Donna Bourke was raised on a property near Nathalia, in Northern Victoria. She completed a Bachelor of Education/Librarianship degree and embarked on a career teaching secondary school boys in Melbourne and Canada. Then, at a time of life when many are consolidating their careers, Donna and her partner left their jobs and began restoring historic homesteads. Longerenong Homestead in the Wimmera was one of their purchases and inspired Donna to undertake the detective work that brought to light the fate of the camels that survived Burke and Wills’ expedition to the Gulf