Robyn Davidson has got six dollars, a dog and a suitcase packed with clothes. A small suitcase packed with clothes. She has arrived in Alice Springs, her head turned away from the strong wind, her eyes drowning in the splendor of the mountains forming the horizon on the far side of town. It is a moment epiphany and transformation. One of those moments that define a life; part of that life, at any rate.
Davidson has any idea. An insane idea. Davidson has a wonderful, self-described lunatic idea: she is going to herself some camels, train them and then make a trek across the central desert in the Australian outback. Camels in Australia? Turns out that back in the middle of the 19th century some camels were imported Down Under to help build an infrastructure in the wilderness terrain. Feral camels have existed there ever since and though Davidson is neither trained in handling the exotic animals nor a natural born camel whisperer, she is committed to her insane plan.
Davidson then proceeds to settle down in Alice Springs for the next two years. She finds the topography surrounding the town every bit as ugly the deep, unrefined, anti-Aboriginal strain of racism which permeates throughout its society. Attempts to settle down into a domestic routine are repeatedly drawn into conflict manifestations of this prejudice and bias that the author cannot stomach. A little stability arrives in the form of a job at a pub with a room to live in in the bar’s back. She also, after much initial rejection, manages to locate three potential camel trainers from which she can learn.
The first is Sallay Mahomet, but ultimately he rejects her on the basis of how unprepared she is to actually carry out her insane idea. The second is rejected by Davidson because he is the one who seems unprepared to teach her what needs to be known. The third man is described by locals as a maniac named Kurt. She picks him as the man for the job despite his reputation partly on the basis of hitting it off well with Kurt’s wife Gladdy, but mostly because he has agreed to an exchange of a one-eyed camel for Davidson to use on her trip in return for eight months of apprentice work.
The work proved difficult, but it is Kurt’s maniacal aspects that put Davidson to the breaking point. Kurt is almost like a stereotype of a German: precise, aggressive, exploitative and domineering. Not very long after starting, she quits as Kurt’s apprentice and goes back to her job at the pub only to submit to Kurt’s pleas to come back after finding a vulgar demonstration of the racism inherent in the population only to quit a second time. During this period, Mahomet shows up with a job offer and the promise of two camels as payment for working for him for a few months. On the one-year anniversary of her coming to town, Davidson goes back home in despondent worry that her planned journey is doomed to never transpire. Upon returning to Alice Springs, however, she finally chooses her two camels from Sallay, settles into a house owned by friends who have moved and becomes friendly with some local Aboriginals.
One of her camels—a female named Kate—develops an infection which is only made worse by the treatment of the local vet which results in Davidson having to kill the animal. That tragedy is intensified by also having to work with Kurt yet again which eventually spirals Davidson down into a depression so dark that she becomes near-suicidal. On top of all this, Davidson also has a frightening encounter with a male camel named Dookie. The result of this confrontation turns out to be a positive, however, as the owners of the animal become so fearful of his behavior that they agree to sell Dookie plus another male named Bub to Davidson.
By the time Davidson feels confident enough to finally set out on her journey, she has met a photographer named Rick who urges her to contact National Geographic to fund her expedition in return for making a story out of it for publication. The other female camel which she had gotten from Sallay has meanwhile given birth and Davidson names him Goliath and immediately begins training him. She takes a practice run to the nearby town of Utopia to test herself against the oppressive heat and then receives word that National Geographic has agreed to her plan even though the letter was written in a half-drunk fog without any belief that anything would actually come of it.
And so now what was once intended to be a very private journey of self-discovery and a test of her will against the forces of nature becomes what she thinks is possibly a sell-out to commerce. Rick accompanies her on the journey part of the way while she is left alone for other parts. At first she is put off by the presence of Rick and feels that his photographic account is misleading of the reality and intent. Nevertheless, eventually they become lovers. She has another encounter with a bull camel, this one wild and wildly aggressive and is forced to shoot it in order to defend herself. She attends an Aboriginal dance ceremony and just when she’s feeling euphoric about being accepted into this culture despite being an outsider from a group that has behaved so badly toward them, she is devastated when they demand payment for having given her the privilege.
Her trek across the outback is dotted with individual highs and lows. For instance, she is joined by an Aboriginal named Eddie for about two-hundred miles and later while alone is able to stave off another attack by a bull camel without having to kill it in self-defense. The closer she gets to completion, the more intensely she feels the solitude and alienation from the rest of the world. In fact, she seems to have changed psychologically at a fundamental level as she embraces a self-centered awareness of her place as a natural outside to the world around her. She must kill her dog after he eats dingo bait poison and ultimately engages in a kind of mystical ritualistic dance that acts a cleansing of the soul and mind just before re-entering society.
That entrance is marred by the way her private story has been co-opted into a public parody in which she is merely a crazed cat lady with camels replacing felines. The final leg of the long exhaustive trip is one in which she is accompanied by Rick before his departure allows Davidson to meet as planned with friends who own a farm and have agreed to care for her camels. She bids the animals a tearful farewell and heads for the town of Carnarvon where she finds a media flood waiting and the realization that she has become a celebrity. This recognition of an end to a story much different than the one she initially envisioned results in a wave of despondency rushing over her as she dreams of retuning to her solitary existence alone in the desert.
