Reviewed by Wendy Lipke
The children’s picture book, Tiki and Jill, retells the story of the Great Australian Camel Race, an endurance undertaking from Ayres Rock (Uluru) to the Albert Shire on the Gold Coast. This covered a distance of 3260 kilometres and took place between 28th April and the 16th of July 1988.
The race was split into six stages – Ayres Rock to Alice Springs, Boulia, Longreach, Charleville, Warwick then finishing on the Gold Coast. This race raised money for the Royal Flying Doctor Service and served as a tribute to the role of camels and the cameleers during the 19th Century.
A brief history of the camel in Australia is provided at the end of the story before notes about this subject. Pictures provided on the inside of the front and back covers of the book are from the actual 1988 Great Camel Race.
The children’s story is about a young woman named Jill who decided to enter this competition along with people from various walks of life. There was a carpet layer from Queensland who joined aboriginal stockmen, professional cameleers and soldiers, all ready for this great adventure across different terrains.
However, Jill’s camel Tiki, did not want to cooperate and follow her commands and was quite obnoxious to her whenever she approached him. She had to resort to wearing strange outfits just to get near him. Eventually she managed to train Tiki with basic commands. However, once the race was underway Tiki did not like to pass other camels. He was a follower, so Jill had to keep her camel away from the rest of the group.
At one stage Tiki and Jill found themselves well away from the group of competitors and support crew, alone in the vast interior of Australia. This became more worrying for Jill when Tiki decided to run off, and she was left alone. Fortunately, Tiki returned and they were able to continue their journey.
During the remainder of the time Jill and Tiki were able to form a workable relationship and eventually they came into the Gold Coast in sixth place out of the sixty-nine starters.
The illustrations within the book dominate each page and the storyline is presented in brief paragraphs. They highlight the towns involved along the way as well as the differing landscape through which the trek took place, and the weather the competitors had to endure. These illustrations also show the trouble Jill had with a camel who liked to be in control.
After the race Jill had to return Tiki to his owner, but she will never forget him or the experience they shared. Tiki wasn’t just a camel to Jill; he became a friend.
What a wonderful children’s non-fiction picture book this is. It shares not just an endurance race with camels but also shows the uniqueness of the Australian outback as it acknowledges our history.
Tiki and Jill
(2026)
by Kate Simpson and Dr Jill Colwell
Illustrated by Craig Smith
Allen & Unwin
ISBN: 978-1-7611-8233-4
$24.99; 44pp.