Roff Smith

For a National Geographic, this coffee table book is much lower in quality than normal. The book is divided into 7 sections, generally regionally, working counter clockwise from Cape York all the way around to the starting point. Each section generally consists of 4-8 pages of text followed by numerous full-page photos. . I was surprised to find typos in almost every text section, excepting maybe section 4 or 5. Some sentences just.
Then a new paragraph starts. Captions were generally error show more free; that editor gets kudos.
Generally speaking, most photos were uninspiring. While the text built things up, the photos didn't often capture the text's spirit. Every NGS article I have on Australia has better photos. It seems this book was some way to capitalize on all the unused photos filling their vaults.
I estimate my own Geographic knowledge to be well above average (thanks to decades of NGS), and knew general concepts of Australian history and culture. This book added some meat onto those bones. I learned new facts, better contexts for my prior facts and have a clearer idea of how Australia fits into modern history. show less

A fantastic look at an Australia that few tourists, much less citizens get to see and experience. The author cicumnavigates Austalia on a bike, and sees all that makes Australia unique. He also meets some wonderful people along the way.
This is a fantastic read.

Roff Smith is an American who'd been living in Australia for fifteen years when he realised he didn't know a whole lot about his adopted country and rather than cracking an atlas or taking a course, he decides he's going to load a bicycle and head north from Sydney one Sunday in July. He mixed inland travel with coastal beaches and desert outback and the refreshing thing about this, as compared to some other travelogues was that it wasn't a minute-by-minute account of his trip. By the same show more token, there were parts I wanted to know more about. Reading this book in the Build Up (to my trip North, not the Monsoon) just increased the travel itch--I want to see the whole country. Yes I know that's not feasible or practical, but doesn't mean I don't want to try. He mixes spur of the moment fun--a fishing trip with mates he just met, helping to shear sheep at a huge station outside of Longreach--with the mundane reality of life on the road--facing having to backtrack after an impromptu detour, long waterless stretches of the Nullarbor to make a very good book. And while I'm sure he saw a lot more than I will, I'm glad I won't be seeing this country on two wheels. show less

My second favorite bicycling adventure book. I learned so much about Australia reading it. (My favorite is Miles from Nowhere [bc:Miles from Nowhere|343994|Miles from Nowhere|Barbara Savage|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1347475385s/343994.jpg|334335] by Barbara Savage).