VILLAGE PUMP
The Samford Progress Association’s free community newspaper printed continuously since 1977.
The
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“Your Community Newspaper, owned by the Samford Community and produced for the benefit of the Samford Community.” 21 JANUARY 2022
P: 0477 663 696
E: editor@villagepump.org.au NEXT DEADLINE THURSDAY 27/01/2022
1 WOMAN, 5 CAMELS AND A 5000KM TREK
Sophie Matterson from Highvale has just completed a 5,000km solo trek across Australia from West Coast to East Coast with 5 camels which she caught and trained from the wild. Sophie, a former Samford Steiner School pupil and one time member of Samford Golden Valley Pony Club, trained as a photographer and film maker. She spent four years learning all about camels both in Australia and overseas, before deciding to embark on her adventure, training camels, Jude, Delilah, Clayton, Charlie and Mac, and making the camel saddles, while working at Uluru Camel Tours. In March 2020, 33 year old Sophie trucked the camels from Uluru to Shark Bay in Western Australia - in itself a 5 day adventure - commencing the trek on 1 April 2020 just as Covid set in. Sophie and her young and inexperienced camels were confronted with very hot and dry conditions. Sophie carried about 600kg of gear including water for herself and the camels, a month’s supply of food for her, swag, rifles, medicines and other survival gear, all of which had to be loaded and unloaded from the camels every day so they could be set free to feed. Early in the trip, disaster almost struck when the camels spooked and took off, running several kilometers carrying all of Sophie’s gear, including essential survival kit of satellite phone, EPIRB beacon and water. As luck would have it, the camels were pulled up when their ropes became
entangled in mulga bushes and Sophie was able to recapture them. A lesson learnt; from then on, she always carried her survival kit. The most challenging section of the trek was the 1,400 kms from Laverton to Coober Pedy, following the Anne Beadell Highway which is nothing more than a grader track through the Great Victoria Desert.
With only one roadhouse along the track and up to 20 days walk between water points, she arrived at Mount Clarence Station north of Coober Pedy in October 2020. Sophie decided to split the trek into two halves, resting the camels over the summer months when it is too hot to walk through Central Australia. The camels were trucked
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to Beltana Station in the Flinders Ranges for summer agistment, and then returned to Mount Clarence in May 2021 having gained condition from rest and good feed. From Coober Pedy, Sophie walked to William Creek, then around the bottom of Lake Eyre on The Oodnadatta Track, then up the Strezleki Track to Cameron’s Corner and entry into Queensland. From here she followed the dog fence that runs along the QLD/NSW border, continuing to Hungerford, Hebel, Texas and Stanthorpe, before crossing into NSW, trekking over the Great Dividing Range and finishing on the beach at Byron Bay on 10 December 2021. Daily distances travelled varied greatly, depended upon feed for the camels and good campsites, with the maximum distance being about 28kms. Luck was with Sophie in that every time she needed to cross a State border, it was open in the direction she wanted to cross. Throughout the trip, Sophie was shown tremendous hospitality and help from the people of outback Australia making friends along the way. The journey completed without injury to camels or herself, and with the camels safely back in South Australia, Sophie plans to write a book and maybe make a documentary. There are also rumours that one of the camels may be trained to race, Sophie having won the Alice Springs Camel Cup in 2019 as a jockey! A remarkable achievement.
