Knowing nothing of Australia except the lager-ad cliches of sun and surf, ockers and sheilas, kangaroos and didgeridoos, Mark McCrum arrives Down Under. Hitching, flying, by Greyhound and by train, he makes his picaresque way around the vast brown land. From royalist hippies to republican cattle-ranchers, from Queensland jillaroos to Indo-Chinese immigrants, from Perth millionaires to desert Aboriginals, he meets modern Aussies of every kind.
This book is a very good example of how travel books can and should be, it has humour, it has history, it has good descriptions of places and I thoroughly enjoyed reading it.
An extract from page 112 reads - "On the island itself I found a stack of brochures for the spanking new 5-star Green Island Resort. They featured a handsome young couple gazing adoringly at the sunset. The reality, of course, was a long line of American geriatrics, each with regulation sun-visor and white shoes, shuffling in a queue towards a tepid barbecue lunch. Mantovani played softly from the surrounding canopy of tall rainforest trees. "Ticket number 92," called a soothing voice, "your coffin is ready." This made me chuckle.
My rating: excellent