By Dominique Tassell
Sophie Matterson walked through Stanthorpe over the weekend, a sight to see with five camels trailing behind her.
The 33-year-old, who quit her Brisbane job in film and television in 2016 to work on a camel dairy, has so far walked from Shark Bay in Western Australia all the way to Stanthorpe.
She crossed into Queensland at the end of August, walking through Texas on her way to our beautiful region. She stated on her blog that the Queensland stretch has been the most enjoyable walk of her trip so far.
She finally got to see her mum again in Texas, and said online that the last time she saw her she was training camels at Uluru.
This also coincided with her 33rd birthday, which she spent in a Texas AirBnB, surrounded by friends and family.
Sophie worked with camels for five years before deciding to embark on her epic journey; training five of them to join her.
She meticulously planned her 5,000km trek across from one coast of Australia to the other and crossed the middle of outback Australia in almost total isolation.
Covid-19 loomed above her on the journey, but even with state border closures and travel restrictions, she’s made it to Queensland just fine.
Sophie usually walks between 15-20km every day and is hoping to make it to Byron Bay sometime in November.
Locals have dubbed Sophie an inspiration and “absolutely amazing”.
You can follow Sophie’s journey online by checking out her blog sophiematterson.com, or following her on Instagram @sophiematterson.
If you want to know where she is, she welcomes emails at sophiematterson@gmail.com
