By Phil Jarratt
A few months back in Noosa Today we brought you the story of Brian Taylor, the veteran bushman now living in Noosa Shire who worked alongside the legendary RM Williams to establish the Bicentennial Trail in 1988.
Since then the Trail has inspired a small band of rugged adventurers to emulate the feat of diminutive Dan Seymour, who first rode the 5,330 kilometre route alone in 1972 to prove it could be done. A total of 55 people have ridden it end to end since, some remarkable people among them, but none quite like Aliénor le Gouvello, one of only two women to complete the Trail alone, and the only person to do it with the same horses from start to finish.
The young Frenchwoman set out from Healesville, outside Melbourne, in November 2015 with a team of three brumbies, and arrived at her destination, Cooktown, in July 2017, after 441 days in the saddle. Along the way, she achieved her goal of drawing attention to the plight of Australian wild horses, or brumbies, kept going despite being stricken by a crippling bout of Ross River Fever, and finally found new love in an Aussie bushman who shared her love of the horses and the wild places.
Now she has published a fascinating account of her grand adventure – not the first in an extremely adventurous life – in a book called Wild At Heart. While some of the power of the prose may have been lost in the translation from the original French, what remains is a heartfelt and page-turning saga of a woman whose courage knows no bounds, and whose love of her animals shines throughout.
As she approaches Cooktown, in agony because of the open sores from her fever, Aliénor writes: “At the end of the road is the sea. I’m dreaming of a camp on the beach.” I knew exactly how she felt, because I too had ridden long stretches of the Trail with Brian Taylor more than 30 years ago. But there was one significant difference. When I lay sprawled on my swag behind the Lion’s Den pub and hoped it would soon be over, I was just starting out. She had ridden the length of Australia, along the most difficult parts of the Great Dividing Range.
Aliénor continues: “I’ve reached this extremity of the world, where the earth touches the sea. I’m so grateful to Australia for being the country that has given me the strength and energy to bring this adventure to its fruition … I haven’t conquered the immensity of the bush, but it lives within me now.”
She also reveals a very human side, describing nights in one-room pubs downing ales with drovers and horsemen, and becoming annoyed with people who invade her solitude. But she is never annoyed with her brumbies, and her relationship with them is quite touching.
Before setting out on the National Trail, Aliénor had ridden horses across Mongolia and worked in remote outback Aboriginal communities. Before she’d even arrived in Cooktown she’d accepted an offer to ride across the Gobi Desert in an endurance race. The girl is tough.
But unless you’ve been out there on the Trail’s most rugged stretches and spent weeks in the saddle sleeping rough by the campfire, you can’t begin to imagine how tough you need to be. My own experiences of it gave me a clear insight into this woman’s achievement, and I’m in awe of it. However, in this book Aliénor doesn’t dwell on her own achievement. Instead she dwells on that of those wonderful wild creatures who carried her to the finish line.
I’ll be discussing all of this and more with Aliénor le Gouvello at a Wine, Cheese and Author Talk outside Annie’s Books at Peregian Beach from 6pm next Tuesday (April 13). Aliénor will also be showing some stills and video of her trek. This is going to be a great evening, courtesy of the inimitable Annie Grossman. It’s free and booking not required, but bring your own folding chair.
Wild At Heart is published by Affirm Press ($35) and the author will sign copies on the night.
