice Springs with only six dollars in her pocket. She and Tige took an 800-kilometer train from Adelaide, a city on the southern coast of Australia, to get here. Robin wanted to travel from Alice Springs to the west coast with camels, walking across the desert in the middle of Australia. She hoped to find some wild camels in Alice Springs and then train them to carry supplies during the long journey. While eating breakfast at a cheap diner, the waitress said, "You must be crazy!" Robin thought, perhaps the woman was right. Thinking back to her home in Adelaide, sitting in the garden reading books about camels, how different the scene was from now! Now she found herself in this hot, dusty, and humble town, with neither friends nor money, only the fervent idea of walking across the desert. After spending two days on the train, she felt lonely and exhausted. "Do you know where I can find a cheap bed for the night?" she asked the waitress. The waitress replied, "Try your luck at the campground three miles outside town." It took a long time to cross the town. Robin looked around at the place where she would stay for several months. Approximately 14,000 people lived in Alice Springs, including 1,000 indigenous residents. Most of the white people were government employees, owners of large sheep stations, and freight drivers. Some worked in small tourism service agencies. The town had three bars, several hotels, and a couple of shabby restaurants. Robin felt that although Alice Springs had a lovely name, it was actually quite unlovable. That night, Robin slept very well and felt a bit better when she woke up. Now she needed to find a job. Camels were expensive, and she had no money. Her plan was to go to the bar to find a job. "You can start working in two days," the owner of the bar said. "You can sleep in the back room, and your meals are included." That was fantastic. She would have two days to learn about the camel trade in the town. In the 1850s, camels were first introduced to Australia from India and Afghanistan. They were used to transport supplies during the construction of railways. Now, Australia has about 10,000 wild camels. Robin only needed a few. Soon she found out that there were three camel farms near Alice Springs. The next day, she set off on her journey to find camels. "What do you know about camels?" the owner of one camel farm asked. P5-7