Australian dune odyssey

As dusk falls, the desert takes on a peace that is quite magical

The camel shied guiltily away as I inspected my throbbing fingers. I'd been so intent on foraging for the succulent munyeroo that I'd pounced on a particularly juicy bunch without considering how close I was to the camels.

Nugget, stepping smartly down the dune, snatched it out of my hand as I stood up. But because of a slight miscalculation in speed he had also collected my fingertips - and looked just as shocked as I did.

Camels have amazing prehensile lips and can efficiently strip leaves off thorny branches, hoover up wisps of grass, or gently accept an apple core from your hand. They give gentle whiskery "kisses" when identifying your scent - delightful during the day, but rather disconcerting in the middle of the night when asleep, cocooned in a swag.

Nugget and I were team-mates in an expedition walking across the Simpson Desert. We had started at Old Andado Station, 310km southeast of Alice Springs in the Northern Territory at the start of June, and were aiming to cross into Queensland and arrive in Birdsville by the end of the month.

That's 420km as the crow flies but at least twice that distance as the camel zigzags up and down 900 dunes. There were no roads or tracks to follow, as we blazed a path across this great desert in the driest part of Australia.

The expedition leader was Andrew Harper, who owns the Outback Camel Company, three other tireless cameleers and 12 inexperienced cobbers from Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Hawaii and Germany. Most importantly, there were 17 camels, our ships of the desert. They carried our world - water, food, swags, communications equipment, and chocolate biscuits. All the essentials for 25 days in the desert.

The camels' welfare was critical and every afternoon Andrew would scout ahead looking for a suitable campsite in one of the corridors between the dunes.

A good campsite has plenty of camel feed , such as Acacia ligulata, firewood, and a flat area - clear of spinifex - for unloading.

Back in the city the thought of a month without proper lavatories and showers may seem daunting, but in the desert it soon becomes unimportant.

A hole dug behind a bush or dune is far more pleasant and hygienic than many cesspits I've come across in some cities.

Baby-wipes do a remarkable job of refreshing the body, and hair greatly benefits from not being stripped of its natural oils every day.

As for your clothes, well, they'll get dirty and stay that way, but the tradeoff is that the camels seem to accept you more readily once you smell like part of the herd.

Life became very simple as the group slipped into the nomadic way, rising at first light, warming up around a breakfast campfire, then doing whatever had to be done to get our tribe safely through each day.

The camels needed to be shepherded as they fed, breakfast pots cleaned, supplies and equipment carefully re-packed, loads re-balanced and rubbish burned, compacted and reloaded for disposal in Birdsville.

At Andrew's "cooee", the camels were led in and hooshed down in the correct order within the two lines or "strings" of eight.

Next, ignoring the rumbles, gurgles and occasional groans of protest, we groomed the camels to remove any prickles or twigs in their woolly winter coats.

Each camel is very individual, in temperament and appearance and their coats vary from black to white, soft to coarse, straight to curly. Sultan was aloof and elegant in a short straight coat, Chewy was goofy-looking with a dark woolly head and a droopy lip.

Chewy could be very affectionate and often wrapped her strong woolly neck around me to give me a hug.

There is something very special about standing on a dune, hundreds of kilometres from civilisation, watching the golden glow of dawn, protected from the frosty air by a lengthy Chewy hug, and unable to move an inch.

Each camel's hump is a different shape and size, depending on genetics, age and the animal's condition.

Generally speaking, the better-fed the camel the larger the hump, which stores not water but reserves of fat. Because of the varying shapes, each camel has its own rug, with extra padding in some areas so that the saddle - a traditional design made from wooden poles and straw-stuffed sacks - fits comfortably. Loading soon became an efficient team effort. Camels, like humans, get grumpy if they are mistreated, hungry, thirsty or overtired. Watching the cameleers interact with their herd, I had the impression that the camels worked "with" our cameleers and not "for" them.

The camels were remarkably patient and even-tempered, even affectionate, considering the huge loads they carried and that every day 12 inexperienced people were pushing them around.

Some campsites had insufficient vegetation for the camels, so along the way we gathered armfuls of munyeroo for them. Those juicy mouthfuls increased their endurance and seemed to raise their camel morale.

But all our hard work didn't stop three bullocks - Cooper, Morgan and TC - from sneaking into camp at the end of the day to raid the fruit and vegetable boxes.

Each had its own technique. Morgan managed to walk so cleverly that his bell didn't ring, and TC would sneak up using one of the cows as a decoy. Cooper favoured the "dash and grab" technique. I swear camels can smirk with self-satisfaction.

One-humped, or Arabian, camels (Camelus dromedarius) were introduced into Australia from 1840 to 1907, and they and their cameleers played a big part in the nation's development, transporting everything from needles to building materials, even pianos, from city to country.

With the advent of road and rail, camels were either destroyed or set free into the deserts by their cameleers.

These cameleers were called Afghans, irrespective of whether they were of Middle East or Indian heritage.

The camels thrived and it is estimated there are now at least 400,000 in the Australian Outback.

Discovering a camel cow with her tiny newborn calf, sheltering between the dunes, was a real thrill, as was reaching the top of a high dune in time to watch a wild bull hurriedly shepherd his dozen cows and calves away.

With so many wild camels around, inevitably trouble came looking for us.

The Outback Camel Company uses bullocks and cows on its commercial treks, because bulls are too troublesome.

Wild bull camels, particularly newly matured ones, are always on the lookout for cows to start a herd and - bullocks don't smell like bulls -the wild bulls sometimes try to take them along as well.

So fending off the occasional marauding wild bull became necessary. It can be obvious that bulls are around even if they can't be seen.

The cows become restless, fluttering their ample eyelashes, and the bullocks become nervous.

On one occasion, the strings of camels were loaded and ready to start the day's walk when two wild bulls - one older with a huge hump and the typical frothing mouth - started circling.

Most of us stayed with our camels while two cameleers attempted to chase off the bulls off with much yelling, cracking of stockwhips and arm-waving.

The bulls were huge, 2.2m at the shoulder, and it was surprising that they were even temporarily bluffed by the cameleers' antics.

But the wild bulls came back, even more determined, so it was time for Andrew to bring out the rifle to protect his herd.

No one, least of all Andrew, wanted to kill wild camels, but sometimes there is no choice.

Fortunately, he was able enough to chase them off this time without having to shoot. There was no camel roast that night.

But no one really minded, and our chicken curry, cooked in a wok over the campfire coals, was delicious.

Before going to sleep that night, watching the falling stars and listening to Nugget's bell as he browsed nearby, I was in no hurry to reach Birdsville.


WHERE AND WHEN
The Outback Camel Company has desert treks in the Simpson Desert from May to September.


CHOICE OF TRIPS
Tours leave from Alice Springs, Adelaide and Brisbane. Prices include transfers, swags and food.


The 12-day Western Simpson Desert Trek, May 9 to 20, A$3120 ($3415); 12-day Western Simpson Trek with botanist Peter Latz, May 12 to 19, A$3700; 28-day Simpson Desert Expedition with author Robyn Davidson, May 29 to June 25, A$5990; 14-day Eastern Simpson Trek, June 25 to July 8, A$3550; 16-day Eastern Simpson Trek, July 5 to 20, A$3695; 24-day Arid Rivers Expedition, in conjunction with Department for Environment, July 17 to August 9, A$5130; Macumba River Trek, in conjunction with Department for Environment, August 8 to August 21 A$3595.