this sort of underlying message that
you’re as powerful as you allow yourself
to be is one of the things I think is
resonated with people for years about
Robins trip
that she doesn’t describe herself as a
hero she doesn’t say she’s courageous
she actually talks about her fears very
openly but she does it anyway which is I
think the thing that people have admired
so much about her
I was given an assignment by Time
magazine in 1977 to go to the Outback of
Australia and to shoot a cover story
about Aborigines and the writer had
already written the story and my job was
to go out and illustrate the story that
he had written a wonderful gentleman
named Roy Rowan he had worked with a
social worker who had taken him into the
Aboriginal camps to get him permission
to take photographs and so I called this
woman before I got Dallas frames and I
said could you also take me out to some
of the same places you took the writer
and she said sure meet me at this little
pub down the street from this hotel she
suggested I stay at so I checked into my
hotel I walked out of the hotel and
there washing the window of my hotel was
the most beautiful woman I’d ever seen
in my life and so I took a few
photographs and she got really angry and
she said put your damn cameras down who
the hell are you and I said I’m really
sorry I didn’t mean to get you upset and
I laughed and I then took a turn I went
to the place I should have gone in the
first place and I met the social worker
and she said well a group of us that
work with our bridge Andes are going to
get together tonight for dinner you
might want to come and meet some of the
other social workers people involved in
the Aboriginal rights movement and so
she gave me the address and of course
who opens the door but the woman who had
been washing the windows of the hotel it
was not at all pleased to see me and she
said you know what are you doing here
and I said well your friend Jenny
invited me and she said you can’t
photograph my friends so okay so she
said put your cameras down so I put them
cameras like leave your guns at the door
you know so so I put my cameras down and
I walked into this house which was
literally falling apart there was no
back to the house and in the backyard
she had four camels tied up and I said
why do you have camels she said it’s
none of your business
so so I found Jenny and said why does
she have camels in the backyard and she
said oh she’s this odd girl that showed
up here a year ago we don’t really know
where she’s from what she’s doing here
but she we bring her food we come out
here and we visit her we’re kind of
worried about her but she has this crazy
idea that she’s going to walk 2,000
miles from here Alice Springs the heart
of the desert through the Gibson desert
out to the Indian Ocean and I said okay
well
pretty crazy so throughout the week I
work with Jenny at the end of the week
she said Robin wrote to National
Geographic a year ago and never got any
answer at all she asked them if they
would like underwrite her trip and she
thought maybe you might know someone
there or she could use your name because
she’s just so tired of washing windows
and waiting on jerks and pubs and I said
you know she wants to use my name fine
you know whatever and I thought that
would be the end of it and I flew back
to the states and week later the phone
rings and it’s Bob Gill Kahoot Zinn
director of photography here at the
geographic he said we got this letter
from this woman in Australia and she
describing this fascinating idea of
crossing the desert with camels and but
you know we don’t want the headline
National Geographic Explorer dies on
week two you know it in the outback is
she a nutcase is she for real I said
well she’s very intense
I’ve seen her camels I’ve seen her map
sighs I mean she’s you know she’s very
focused and he said well since you guys
are such good friends would you like I’m
serious
would you like to be the photographer
that we send out to meet her five times
in the desert to a document her trip and
it’s like I remember having two
reactions which is this is so cool and
like oh my god
you know I’d be careful what you wish
for so there’s always been sort of a
mystery to Robins trip which is why did
she do this why did she want to go on
this journey and a lot of her friends
were worried that this was a weird form
of suicide Robin’s mother had died when
she was 11 years old and a lot of her
friends thought this was some kind of
echo of that it was a very bizarre form
of it I never thought that and Robin
certainly doesn’t didn’t think that and
doesn’t think it no one at the time knew
that she was an unbelievable writer
she’s now sort of like the the JD
Salinger of Australia everyone reads her
book tracks in high school now it’s
actually required reading and they have
study guides about it so Robin got
funding from National Geographic and
it’s funny because they flew me back to
Australia when Bob gilc interviewed her
to make sure that they really wanted to
do this and we went out had a drink
afterwards and after the third drink she
looked at me and said what are you doing
here
said what she said what are you doing
here and I thought oh my god the woman
is actually really nuts and and she said
no she said like I’ve just completely
sold out my whole trip I said what are
you talking about I don’t want my
friends to come I don’t want you coming
and now I’ve got to write a story for
this magazine I said Robin they’re
across the street in the hotel go back
and tell them you don’t want the money I
mean you haven’t done anything yet I
mean if you really feel this is
something that’s going to destroy your
trip and she said I can’t I can’t spend
another year you know doing odd jobs and
this was sort of her conflict from the
beginning of wanting to do this all by
herself but also needing some help and
it’s something that’s had went on
throughout the whole trip she had this
wonderful dog named diggity that was her
daughter her companion her friend so
much of this trip was her relationship
with his dog
she said that two years before she came
to Alice Springs she got a job in a
hospital as a janitor basically you know
emptying out trash bins and she said one
night this first week she was working in
this hospital she heard these terrible
cries coming from the basement and she
went downstairs and found out they were
basically taking strays and doing
experiments on these animals you know
testing them for cosmetics that could
burn their eyes and stuff she said it
was just absolutely horrible she
couldn’t stand it so the second night
she waited to all the other janitors
left and she went back in with the keys
and opened up all the cages and let all
the animals loose open up all the doors
and one little puppy had been running
that day and that was Diggity I have
this I was telling the story and so
dignity became like her companion and
and dignity saved her life so many times
during the trip it was unbelievable
if if a snake or centipede had crawled
into her sleeping bag Diggity would bark
and tell her there’s something in the
sleeping bag if she got lost diggity
could lead her back to where she left
the camels but one night was a full moon
we were to buy a rock called uluru by
the Aborigines and she was snuggling
with diggety one of my favorite pictures
from the trip
obviously the geographic for the most
part uses colour so this picture does
SATA my archives for years and then this
picture just became Robins official
portrait in the National Portrait
Gallery in Australia which is wonderful
I just I love the picture of her in
dignity together the first time Robin
saw the rock I mean he
about these things and you think it’s
like a tourist attraction but it’s
actually the middle of the desert and
you realize that this was actually once
the bottom of the ocean circumference –
this is five miles if you actually ride
around the outside of it
but there’s a little cave up there at
the top and then the next picture you’re
going to see it’s Robin inside that cave
so one of the things that was
challenging on this trip is it Robin
didn’t wear clothes a lot and and it’s
challenging for lots of reasons as you
can imagine but so I decided I didn’t
want to send pictures of Robin who I was
falling along with back to the
geographic because I just didn’t feel
comfortable sharing these pictures so I
would only send the pictures that I
wanted the geographic to see and did you
have to get really angry at me because
you’re not supposed to do that and I
that they basically said you’re never
going to work for us again and I was
sort of committing professional suicide
because this you know I was 28 years old
at that point and I was you know my
loyalties were to be honest word to
Robin and not to my career and not to
the geographic I just felt like you know
the more the trip went on the more
concerned I was about her the more fun I
was of her and the more worried I was
that something is going to happen to her
every time I left her I remember I would
look in the rearview mirror of my car
and wonder if that would be the last
time I’d ever see her she had brought a
cassette player with Aboriginal language
tapes to speak pitten to Jarrah I’m not
sure I’m saying that correctly most
tourists most people to go out there
treat Aborigines like they want to learn
about them they’re anthropologists Robin
really wanted to actually she felt that
there was something that they can teach
her and I think she sort of become a lid
became a legend whenever I would ask
Aborigines have you seen the camel ad
which is what they called her they had
such fondness and respect for what she
was doing because she was taking the
time to slowly travel through the places
where they lived and she wanted to spend
time with them and learn from them she
said that you know people always said
wasn’t it hard wasn’t it frightening and
she actually talks about it with a sense
of wonder she said it was so beautiful
it’s so quiet
I remember at night when you looked up
at the stars it was you know there was
no visual pollution their nose traffic
lights there were no
street lights are in no buildings and so
that the clarity of the the heavens were
just amazing there and she said on one
of these trips and I was actually there
when this happened she was traveling
with the camel she was in a really good
mood everything seemed to be going
really really well and then it started
raining when it rains camels will stop
dead in their tracks and they won’t move
because they have no traction
she was trying to get to a place called
docker River which is about 10 miles
away from where we were at that point
and so she kept going in the rain and
kind of forcing the camels to walk right
after I took this picture one of her
camels Dookie fell and camels are like
horses if they break a leg
you basically have to put them down
because they doesn’t heal and he laid on
the ground groaning and she thought he’d
broken his leg he wouldn’t move it took
for about six hours so I drove ahead to
the aboriginal mission and we called a
vet who we actually actually flew out
the vet said it looked like he had just
sprained his leg but it’s going to take
six weeks to heal so she ends up living
a docker River for six weeks you know
sort of life was what happens while
you’re busy making other plans this
ended up becoming a great experience for
her because she got to spend time in
this one Aboriginal mission instead of
stopping and traveling on one of the
things that was so wonderful but the
Aboriginal kids is that they were so
excited when she ever she showed up in
these villages it’s probably one of my
favorite pictures from the whole trip I
just loved that you could just see all
the body language all the excitement of
the kids that the camel ladies here the
camel ladies here it’s just wonderful it
was nice to see her happy too and the
kids really kind of brought her out of
herself in wonderful ways I would show
up sometimes and I remember showing up
once and she said you Americans treat
friendship like valium it was like you
know really it’s like it’s like it’s the
insult or challenge of the day and Robin
was doing this to herself as well but I
thought at a certain point we turd had
gotten over the initial hostility and I
said okay what’s that supposed to mean
and she said well every time I see
Americans together y’all saying don’t
worry everything will be fine it’ll all
work out and I said and that’s a bad
thing she says yeah cuz if you care
about somebody and they’re doing
something stupid if they’re marrying the
wrong person they have abusive boss
they’re doing they’re taking drugs
whatever it is
you hit them over the head with a 2×4
you risk your friendship to be a friend
and maybe you lose them as friends but
she said you’re all cowards like you
won’t actually be friends to each other
because you’re afraid you’ll lose the
friendship and I remember thinking wow
that’s I mean that’s a really
interesting thought I mean I had never
you know I said you know what you’re
right I mean I’m not speaking for all
Americans but I mean it’s there were so
many conversations like there was she
had a different way of like approaching
things and it was sort of my year of
growing up too I mean I was 27 28 years
old but emotionally I was like 19 years
old I mean every girlfriend I’d had
lasted a week and then somebody give me
an assignment and I could leave you know
work it out when I come back and I would
never come back so you know with this
experience with Robin who is like so
much older and wiser than her 26 years I
mean it was like literally like spending
time with a really interesting profound
person that wouldn’t let you get away
with anything
so I mean I was constantly having either
defend or think or be challenged it was
it was just the whole thing was so
fascinating so at one point during the
trip early in the trip one morning she
woke up and she said I had this dream
about this Aboriginal man the came out
of nowhere and travel with me and I had
a journal I was keeping a journal
throughout the whole trip and I came
back on you know like the third time out
there and she was with this little
Aboriginal man I said it was this and
she said this is mr.eddy and she said he
it came out of nowhere he’s traveling
with me I said just like you’re dreaming
she said what do you mean said don’t
remember the dream you had the beginning
of the trip she says I didn’t have a
dream about I showed her that in my
journal you dreamt this guy mr.eddy
traveled with her for six weeks and he
was incredible he was a tribal elder
didn’t speak a word of English and
traveled with it for six weeks came out
of nowhere
taught her how to find food in the
outback took her to sacred areas that no
one was supposed to go to necessarily
became one of her most cherished
memories of her whole journey one day I
got a telegram from her I was in Hong
Kong and the telegram said could you
please bring me a rifle and it was the
same rifle I knew she already had and
the reason is because when male camels
are in heat if you have a female camel
they will kill you to get to your female
so I said to her when she was telling me
about the doing the triple how would it
how would it count will kill you you
know
you chewy to death or something I mean
I’m trying to figure out and she said no
actually she said it’s pretty
frightening that you know camels have
necks that are so strong that v they can
lift 15 grown men on their neck so what
a camel will do is well come over and
I’ll knock you over with its neck and
it’ll sit on you and suffocate you these
are very intelligent animals I mean it’s
very interesting that they’ve actually
figured out how to kill human beings
right but when they’re in heat they go
they have this bladder that comes out of
their mouths and foam and it’s like a
lot of animals in heat and if you have a
female they will kill you to get to the
female and if they lure the female off
she’s dead she needed these camels
carried all of her food all of her water
all of her gear so if they ran away she
was dead out there so she actually was
attacked at one point by a group of wild
camels so when I and she had to kill two
of them which was heartbreaking to her
because she obviously you know she loves
animals so I had this horrible thought
that oh my god she’s lost her gun
somewhere so I you know I when I drove
out there I thought my god I’m gonna
bring her the gun and it turned out it
was a gift for mr. Eddie
she had her gun she was fine but mr.
Eddie just love this gun of hers and so
he was so excited when I got out of the
car and I had this gun on one of the
trips I came out I’m sitting by the fire
and Robin said when are you going to get
here and I come in about four hours
before and I was sitting there and I was
talking about something I just done
somewhere else and she said I said
excuse me she said when are you gonna
get here and I thought okay now she’s
actually now flipped out I said Robin
I’m sitting here across the fire from
you hello she said no you’re not here
she said you’re talking about your time
cover story we’re gonna leave the car in
three weeks did your phone get x-rayed
she said you know you come out here and
you spend the entire time talking about
something you did or something you’re
going to do and if you’re going to be
here the goddammit be here and don’t be
lost in your head the whole time it’s
again it was one of those things where
somebody kind of goes like that and go
you know what you know how many of you
now have looked at people in restaurants
where there’s a couple in the restaurant
and they’re both doing this and they’re
talking to everybody except the person
they’re talking they’re with right I
mean if you know I was gonna say Robin
if you thought it’s bad back then and
there the whole world has now turned to
that but again it was it was so not
necessary refreshing but it was so
fascinating to have someone constantly
calling you on things and they and you
say you know what you’re absolutely
right you know I am totally thinking
about what I did or what I’m going to do
and I sort of be here now it’s that old
Zen kind of thing right so as I said
before every time I left her I always
worried that I that each time I left her
I’d look in the rearview mirrors I drove
away and wonder if that would be my last
memory of her something terrible would
happen door out there so I was sitting
in Hongkong one day and a writer from I
was working with a writer named Richard
Bernstein from the New York Times and he
was at breakfast I met him for breakfast
and I walked in the Hilton Hotel and he
said you better sit down
I said what he said to sit down so I sit
down he’s really Pala he hands me the
local paper and the paper says
mysterious camel lady missing in gibson
desert desperate search underway and i
go completely cold with my god it’s
happened you know the thing I was the
most afraid of so I rented a plane I
flew out to this little desert town near
where I thought I was going to meet her
the next time and there were journalists
there were trackers there were
helicopters there was like 80 paparazzi
out there and I was so flummoxed and so
upset and so freaked out that I never
occurred to me that I was leading all
them to her I assumed she was dead so I
got my car I drove to where she would
have been if every had been on schedule
and there she was and I’d now have all
these guys in cars following me with
film crews and and before I can say a
word they’re thrusting the newspapers in
her face with my pictures on the cover
and you know the whole time you know
this is what they thought the camel lady
looked like by the way
um so before I can say a word to her I
mean my first thought is she’s gonna
think I’ve sold her out you know like
because I always worried that she
thought that you know that I was that my
career came first the geographic came
first and and you know I finally got her
away from them and and we were trying to
figure out what happened like why did
people think you were missing I said has
anything happened I mean what would have
done this and she said oh my god I said
what she said I know what happened I
said what she said two weeks ago this
guy shows up in the middle of the night
in a racing car I said what I thought
honey she really hasn’t gone that’s
right she said no no in the middle of
the night I hear this motor and I Syd
these lights coming towards me she
didn’t see anybody for like three weeks
and this guy
screeches up with a racing car with big
fat tires and she said his pupils were
the size of pin pricks this guy was so
obviously on speed or something and she
said he hit on me and she’s I told him
to piss off and he drove to Sydney and
she said I he was breaking the world’s
record or driving for one so I’d have
Australia to the other and we found out
that he had a press conference in Sydney
and one of the journalists said what was
the most interesting thing about you
breaking the world’s record of driving
one side of Australia to the other and
he said oh I spent a romantic night in
the moonlight with a naked camel lady so
all of a sudden they’ve made up the
story of this naked camel lady in the
moonlight in the desert with the racing
car driver she knew nothing about this
and so all these people are out there
they made up the story that she was
missing she was never missing and then
like what do you do now you’ve got 80
people in the desert like how do you
hide how do you get rid of them so one
night I said to her after everybody goes
to sleep
get in my car and just hide like you
know in the backseat and I’m going to
tell the guys I’m going for beer and so
I basically we drove to the next town
her camels were fine because their
camels can survive for three or four
days without water and we went to town
and I had one of my friends in telegram
saying that Robin is decided to call the
trip off because of all the journalists
and that she’s sending a truck to pick
up the camels and basically all the guys
gave up and they left we waited three
days we didn’t come back for three days
their budget
right now basically there’s nothing to
do out there so it’s sort of a funny
scene this is when she’s looking at the
newspapers or the pictures of herself
it’s just insane
they’re even doing cartoons about her
I’m not gonna give you all the ins and
outs of the trip she had an unbelievable
experience but she finally did make it
to the ocean it took her nine months she
originally was supposed to be a
six-month trip the day before we got to
the ocean she said I don’t want you
there when I get to the ocean I really
just need to beat myself I said Robin I
have to be there so I managed to talk
her into it now she loves these pictures
she took the camels into the water they
thought this is like the biggest
drinking fountain they’d ever seen okay
they didn’t like the saltwater very much
this sort of underlying message that
you’re as powerful as you allow yourself
to be is one of the things I think is
resonated with people for years about
Robins trip that she doesn’t describe
herself as a hero she doesn’t say she’s
courageous she actually talks about her
fears very openly but she does it anyway
which is I think the thing that people
have admired so much about her one of
the things I think that stunned
everybody at the end of the trip was
that she decided to write a book about
it and I think everybody’s astonishment
the book resonated with people all over
the world so the story was this was
commissioned by and for National
Geographic after it ran the geographic
many other magazines around the world
picked it up I think it was over 100
publications that told the story in many
many different languages tracks has now
been published in 18 languages it sold
over a million copies as I said it’s
sort of a cult book in certain places in
the world I think one of the strangest
things that was the most stolen book the
year it was published in Austria I know
how they determined that and I don’t
know why that’s it’s sort of an odd
honor to win
I’m sure the booksellers are really
happy about that so about every seven
years I get a call from somebody in
Hollywood saying we’re doing this movie
and can we talk to you about Robin and
what was like to be there and I go I
have these meetings and nothing would
ever happen so when these guys called
this time saying we’re making the movie
it was sort of like you know crying wolf
okay been there done that four thousand
times already they said no we’ve
actually cast this
wonderful young actress mia wasikowska
so this is a little trailer for the
movie and I want to just quickly show
you kind of some of the the scenes that
they built on the still photographs do
you sir I am planning to walk across the
Australian desert from Alice Springs to
the Indian Ocean a distance of two
thousand miles and when people ask me
why I’m doing at my usual answer is why
not your plan is ridiculous
you must be mad girlie you know that’s
about 2000 months six months a hard walk
you want to die out there or something
I’m so alone we all are
thank you all very much thank you
you
you’re as powerful as you allow yourself
to be is one of the things I think is
resonated with people for years about
Robins trip
that she doesn’t describe herself as a
hero she doesn’t say she’s courageous
she actually talks about her fears very
openly but she does it anyway which is I
think the thing that people have admired
so much about her
I was given an assignment by Time
magazine in 1977 to go to the Outback of
Australia and to shoot a cover story
about Aborigines and the writer had
already written the story and my job was
to go out and illustrate the story that
he had written a wonderful gentleman
named Roy Rowan he had worked with a
social worker who had taken him into the
Aboriginal camps to get him permission
to take photographs and so I called this
woman before I got Dallas frames and I
said could you also take me out to some
of the same places you took the writer
and she said sure meet me at this little
pub down the street from this hotel she
suggested I stay at so I checked into my
hotel I walked out of the hotel and
there washing the window of my hotel was
the most beautiful woman I’d ever seen
in my life and so I took a few
photographs and she got really angry and
she said put your damn cameras down who
the hell are you and I said I’m really
sorry I didn’t mean to get you upset and
I laughed and I then took a turn I went
to the place I should have gone in the
first place and I met the social worker
and she said well a group of us that
work with our bridge Andes are going to
get together tonight for dinner you
might want to come and meet some of the
other social workers people involved in
the Aboriginal rights movement and so
she gave me the address and of course
who opens the door but the woman who had
been washing the windows of the hotel it
was not at all pleased to see me and she
said you know what are you doing here
and I said well your friend Jenny
invited me and she said you can’t
photograph my friends so okay so she
said put your cameras down so I put them
cameras like leave your guns at the door
you know so so I put my cameras down and
I walked into this house which was
literally falling apart there was no
back to the house and in the backyard
she had four camels tied up and I said
why do you have camels she said it’s
none of your business
so so I found Jenny and said why does
she have camels in the backyard and she
said oh she’s this odd girl that showed
up here a year ago we don’t really know
where she’s from what she’s doing here
but she we bring her food we come out
here and we visit her we’re kind of
worried about her but she has this crazy
idea that she’s going to walk 2,000
miles from here Alice Springs the heart
of the desert through the Gibson desert
out to the Indian Ocean and I said okay
well
pretty crazy so throughout the week I
work with Jenny at the end of the week
she said Robin wrote to National
Geographic a year ago and never got any
answer at all she asked them if they
would like underwrite her trip and she
thought maybe you might know someone
there or she could use your name because
she’s just so tired of washing windows
and waiting on jerks and pubs and I said
you know she wants to use my name fine
you know whatever and I thought that
would be the end of it and I flew back
to the states and week later the phone
rings and it’s Bob Gill Kahoot Zinn
director of photography here at the
geographic he said we got this letter
from this woman in Australia and she
describing this fascinating idea of
crossing the desert with camels and but
you know we don’t want the headline
National Geographic Explorer dies on
week two you know it in the outback is
she a nutcase is she for real I said
well she’s very intense
I’ve seen her camels I’ve seen her map
sighs I mean she’s you know she’s very
focused and he said well since you guys
are such good friends would you like I’m
serious
would you like to be the photographer
that we send out to meet her five times
in the desert to a document her trip and
it’s like I remember having two
reactions which is this is so cool and
like oh my god
you know I’d be careful what you wish
for so there’s always been sort of a
mystery to Robins trip which is why did
she do this why did she want to go on
this journey and a lot of her friends
were worried that this was a weird form
of suicide Robin’s mother had died when
she was 11 years old and a lot of her
friends thought this was some kind of
echo of that it was a very bizarre form
of it I never thought that and Robin
certainly doesn’t didn’t think that and
doesn’t think it no one at the time knew
that she was an unbelievable writer
she’s now sort of like the the JD
Salinger of Australia everyone reads her
book tracks in high school now it’s
actually required reading and they have
study guides about it so Robin got
funding from National Geographic and
it’s funny because they flew me back to
Australia when Bob gilc interviewed her
to make sure that they really wanted to
do this and we went out had a drink
afterwards and after the third drink she
looked at me and said what are you doing
here
said what she said what are you doing
here and I thought oh my god the woman
is actually really nuts and and she said
no she said like I’ve just completely
sold out my whole trip I said what are
you talking about I don’t want my
friends to come I don’t want you coming
and now I’ve got to write a story for
this magazine I said Robin they’re
across the street in the hotel go back
and tell them you don’t want the money I
mean you haven’t done anything yet I
mean if you really feel this is
something that’s going to destroy your
trip and she said I can’t I can’t spend
another year you know doing odd jobs and
this was sort of her conflict from the
beginning of wanting to do this all by
herself but also needing some help and
it’s something that’s had went on
throughout the whole trip she had this
wonderful dog named diggity that was her
daughter her companion her friend so
much of this trip was her relationship
with his dog
she said that two years before she came
to Alice Springs she got a job in a
hospital as a janitor basically you know
emptying out trash bins and she said one
night this first week she was working in
this hospital she heard these terrible
cries coming from the basement and she
went downstairs and found out they were
basically taking strays and doing
experiments on these animals you know
testing them for cosmetics that could
burn their eyes and stuff she said it
was just absolutely horrible she
couldn’t stand it so the second night
she waited to all the other janitors
left and she went back in with the keys
and opened up all the cages and let all
the animals loose open up all the doors
and one little puppy had been running
that day and that was Diggity I have
this I was telling the story and so
dignity became like her companion and
and dignity saved her life so many times
during the trip it was unbelievable
if if a snake or centipede had crawled
into her sleeping bag Diggity would bark
and tell her there’s something in the
sleeping bag if she got lost diggity
could lead her back to where she left
the camels but one night was a full moon
we were to buy a rock called uluru by
the Aborigines and she was snuggling
with diggety one of my favorite pictures
from the trip
obviously the geographic for the most
part uses colour so this picture does
SATA my archives for years and then this
picture just became Robins official
portrait in the National Portrait
Gallery in Australia which is wonderful
I just I love the picture of her in
dignity together the first time Robin
saw the rock I mean he
about these things and you think it’s
like a tourist attraction but it’s
actually the middle of the desert and
you realize that this was actually once
the bottom of the ocean circumference –
this is five miles if you actually ride
around the outside of it
but there’s a little cave up there at
the top and then the next picture you’re
going to see it’s Robin inside that cave
so one of the things that was
challenging on this trip is it Robin
didn’t wear clothes a lot and and it’s
challenging for lots of reasons as you
can imagine but so I decided I didn’t
want to send pictures of Robin who I was
falling along with back to the
geographic because I just didn’t feel
comfortable sharing these pictures so I
would only send the pictures that I
wanted the geographic to see and did you
have to get really angry at me because
you’re not supposed to do that and I
that they basically said you’re never
going to work for us again and I was
sort of committing professional suicide
because this you know I was 28 years old
at that point and I was you know my
loyalties were to be honest word to
Robin and not to my career and not to
the geographic I just felt like you know
the more the trip went on the more
concerned I was about her the more fun I
was of her and the more worried I was
that something is going to happen to her
every time I left her I remember I would
look in the rearview mirror of my car
and wonder if that would be the last
time I’d ever see her she had brought a
cassette player with Aboriginal language
tapes to speak pitten to Jarrah I’m not
sure I’m saying that correctly most
tourists most people to go out there
treat Aborigines like they want to learn
about them they’re anthropologists Robin
really wanted to actually she felt that
there was something that they can teach
her and I think she sort of become a lid
became a legend whenever I would ask
Aborigines have you seen the camel ad
which is what they called her they had
such fondness and respect for what she
was doing because she was taking the
time to slowly travel through the places
where they lived and she wanted to spend
time with them and learn from them she
said that you know people always said
wasn’t it hard wasn’t it frightening and
she actually talks about it with a sense
of wonder she said it was so beautiful
it’s so quiet
I remember at night when you looked up
at the stars it was you know there was
no visual pollution their nose traffic
lights there were no
street lights are in no buildings and so
that the clarity of the the heavens were
just amazing there and she said on one
of these trips and I was actually there
when this happened she was traveling
with the camel she was in a really good
mood everything seemed to be going
really really well and then it started
raining when it rains camels will stop
dead in their tracks and they won’t move
because they have no traction
she was trying to get to a place called
docker River which is about 10 miles
away from where we were at that point
and so she kept going in the rain and
kind of forcing the camels to walk right
after I took this picture one of her
camels Dookie fell and camels are like
horses if they break a leg
you basically have to put them down
because they doesn’t heal and he laid on
the ground groaning and she thought he’d
broken his leg he wouldn’t move it took
for about six hours so I drove ahead to
the aboriginal mission and we called a
vet who we actually actually flew out
the vet said it looked like he had just
sprained his leg but it’s going to take
six weeks to heal so she ends up living
a docker River for six weeks you know
sort of life was what happens while
you’re busy making other plans this
ended up becoming a great experience for
her because she got to spend time in
this one Aboriginal mission instead of
stopping and traveling on one of the
things that was so wonderful but the
Aboriginal kids is that they were so
excited when she ever she showed up in
these villages it’s probably one of my
favorite pictures from the whole trip I
just loved that you could just see all
the body language all the excitement of
the kids that the camel ladies here the
camel ladies here it’s just wonderful it
was nice to see her happy too and the
kids really kind of brought her out of
herself in wonderful ways I would show
up sometimes and I remember showing up
once and she said you Americans treat
friendship like valium it was like you
know really it’s like it’s like it’s the
insult or challenge of the day and Robin
was doing this to herself as well but I
thought at a certain point we turd had
gotten over the initial hostility and I
said okay what’s that supposed to mean
and she said well every time I see
Americans together y’all saying don’t
worry everything will be fine it’ll all
work out and I said and that’s a bad
thing she says yeah cuz if you care
about somebody and they’re doing
something stupid if they’re marrying the
wrong person they have abusive boss
they’re doing they’re taking drugs
whatever it is
you hit them over the head with a 2×4
you risk your friendship to be a friend
and maybe you lose them as friends but
she said you’re all cowards like you
won’t actually be friends to each other
because you’re afraid you’ll lose the
friendship and I remember thinking wow
that’s I mean that’s a really
interesting thought I mean I had never
you know I said you know what you’re
right I mean I’m not speaking for all
Americans but I mean it’s there were so
many conversations like there was she
had a different way of like approaching
things and it was sort of my year of
growing up too I mean I was 27 28 years
old but emotionally I was like 19 years
old I mean every girlfriend I’d had
lasted a week and then somebody give me
an assignment and I could leave you know
work it out when I come back and I would
never come back so you know with this
experience with Robin who is like so
much older and wiser than her 26 years I
mean it was like literally like spending
time with a really interesting profound
person that wouldn’t let you get away
with anything
so I mean I was constantly having either
defend or think or be challenged it was
it was just the whole thing was so
fascinating so at one point during the
trip early in the trip one morning she
woke up and she said I had this dream
about this Aboriginal man the came out
of nowhere and travel with me and I had
a journal I was keeping a journal
throughout the whole trip and I came
back on you know like the third time out
there and she was with this little
Aboriginal man I said it was this and
she said this is mr.eddy and she said he
it came out of nowhere he’s traveling
with me I said just like you’re dreaming
she said what do you mean said don’t
remember the dream you had the beginning
of the trip she says I didn’t have a
dream about I showed her that in my
journal you dreamt this guy mr.eddy
traveled with her for six weeks and he
was incredible he was a tribal elder
didn’t speak a word of English and
traveled with it for six weeks came out
of nowhere
taught her how to find food in the
outback took her to sacred areas that no
one was supposed to go to necessarily
became one of her most cherished
memories of her whole journey one day I
got a telegram from her I was in Hong
Kong and the telegram said could you
please bring me a rifle and it was the
same rifle I knew she already had and
the reason is because when male camels
are in heat if you have a female camel
they will kill you to get to your female
so I said to her when she was telling me
about the doing the triple how would it
how would it count will kill you you
know
you chewy to death or something I mean
I’m trying to figure out and she said no
actually she said it’s pretty
frightening that you know camels have
necks that are so strong that v they can
lift 15 grown men on their neck so what
a camel will do is well come over and
I’ll knock you over with its neck and
it’ll sit on you and suffocate you these
are very intelligent animals I mean it’s
very interesting that they’ve actually
figured out how to kill human beings
right but when they’re in heat they go
they have this bladder that comes out of
their mouths and foam and it’s like a
lot of animals in heat and if you have a
female they will kill you to get to the
female and if they lure the female off
she’s dead she needed these camels
carried all of her food all of her water
all of her gear so if they ran away she
was dead out there so she actually was
attacked at one point by a group of wild
camels so when I and she had to kill two
of them which was heartbreaking to her
because she obviously you know she loves
animals so I had this horrible thought
that oh my god she’s lost her gun
somewhere so I you know I when I drove
out there I thought my god I’m gonna
bring her the gun and it turned out it
was a gift for mr. Eddie
she had her gun she was fine but mr.
Eddie just love this gun of hers and so
he was so excited when I got out of the
car and I had this gun on one of the
trips I came out I’m sitting by the fire
and Robin said when are you going to get
here and I come in about four hours
before and I was sitting there and I was
talking about something I just done
somewhere else and she said I said
excuse me she said when are you gonna
get here and I thought okay now she’s
actually now flipped out I said Robin
I’m sitting here across the fire from
you hello she said no you’re not here
she said you’re talking about your time
cover story we’re gonna leave the car in
three weeks did your phone get x-rayed
she said you know you come out here and
you spend the entire time talking about
something you did or something you’re
going to do and if you’re going to be
here the goddammit be here and don’t be
lost in your head the whole time it’s
again it was one of those things where
somebody kind of goes like that and go
you know what you know how many of you
now have looked at people in restaurants
where there’s a couple in the restaurant
and they’re both doing this and they’re
talking to everybody except the person
they’re talking they’re with right I
mean if you know I was gonna say Robin
if you thought it’s bad back then and
there the whole world has now turned to
that but again it was it was so not
necessary refreshing but it was so
fascinating to have someone constantly
calling you on things and they and you
say you know what you’re absolutely
right you know I am totally thinking
about what I did or what I’m going to do
and I sort of be here now it’s that old
Zen kind of thing right so as I said
before every time I left her I always
worried that I that each time I left her
I’d look in the rearview mirrors I drove
away and wonder if that would be my last
memory of her something terrible would
happen door out there so I was sitting
in Hongkong one day and a writer from I
was working with a writer named Richard
Bernstein from the New York Times and he
was at breakfast I met him for breakfast
and I walked in the Hilton Hotel and he
said you better sit down
I said what he said to sit down so I sit
down he’s really Pala he hands me the
local paper and the paper says
mysterious camel lady missing in gibson
desert desperate search underway and i
go completely cold with my god it’s
happened you know the thing I was the
most afraid of so I rented a plane I
flew out to this little desert town near
where I thought I was going to meet her
the next time and there were journalists
there were trackers there were
helicopters there was like 80 paparazzi
out there and I was so flummoxed and so
upset and so freaked out that I never
occurred to me that I was leading all
them to her I assumed she was dead so I
got my car I drove to where she would
have been if every had been on schedule
and there she was and I’d now have all
these guys in cars following me with
film crews and and before I can say a
word they’re thrusting the newspapers in
her face with my pictures on the cover
and you know the whole time you know
this is what they thought the camel lady
looked like by the way
um so before I can say a word to her I
mean my first thought is she’s gonna
think I’ve sold her out you know like
because I always worried that she
thought that you know that I was that my
career came first the geographic came
first and and you know I finally got her
away from them and and we were trying to
figure out what happened like why did
people think you were missing I said has
anything happened I mean what would have
done this and she said oh my god I said
what she said I know what happened I
said what she said two weeks ago this
guy shows up in the middle of the night
in a racing car I said what I thought
honey she really hasn’t gone that’s
right she said no no in the middle of
the night I hear this motor and I Syd
these lights coming towards me she
didn’t see anybody for like three weeks
and this guy
screeches up with a racing car with big
fat tires and she said his pupils were
the size of pin pricks this guy was so
obviously on speed or something and she
said he hit on me and she’s I told him
to piss off and he drove to Sydney and
she said I he was breaking the world’s
record or driving for one so I’d have
Australia to the other and we found out
that he had a press conference in Sydney
and one of the journalists said what was
the most interesting thing about you
breaking the world’s record of driving
one side of Australia to the other and
he said oh I spent a romantic night in
the moonlight with a naked camel lady so
all of a sudden they’ve made up the
story of this naked camel lady in the
moonlight in the desert with the racing
car driver she knew nothing about this
and so all these people are out there
they made up the story that she was
missing she was never missing and then
like what do you do now you’ve got 80
people in the desert like how do you
hide how do you get rid of them so one
night I said to her after everybody goes
to sleep
get in my car and just hide like you
know in the backseat and I’m going to
tell the guys I’m going for beer and so
I basically we drove to the next town
her camels were fine because their
camels can survive for three or four
days without water and we went to town
and I had one of my friends in telegram
saying that Robin is decided to call the
trip off because of all the journalists
and that she’s sending a truck to pick
up the camels and basically all the guys
gave up and they left we waited three
days we didn’t come back for three days
their budget
right now basically there’s nothing to
do out there so it’s sort of a funny
scene this is when she’s looking at the
newspapers or the pictures of herself
it’s just insane
they’re even doing cartoons about her
I’m not gonna give you all the ins and
outs of the trip she had an unbelievable
experience but she finally did make it
to the ocean it took her nine months she
originally was supposed to be a
six-month trip the day before we got to
the ocean she said I don’t want you
there when I get to the ocean I really
just need to beat myself I said Robin I
have to be there so I managed to talk
her into it now she loves these pictures
she took the camels into the water they
thought this is like the biggest
drinking fountain they’d ever seen okay
they didn’t like the saltwater very much
this sort of underlying message that
you’re as powerful as you allow yourself
to be is one of the things I think is
resonated with people for years about
Robins trip that she doesn’t describe
herself as a hero she doesn’t say she’s
courageous she actually talks about her
fears very openly but she does it anyway
which is I think the thing that people
have admired so much about her one of
the things I think that stunned
everybody at the end of the trip was
that she decided to write a book about
it and I think everybody’s astonishment
the book resonated with people all over
the world so the story was this was
commissioned by and for National
Geographic after it ran the geographic
many other magazines around the world
picked it up I think it was over 100
publications that told the story in many
many different languages tracks has now
been published in 18 languages it sold
over a million copies as I said it’s
sort of a cult book in certain places in
the world I think one of the strangest
things that was the most stolen book the
year it was published in Austria I know
how they determined that and I don’t
know why that’s it’s sort of an odd
honor to win
I’m sure the booksellers are really
happy about that so about every seven
years I get a call from somebody in
Hollywood saying we’re doing this movie
and can we talk to you about Robin and
what was like to be there and I go I
have these meetings and nothing would
ever happen so when these guys called
this time saying we’re making the movie
it was sort of like you know crying wolf
okay been there done that four thousand
times already they said no we’ve
actually cast this
wonderful young actress mia wasikowska
so this is a little trailer for the
movie and I want to just quickly show
you kind of some of the the scenes that
they built on the still photographs do
you sir I am planning to walk across the
Australian desert from Alice Springs to
the Indian Ocean a distance of two
thousand miles and when people ask me
why I’m doing at my usual answer is why
not your plan is ridiculous
you must be mad girlie you know that’s
about 2000 months six months a hard walk
you want to die out there or something
I’m so alone we all are
thank you all very much thank you
you
Please follow and like us: