No comments about The Australian Race: Its Origin, Languages, Customs, Place of Landing in Australia, and the Routes by Which It Spread Itself over That Continent. Volume 2.

No comments about The Australian Race: Its Origin, Languages, Customs, Place of Landing in Australia, and the Routes by Which It Spread Itself over That Continent. Volume 3.

No comments about Following the Equator.

No comments about The Rough Guide to Pacific Northwest 2: Washington, Oregon, British Columbia, Alberta, Yukon (Rough Guide Travel Guides).

1 comments about Exploring Australia's Great Barrier Reef.

1. After an 11 page introduction in which the author's skilfully set the scene, they collectively go on to explain the Great Barrier Reef in the way it should have been explained all along. With chapters on; Evolution, History & Exploration, Marine Life, Nature & Art, Life above, Diving, Fishing and finally Staying & Seeing, these two authors have covered all bases in an interesting a readable way.
   
   Not all visitors to the greatest reef on earth are either divers or fishermen and there are few books which cater for those who are not. This one caters for all tastes.
   
   Superbly supported with colour photographs on every page - some of which will make your eyes pop right out of your head, this is a book to please all those who read it.
   
   Altogether a very exciting book!
   
   NM

4 comments about The Confessions of a Beachcomber.

1. Under inauspicious circumstances -- failing health -- Banfield arrives on Dunk island off of Australia's northeast coast. But as island lovers everywhere know, more often than not islands have a way of reintroducing vitality to the soul and regenerating failing health. Consider Robert Louis Stevenson! Such was the situation of Banfield when he arrived on Dunk Island.

   Banfield's greatest skill within this book is his journalistic training and keen powers of observation. His descriptions of island birdlife, in particular, present detailed glimpses of behavior and how individual birds interact with the rest of the island. "With the aid of a good telescope and a compact pair of field glasses, birds may be studied and known far more pleasurably than as stark cabinet specimens," he writes. It's no surprise to find out later that Banfield eventually persuaded -- similar to Thoreau and Muir in America -- the Australian government to set aside Dunk Island as a protected wildlife area.

   Banfield also turns his attentions to other island life, such as the coral reef and fishes surrounding the island, and including Aboriginals living on Dunk Island. While sounding condescending now, nearly a century later, his observations offer interesting insights into times past.

   Banfield's book reminded me of a non-political, "Desert Solitaire"-esque Edward Abbey turning his attention to a tropical island, in that the location is both a background and a source of detailed information. I enjoyed reading about the behavior of all island life and appreciated Banfield's obvious patience and skills as an observor. Being an island aficionado myself, I felt like I was enjoying the sights, sounds, and smells of some of my favorite places revisited.

   Overall, an excellent book to add to your library, whether travel, island, bird, or environmentally related.




2. Under inauspicious circumstances -- failing health -- Banfield arrives on Dunk island off of Australia's northeast coast. But as island lovers everywhere know, more often than not islands have a way of reintroducing vitality to the soul and regenerating failing health. Consider Robert Louis Stevenson! Such was the situation of Banfield when he arrived on Dunk Island.

   Banfield's greatest skill within this book is his journalistic training and keen powers of observation. His descriptions of island birdlife, in particular, present detailed glimpses of behavior and how individual birds interact with the rest of the island. "With the aid of a good telescope and a compact pair of field glasses, birds may be studied and known far more pleasurably than as stark cabinet specimens," he writes. It's no surprise to find out later that Banfield eventually persuaded -- similar to Thoreau and Muir in America -- the Australian government to set aside Dunk Island as a protected wildlife area.

   Banfield also turns his attentions to other island life, such as the coral reef and fishes surrounding the island, and including Aboriginals living on Dunk Island. While sounding condescending now, nearly a century later, his observations offer interesting insights into times past.

   Banfield's book reminded me of a non-political, "Desert Solitaire"-esque Edward Abbey turning his attention to a tropical island, in that the location is both a background and a source of detailed information. I enjoyed reading about the behavior of all island life and appreciated Banfield's obvious patience and skills as an observor. Being an island aficionado myself, I felt like I was enjoying the sights, sounds, and smells of some of my favorite places revisited.

   Overall, an excellent book to add to your library, whether travel, island, bird, or environmentally related.




3. The Confessions Of A Beachcomber is the fascinating autobiography of a man who left a high-stress, dead-end career to live the simple live of a beachcomber on Dunk Island off the northern coast of Queensland, Australia. An avowed disciple of Thoreau, Banfield sough as simple a life as possible and maintained that life on his tropical island for twenty-five years. He involved himself in observing the flora, fauna, and aborigines of the island, and through the publication of The Confessions Of A Beachcomber became one of Australia's highly regarded literary figures. Now available to an American readership through this Dixon-Price edition, The Confessions Of A Beachcomber is especially recommended reading for any one who has ever felt like chucking so-called "modern life" and return to a simpler, more basic existence in harmony with the environment and all that nature has to offer the contemplative life.



4. Ah the island life...a wonderful memoir of a more nostalgic time. Great read.

No comments about Waltzing the Magpies: A Year in Australia.

No comments about The Dacian Stones Speak.

No comments about New Zealand: Snowy Peaks to Ocean Deep, Sixth Edition (Odyssey Illustrated Guides).

No comments about Tourism Management (Wiley Australia Tourism).