An epic story of leaving everything behind to find purpose, adventure and love by crossing 4750km of rugged Australian terrain with five wild camels, from the winner of the 2022 Australian Geographic Spirit of Adventure Award.
In 2020, at the age of thirty-one, Sophie Matterson set out to walk her five camels from Shark Bay in Western Australia to Byron Bay on the east coast. At a time when most of her friends were getting engaged or starting families, Sophie longed for adventure, independence and purpose. She broke up with her long-term boyfriend, packed all her belongings into saddlebags and trained her wild camels to follow her lead.
“‘The Crossing’ is as profound as it is moving - a tapestry of adventure, love and, of course, camels.”
Her thirteen-month solo crossing was the ultimate test of resilience and self-sufficiency – with each state in various forms of lockdowns, Sophie would often walk for weeks without seeing another soul. She crossed harsh, remote deserts, navigated treacherously beautiful salt lakes, and visited country towns and isolated cattle stations. Along the way she survived life-and-death situations, fell in love in the middle of the Outback, and slowly began to trust herself and her own abilities.
Join Sophie as she regales us with this epic tale in conversation with Dr Jono Lineen.
Tickets: $10 (Entry Only) // $40 (includes a discounted copy of the book RRP $34.99)
Sophie Matterson is an adventurer currently based in the Flinders Ranges, South Australia. She first discovered her passion for camels when she took a break from her career in film and television to work on a camel dairy on the Sunshine Coast, Queensland. Her fascination with these enigmatic and intelligent animals grew from here, and her desire to learn more has taken her to Michigan and Texas in the USA, and Rajasthan India.
In 2020 and 2021 Sophie solo trekked 4,750 kilometres across the width of Australia, from Shark Bay, Western Australia to Byron Bay, New South Wales, with her five camels. Sophie’s dromedary traveling companions, Jude, Delilah, Charlie, Clayton and Mac were mustered from the wild near Uluru, where she spent a year breaking them in and training them to carry her equipment, as well as making her own saddles and organising permits and logistics before setting off. Her journey of 13 months, took her through some of the most remote and isolated parts of the country.
Her bookThe Crossing is an inspiring personal memoir that chronicles the highs and lows of her journey across the width of the continent with her five beloved camels.
Dr Jono Lineen is a museum curator and bestselling author whose books include: River Trilogy, Into the Heart of the Himalayas, Perfect Motion and Searching for Breath. His museum exhibitions include: Great Southern Land, Defining Moments in Australian History, Homefront: Australia During the First World War, Lag, Meta, Aus: Home in the Torres Strait and Discovery Centre. He was the first person to walk solo 2,700km along the length of the western Himalayas.