The 12 camels plodded through Rainbow Valley in the Australian outback. Kelsey, the author's 7-year-old granddaughter, nudged her 1,000-pound camel in the belly and Charcoal charged off in a cloud of dust, galloping to the head of the line.The author and 3 of his grandchildren, along with 6 other adventurers, a guide and a camel handler took a 7-day camel safari in the middle of the Australian desert. They spent 8 hours a day riding camels in search of caves with Aboriginal paintings, fossils, desert animals and unusual flora and fauna. At night they slept on the ground around a huge fire to ward of the near-freezing temperature. It was winter in the desert. While the daytime temperature was 80F or 90F, it dropped into the 30s at night.