Tracks

Chapter 1

A train pulls into Alice Springs and we meet the narrator of the memoir, Robyn Davidson. 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. She endeavours to catch and train wild camels and then journey with them from Alice Springs to the west coast of Australia.

Her descriptions of Alice Springs are unflattering and she highlights the ‘ugly architecture’ along with the ugly attitudes of the people she meets. Non-Indigenous locals are for the most part portrayed as racist and inform Davidson that the ‘blacks’ are lazy and dangerous. She manages to secure employment at the local hotel, which proves to be a setting for the ‘Australian misogynistic cult’ that Davidson encounters.

A transitory search ensues wherein Davidson successively seeks out the three camel handlers in town. 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. The second does not exhibit the skills Davidson is looking for in a mentor. This leaves the third, an Austrian named Kurt. 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. 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.

Davidson soon learns about camels and sees them as affectionate and intelligent. 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’. Contrasting her joy with the animals, Kurt has become aggressive and domineering with her. Davidson struggles with the courage to stand up to him but eventually chooses self-worth over subjugation. She defeats what she calls her ‘yellow streak’ of cowardice and moves back to the pub. This is congruent with Davidson’s desire to do things her way, hoping to achieve her goal as an individual. Part of that is becoming a strong individual even if it means jeopardising support, in this case training and provision from Kurt.

Chapter 1 Quotes

There are some moments in life that are like pivots around which your existence turns – small intuitive flashes, when you know you have done something correct for a change, when you think you are on the right track. (Davidson) Chapter 1

The minute I saw Sallay Mahomet it was apparent to me that he knew exactly what he was doing. He exuded the bandy-legged, rope-handling confidence of a man long accustomed to dealing with animals. (Davidson) Chapter 1

Not a thing was out of place. Gladdy Posel met me at the door – a bird-like woman, middle-aged, with a face that spoke of hardship and worry and unbending will. But there was a suspiciousness in it also. However, she was the first person so far who had not greeted my idea with patronizing disbelief. (Davidson) Chapter 1

Suddenly, Kurt appeared around the corner – an apparition in white taking giant strides. I could feel his fury before he reached us and stood up to face him. (Davidson) Chapter 1

I was an urbanite in the bush? Had I suddenly landed in Ku Klux Klan country? I had spent time before with Aboriginal people – in fact, had had one of the best holidays of my entire life with them. (Davidson) Chapter 1

The suspiciousness returned. ‘There’s nothing damn well wrong with the blacks except what the whites do to them.’
It was my turn to smile. Gladdy, it appeared, was a rebel. (Davidson and Gladdy) Chapter 1

He had been with camels all his life, although his relationship to them was anything but sentimental, and he treated them somewhat roughly for my soft-hearted tastes. He knew the animals as well as the back of his own hand, and some of that knowledge seeped into me and came out when I least expected it on my journey. I had met his wife Iris, who had an outrageous and wonderful sense of humour and who helped me to laugh at my predicament. She was a perfect contrast and complement to Sallay. They were two of the nicest people I met in that god-awful hole and I like, admire and respect them to this day. I am also eternally grateful. (Davidson, about Sallay) Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Davidson undergoes an internal struggle when her plan fails to unfold as she had expected. Coupled with this is the imposing pressure of her external environment. The pub where she works is a hot-bed of racism where she witnesses disturbing acts of public exclusion and bold violence perpetrated against Indigenous Australians. The male-dominant mindsets of the bar’s clientele is further unnerving to Davidson.

Davidson, clearly frightened by the circumstances, sees herself as part of a bigger picture. She traces the gender prejudice back to Australia’s colonial days. In a brief but deliberate comparison she outlines how men needed sheep and women in the early settlements and how both were shipped in and fought over. An act of dominance over her – someone defecating on her pillow – compels her to return to Kurt who had been asking her to return.

Kurt reveals his cruel aside again with an episode involving crows wherein he recklessly sacrifices an entire nest to try and capture a crow. Davidson is disturbed by this, having become more attached to her animals while detaching from people. She is bonded with her dog Diggity, the camels she works with and her pet crow. The tension rises between Kurt and Davidson and she once again leaves knowing that this will set back her plans once again.

Sallay Mahomet, having witnessed Davidson’s determination over the past year, throws her a lifeline by offering her a position with him. Davidson feels comfortable with Sallay who is an expert camel handler and a true gentleman. She recommits to her plan.

Chapter 2 Quotes

To really come to grips with the Australian cult of misogyny, one has to plod back through all two hundred years of white Australia’s history, and land on the shore of the ‘wide brown land’ with a bunch of hard-done-by convicts. (Davidson) Chapter 2

And they had alcohol to soften the blow. By the 1840s it began to dawn on the residents that something was missing – sheep and women. The former they imported from Spain, a stroke of genius that was to set Australia on the economic map; the latter they brought over in boats from the poor-houses and orphanages of England. Since there were never enough to go round (women, that is) one can visualize only too clearly the frenzied rush on the Sydney wharves when the girls came bravely sailing in. (Davidson) Chapter 2

Drawn closer by our common enemy and our alliance with the people down in the creek, Gladdy and I were developing a deep friendship. Without her, I simply could not have stayed with Kurt as long as I did. (Davidson) Chapter 2

There was one flaw in Kurt’s relationship to the animals: when his temper was up he could be brutally cruel. (Davidson) Chapter 2

It was a gentleman’s agreement. Kurt refused to sign anything, saying that was not the way he did business, but as everyone knew, most of all me, Kurt had never been a gentleman. (Davidson) Chapter 2

Another trap. It was the inauspicious beginning of the ‘camel lady’ image which I should have nipped in the bud right there. (Davidson) Chapter 2

The next day I left the ranch in a daze. I was never going to get my camels or anything else. I marvelled at whatever blindness it had been that allowed me to stay as long as I did as his dupe. I moped around the neighbours’ house for a few days and cried a lot and beat my chest. Then I was offered a job by that irascible old gentleman Sallay Mahomet who was to become a friend, camel-guru and saviour. (Davidson) Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Davidson is based in Basso’s Farm after some friends move out and let her stay until a new owner is found. She feels a new sense of empowerment in her isolated place and enjoys being by herself or with a select few.

Davidson’s journey is punctuated by the rise and fall of fateful events. Initially troubled by Kurt she finds favour with Sallay who provides her with two camels as agreed. This high moment however is dashed when the animals contract infections and Davidson is faced with having to euthanise one of the camels. Her dream is influenced by many other fateful interventions which eventually lead Davidson to feel her dream is at times spoiled by the intrusion of people and chance.

Davidson has time to reflect on the fate and fortunes of those around her. Gladdy has decided to leave Kurt. She is a picture of the abused spouse, taking a lot before developing the courage or the will to leave. Through meeting two local Indigenous children she also sees the abuse they receive and the lack of hope they share with Gladdy, especially the girl, Joanna, who sees nothing but a life of alcohol and trouble ahead for her.

Toly and Jenny, non-Indigenous people who are fighting for Aboriginal rights, eventually become good friends with Davidson despite Davidson initially not wanting to associate with them. The non-Indigenous locals viewed such activists as ‘do-gooders’ and Davidson felt she had worked hard to fit in and did not want to be similarly labelled thus undoing all her efforts. It is the presence of Jenny at the time Davidson needs to put down her camel that is a welcoming support, again highlighting the dichotomy between Davidson’s desire to be alone and achieve her dream independently and the ever-present need for the assistance of others.

Chapter 3 Quotes

Before that moment, I had always supposed that loneliness was my enemy. I had seemed not to exist without people around me. But now I understand that I had always been a loner, and that this condition was a gift rather than something to be feared. (Davidson) Chapter 3

Just before moving to Basso’s, I had met a group of young white people involved with Aboriginal rights. Like me, they had brought with them the idealism and indignant morality of their various good educations. It was against this small group that the catch-cry, ‘Do-gooder troublemakers from the city’ was levelled by many of the locals. (Davidson) Chapter 3

‘What have I got to look forward to?’ she would say. ‘Booze? Getting married to someone who beats me up every night?’ (Joanie) Chapter 3

As Kevin Gilbert writes in Because a White Man’ll Never Do It:
It is my thesis that Aboriginal Australia underwent a rape of the soul so profound that the blight continues in the minds of most blacks today. It is this psychological blight, more than anything else, what causes the conditions that we see on reserves and missions. And it is repeated down the generations. Chapter 3

It is easy enough to take them somewhere in a group, but getting an animal off on its own is a trial and a battle of wits. This is understandable as they are a herd animal, and equate company with safety. It is very threatening for a camel to be out on his own, especially with a maniac on his back. (Davidson) Chapter 3

So that was that. No Katie, no trip. Fate again. And all that time and all that money and all that energy, devotion and care, for nothing. Eighteen months had passed down the plug-hole, for nothing. (Davidson) Chapter 3

Chapter 4

This chapter opens with Davidson still reeling from the death of one of her two camels. She feels the trip is a long way off. On top of this Kurt is becoming more unpredictable and Davidson fears for her life. She sees Kurt as a constant reminder that some form of oppression will always be present.

Gladdy leaves Kurt and is staying with Davidson when Davidson’s depression starts to overflow. She is contemplating suicide. An opportune interjection from Gladdy with the offer of a cup of coffee and a chat jolts Davidson back to reality. Kurt is furious at Gladdy’s leaving and he eventually disappears. Soon after, new owners arrive saying Kurt has sold them the ranch with instructions that Davidson comes with it. This brief moment of being a man’s chattels is reminiscent of the colonial era which Davidson describes as the source of misogyny, demonstrating how little men had travelled since then.

Another twist of fate arrives when the new owners of the ranch are spooked by the aggressive nature of the bull camels. The male camel in question, Dookie, usually more passive, does a ‘Jeckel and Hyde’ turnaround and attacks Davidson. The frantic scene makes the owners keen to sell the male camels. Davidson buys two of them at a reasonable price and brings them to Basso Farm, completing her camel travelling set of two males, Dookie and Bub, and one female, Zeleika, who is expecting a calf. While tending to the camels there is one defining moment when they go missing and need to be found via an air search. It is at this moment that Davidson realises the trip is really happening.

Chapter 4 Quotes

The fear was like a fungus that slowly grew over me and defeated me in the weeks that followed. I went down down down to that state that I had long since forgotten existed. (Davidson) Chapter 4

Kurt went away on holiday and Gladdy decided to leave while the going was good. I was happy for her; she looked better already. But I knew how much I was going to miss her, and I was frightened of being left on my own with her husband. (Davidson) Chapter 4

It was rational, unemotional. And I wonder now if that’s how people usually come to it. Coldly. It was so simple really. I would walk way out bush, sit myself down somewhere, and calmly put a bullet in my brain. No mess, no fuss. Just nice clean simple exit. (Davidson) Chapter 4

Because no life was better than half-life. I was planning it out, the best place, the best time, when suddenly Gladdy sat bolt upright in the bed opposite me and said, ‘Rob, are you all right? Do you want a cup of coffee?’ It was the equivalent of a bucket of iced water thrown over someone in hysteria, waking me to the horror of what I was thinking, the enormity of it. (Davidson) Chapter 4

He told the buyers that I went along with the ranch and would teach them all they needed to know about camels. They knew precisely nothing. I went to see them. (Davidson) Chapter 4

And I recognised then the process by which I had always attempted difficult things. I had simply not allowed myself to think of the consequences, but had closed my eyes, jumped in, and before I knew where I was, it was impossible to renege. I was basically a dreadful coward, I knew that about myself. (Davidson) Chapter 4

And on that final turn, there they were. Julie spotted them, we took a position and flew back to the runway. And that was the point at which all my disparate selves agreed to do the trip. (Davidson) Chapter 4

Chapter 5

After recapturing the camels, and questioning her sense of direction, literally and figuratively, Davidson sets about preparations for her trip in earnest. This period of time is a reminder of a key facet to Davidson’s journey which she will remember: determination. It also highlights how Davidson is torn between wanting to do the trip alone and her need for others. It is at this time that those two elements manifest with the arrival of Rick. Rick is a photographer who takes pictures of Davidson and becomes her friend. He suggests that she write to National Geographic magazine to tell them of her story and ask for assistance.

Davidson spends her time building the saddles and equipment that she will need for the trip. It is a tedious process and one that teaches her patience. This is an example of Davidson’s tendency to become anxious when things are not going well, an area in which she will grow throughout the journey as she learns to roll with the punches and abandon her need for control. Frustrated, Davidson embarks on a holiday which is cut short when Zeleika gives birth to a calf, which Davidson’s names Goliath.

A trial run to Utopia, an Indigenous settlement north of Alice Springs, gives rise to more obstacles. External and internal in nature, the obstacles show the layers which Davidson must master. Externally the trip is a disaster with the equipment being inept and progress too slow to consider a longer journey. Upon arriving at Utopia, the struggle turns inward when a young man accuses Davidson of being a ‘bourgeois individualist’. She spends time in front of the mirror soul searching, questioning why men fail to see how sexist they are, and contemplating her own prison of decisions – she is damned if she does and damned if she doesn’t take others with her. The process and the interest in her journey leave her feeling that the pure dream she started with has been contaminated.

National Geographic inform her it will help her on the journey in exchange for exclusive photography and media rights. She flies to Sydney and agrees to terms, terms that will ensure that from now on the journey will never truly be hers alone. It is a decision she regrets early on and which will be a thorn in her side for the entire trip.

With the funds from National Geographic, preparations are finalised and proper equipment purchased. Davidson’s family arrives to say goodbye and she heads out to the desert to start her journey, the beginning of her dream coming true. She is elated and euphoric as she heads off but quickly dragged to earth as Rick’s clicking camera shatters her moment, reminding her she is not alone.

Chapter 5 Quotes

What happened to north, south, east and west? Where did they go? Only seconds before I had had such a firm and confident grip on them. There was some ill-concealed snickering and nudging going on behind me. (Davidson) Chapter 5

And most of all, I wanted to do the think on my own without outside interference or help. An attempt at a pure gesture of independence. (Davidson) Chapter 5

He was a nice enough boy – rather Jimmy Olsenish I thought – one of those amoral immature photo-journalists who hop from trouble spot to trouble spot on the globe without ever having time to see where they are or be affected by it. (Davidson) Chapter 5

Of course I must take the money and run. I had no choice. I needed handmade water canteens, a new saddle, three pairs of stalwart sandals, not to mention food and pocket money. I also knew at some level that it meant the end of the trip as I had conceived it: knew that it was the wrong thing to do – a sell-out. A stupid but unavoidable mistake. It meant that an international magazine would be interfering – no, not overtly, but would have a vested interest in, would therefore be a subtle, controlling factor in, what had begun as a personal and private gesture. (Davidson) Chapter 5

Rick came laden with every trapping under the sun. (Davidson) Chapter 5

I had thought long and hard about a radio, and had decided that it was somehow not right to take one. It didn’t feel right. I didn’t need it, didn’t want to think of it sitting up there, tempting me, didn’t want that mental crutch, or physical link with the outside world. Foolish I suppose, but it was a very strong feeling.
I eventually gave in grudgingly to taking the set, but refused the pedal part point blank. I was angry with myself then, for allowing other people to stop me doing things the way I wanted to do them, for whatever reason. And angry because that other one of me, the boring practical self-preserver, had said, ‘Take it, take it, you idiot. You want to die out there or something?’ (Davidson) Chapter 5

…vastness, ‘I love you. I love you, sky, bird, wind, precipice, space, sun, desert desert desert.’
Click.
‘Hi, how’s it goin? I got some shots of you waving goodbye.’ Rick had been sitting in his car with the windows up, listening to pop music, waiting for me to come round the bend.
I had almost forgotten. I plummeted back to earth, my grandiose emotions crashing into shards of fussy practical detail. (Davidson & Rick) Chapter 5

I wondered what powerful fate had channelled me into this moment of inspired lunacy. The last burning bridge back to my old self collapsed. I was on my own. (Davidson) Chapter 5

I had a long session with the mirror that afternoon, trying to find out if I was a bourgeois individualist or not. Perhaps if I had taken along a company of people and made it a communal camel trip, it would have met with approval? No, that would merely have been liberalism, wouldn’t it? Revisionist at best. Heaven forbid. You can’t win. (Davidson) Chapter 5

So far, people had said that I wanted to commit suicide, that I wanted to do penance for my mother’s death, that I wanted to prove a woman could cross a desert, that I wanted publicity. Some begged me to let them come with me; some were threatening, jealous or inspired; some thought it a joke. The trip was beginning to lose its simplicity. (Davidson) Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Despite any fears Davidson had prior to the trip, the first day is ideal. It is here that she ponders the idea of ‘tracks’. Defined as a mark made by repetitious use of a vehicle, tracks can in some way represent the path that many follow. However these tracks that Davidson is searching for are far from the path often travelled. They are hard to find, rewarding when found, occasionally marked by flowers and sometimes terrifying.

Completely free from society and its routine, Davidson invents a routine for herself. She manages time, equipment and distance with self-imposed precision. This will be challenged as she moves further into her journey. The natural rhythms will supersede the clock-based routines. Her reliance on maps and society causes Davidson to panic when a track doesn’t match the map she is following. She controls the fright, a trait that will reoccur on several occasions. It is Davidson’s ability to keep calm that saves her on numerous occasions, such as when she is attacked by bull camels and when she runs low on water.

At the Aboriginal settlement of Areyonga, the children greet her and restore her soul. The camels also have a connection with the children, symbolic of the union between the innocent and the natural. After repairing her equipment, she heads for Tempe Downs. On the way she has her first challenge with the camels and feels a sense of helplessness, that there will be levels out of her control.

Chapter 6 Quotes

I had decided to follow an abandoned track that would eventually meet up with the main Areyonga road. Now, the definition of a track in Australia is a mark made across the landscape by the repeated passage of a vehicle or, if you are very lucky, initially by a bulldozer. These tracks vary in quality from a corrugated, bull-dust-covered, well-defined and well-used road to something which you can barely discern by climbing a hill and squinting in the general direction you think the said track may go. Somethings you can see where a track is by the tell-tale blossoms of wildflowers. Those along the track with either by growing more thickly or be of a different type. Somethings, you may be able to follow the trail by searching for the ridge left aeons ago by a bulldozer. The track may wind around or over hills and ridges and rocky outcroppings, straight into sand-dunes, get swallowed up by sandy creek-beds, get totally lost in stony creek-beds, or fray into a maze of animal pads. Following tracks is most often easy, sometimes frustrating, and occasionally downright terrifying. (Davidson) Chapter 5

‘She’ll be right, mate,’ the closest thing to a Zen statement to come out of Australia, and one I used frequently in the months ahead. (Davidson) Chapter 6

I nodded off with Diggity snoring in my arms as usual. (Davidson) Chapter 6

… two sandstone mountain faces of the Macdonnell Ranges. As settlements go, it is a good one. It is laid out traditionally, that is, a small village of houses where the whites live, a general store which Aborigines are being trained to run themselves, a school, a clinic, and the Aboriginal camps sprawling around the outskirts looking like Third World refugee centres. (Davidson) Chapter 6

I had a clock which I told myself was for navigation purposes only, but at which I stole furtive glances from time to time. It played tricks on me. In the heat of the afternoon, when I was tired, aching and miserable, hours lapsed between ticks and tocks. I recognised a need for these absurd arbitrary structures at that stage. I did not know why, but I knew I was afraid of something like chaos. It was as if it were waiting for me to let down my guard and then it would pounce. (Davidson) Chapter 6