Desert trek showed my hidden side

THE new film Tracks, starring Mia Wasikowska, is causing a sensation, and I recommend it to anybody — especially younger women — who think they can’t do things on their own.

It’s the true story of how, in 1977, writer Robyn Davidson set off on a solitary 1,700mile trek with four camels and a dog, across the punishing deserts of western Australia from Alice Springs to the Indian Ocean.

Davidson wrote a marvellous book about her adventure that I admire.

In January 1989, researching my Australian novel, The Invasion Of Sand, I found myself alone in Alice Springs with just one contact telephone number — that of the author of Tracks.

Robyn was the friend of a friend, that’s all. But we met, hit it off and she invited me to stay. What fun we had — even though I guessed that strong Robyn thought me a bit of a wimp.

At the end of my stay, she announced we were going to drive miles into the Outback and spend the night in the open.

This was my little test. Armed with bedding, food and two bottles of champagne in a cooler, we set off into the shimmering heat.

Later, she sent me to gather wood for our fire, while she laid out the bed rolls. No tent. I thought of scorpions, spiders and lethal snakes, but did not say a word.

As the sun set below a low ridge of hills we cooked chicken and potatoes, drank our champagne and talked as if we’d known each other forever. At last, I lay down and gazed in awe at the purple- black sky and a miraculous scatter of stars, while haunting animal cries pierced the darkness.

That’s all. But it was unforgettable.

That night, Robyn Davidson gave me a tiny fraction of her swashbuckling style and I’ve always been grateful for the revelation that I — usually so timid about physical challenges — could be somebody else, that the most unexpected things are sometimes possible.