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From Alice to Ocean: Alone Across the Outback Hardcover – January 1, 1992


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Frequently Bought Together

From Alice to Ocean: Alone Across the Outback + Tracks: A Woman's Solo Trek Across 1700 Miles of Australian Outback
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Product Details

  • Hardcover: 223 pages
  • Publisher: Addison-Wesley; Har/Com edition (January 1992)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0201632160
  • ISBN-13: 978-0201632163
  • Product Dimensions: 16.2 x 11 x 1.5 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 4.8 pounds
  • Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (17 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #52,070 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

The astounding story of a twenty-seven-year-old Australian woman who set off to cross the desolate outback, accompanied only by four camels and a dog. It was a trip that began as a pure and (many said) lunatic gesture of independence and quickly turned into an all-out battle of wits against the forces of both nature and civilization. Cocky and outspoken, Robyn Davidson's tale is at once the probing journal of a daring and stubborn woman and a wilderness adventure of the most exhilarating sort. Rick Smolan, the photographer, had his own adventure tracking Robyn down to document her trip for National Geographic magazine. The outback of Australia, seen through Rick's cameras and Robyn's words, is an ancient awesome landscape swept by rain, heat and dust and inhabited by all varieties of marauding life, from poisonous snakes and wild bull camels to swarms of tourists clamoring after their newest heroine, the "Camel Lady." When Robyn and her caravan reach their destination six months and 1700 miles of outback later, their arrival marks the end of a true odyssey and an unforgettable book. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Publishers Weekly

In April 1977, Robyn Davidson set out with four camels and a dog to cross the deserts of Western Australia--1700 miles from Alice Springs to the Indian Ocean. Her sponsor, National Geographic , arranged for photographer Rick Smolan to meet her at various locations along the way. Davidson's riveting account of her journey, Tracks, won awards and became a bestseller. Here, Smolan presents his color photographs alongside excerpts from Tracks. It is a rewarding combination that dramatizes the hardships Davidson encountered and the stark beauty of a hostile landscape. Smolen, creator of the Day in the Life series, photographed tourists, aborigines, scenery and Davidson with her animals--riding, resting, playing. His images make a great adventure even more memorable.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Customer Reviews

4.7 out of 5 stars
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An incredible story about a woman's solo journey across the outback.
Paula Stern
Although large in size, and filled with breathtaking photographs, this book includes so much more than the regular "picture book".
E. L. Weinhold
I bought this book while on a visit to Australia in 1990 and read it on the flight home!
misnplace3@aol.com

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 17 people found the following review helpful By misnplace3@aol.com on March 6, 2000
Format: Hardcover
I bought this book while on a visit to Australia in 1990 and read it on the flight home! I was completely entranced by this woman's tenacity and determination to complete her often difficult but life expanding trek ALL ALONE! I had lost this book in a fire in 1993 and felt like I had lost a friend - I am soooo happy to see it is back in print! The incredible photos that accompany the journey are worth every penny!
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9 of 9 people found the following review helpful By A Customer on November 11, 1998
Format: Hardcover
I bougt this book in Italy and I knew a little part of Australia. Buy it, you will found marvellous photos in the book and cd-rom also! FANTASTIC.
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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful By Paloma Doveny on October 30, 2011
Format: Hardcover
From Alice to Ocean is a book of the phenomenal photographs taken by Rick Smolan (of National Geographic) of Robyn Davidson's incredible 1700 mile walk, alone across the Australian outback with four camels and a dog in the mid 1970's. The amazing full length written account is available in Robyn's small riviting paperback entitled Tracks. A good deal of her compelling writing accompanies the photos in From Alice to Ocean, published 16 years (1992) after her remarkable trek. Interesting to note: From Alice to Ocean was the first photography book ever published on a MAC computer. The result was, and still is, nothing short of spectacular. Every photo is world class and captures part of a land that is seen only by the Aboriginies who travel through.

Interestingly Robyn felt she had sold herself out after more than two years struggling working for fierce camel owners to earn enough money to buy her camels, when she accepted a grant from National Geographic for her story. There was a stipulation that a photographer be flown in every few weeks to document her trip. In this case her loss of privacy is our gain. And in some instances hers, when on the journey she requests that a rifle like the one she carried be brought to the next drop off point, to give to Mr Eddie, an elderly Aboriginal tribesman who walked with her for several weeks (a companion in his seventies she thought would slow her down but who in fact she struggled to keep pace with).

The magnitude of the journey, Robyn's eloquent account and the gorgeous photography make a remarkable book. No one will be disappointed with this rare collectors item and I imagine it is highly sought by anyone who hears of it after reading Tracks. I have a treasured 20 year old copy I received for Christmas the year it was first published. I'll always remember opening the gift while handing the very same present to my then boyfriend. I no longer have the boyfriend. Happily I have the book.
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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful By A Customer on November 8, 1998
Format: Hardcover
Great photography, great interactivity... check it out
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7 of 8 people found the following review helpful By E. L. Weinhold on July 8, 2006
Format: Hardcover
Although large in size, and filled with breathtaking photographs, this book includes so much more than the regular "picture book". Robyn's thoughtful words make you feel as if you are traveling right along with her and her famous camels. The story is engaging and heart-wrenching; and the reader runs through the same emotions that Robyn feels at each leg of the journey, from the tragedy of loss to the jubilation of completion.

Beautiful and introspective - and very highly recommended.
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6 of 7 people found the following review helpful By Virginia Allain on November 24, 2004
Format: Hardcover
The combination is a winner because of:

* the stunning page and a half photo spreads of Australian desert and scenes showing Robyn's trek with the camels

* engaging narration by Robyn that shows you the beauty, fear, boredom, and other feelings that accompany her on the months of solitude crossing 1700 miles of outback Australia

The photographer represented National Geographic, and the photos have that look the magazine readers expect. Interesting panoramas, the light playing on the spinifex, the wrinkled face of an Aboriginal tracker, the otherworldly red dirt, the camels silhouetted against the skyline.

Robyn represented only herself and undertook the trek for reasons even she did not understand. Seeing her develop and expand her thinking during the days and weeks and months on the track makes this a fascinating book.
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful By Ian Smith on October 27, 2013
Format: Hardcover Verified Purchase
I had previously read "Tracks" - the novel written by Robyn Davidson about her solo journey across central Australia with four camels and her dog - and absolutely fell in love with it. This book contains an abridged version of that book, but I bought it for the photos taken by the National Geographic photographer brought in to record the journey. They are stunning and really bring the story to life.
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful By Paula Stern on June 21, 2013
Format: Hardcover Verified Purchase
This is an amazing book. My daughter and I read it together when we found it at the library and it was such an amazing book that I purchased it for her as a gift...and the bonus is, a CD came with it! An incredible story about a woman's solo journey across the outback. A must read!
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