It’s 1928. Two young women are out to break the land speed record from Perth to Adelaide, to Melbourne to Sydney in their Lancia Lambda.
Jean and Kathleen are at the starting line in Fremantle. They look at each other nervously but Kath says, ‘There’s nothing men can do that we can’t!’ Jean agrees. An official looks at them saying, ‘Good luck, you’re going to need it. I bet you’re back by dinnertime.’
‘Go!’ Kath yells, ‘Eat my dust!’
Into the rocky country they go, with Barney the dog, the wind in his face and hanging his tongue out with joy. Across salt pans until they pull into Balladonia Station for a fuel stop and a cup of tea. They’re right on schedule. A male voice yells from the workers hut, ‘You two are dreamin. You’ll get lost in five minutes and I won’t be coming to find ya.’
The brave and determined young women zoom off to cross the Nullarbor Plain. The adventures of Jean and Kathleen are the stuff of history. They change tyres, get lost and found, and climb huge sand dunes in a car not designed for doing so.
These two women not only broke the record, but in 1932 they drove to Europe to take part in the famous Monte Carlo Rally. Through their travels they ‘created some of Australia’s earliest outback road maps for the Shell Company’. They faced much discrimination but were also welcomed as heroes.
A terrific book, with lively illustrations, giving us a feel for the excitement and anticipation of what lay ahead for these women. This is a tale from history that needed a bright light shone upon it and Eat My Dust! does this in spades.
Reviewed by Merle Morcom
Age Guide 5+
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
ABOUT THE AUTHORI had the perfect childhood. I was surrounded by animals, cats and dogs (kittens and puppies too, of course) canaries, doves, chickens and ducks (yep, chicks and ducklings), turtles, ferrets, rabbits, cattle and sheep (calves and lambs) and horses and foals. And I had a thousand acres to run around in – they were happy days and that’s why I write for children.
As a farm child, I studied science at University and worked as a Scientist in Research and Development in the Dairy and Confectionary industry for 16 years. I was literally the ‘mad scientist’ with my white laboratory coat, hair net and steel-capped boots. It was a very cool job. Some days I would eat chocolate all day. Other days cheese. Sometimes both! My work was experimental, developing formulations on a laboratory pilot and then scaling them up to factory size. It was a dream job and it took me all over the world.
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