Reading List

SOUTH AUSTRALIA-NATURAL LANDSCAPES - Peter Dobre Peter Dobre Oz Landscapes, South Australian photographer Peter Dobre presents his second book, which displays his passion for the blend of colours, textures wildlife and scapes in creation. His energy and desire "to blaze the trail" allows him to enjoy and capture the natural beauty of his home state.

AUSTRALIAN LANDSCAPE-THE FLINDERS RANGES - Stavros Pippos Endeavour Publishing, In his sensitive portrayal of the South Australian Flinders Ranges, Stavros reveals his deep love for this beautiful, but often hostile environment. As a photographer, his aim is to capture fresh and distinctive images by the creative use of natural lighting…. it is a uniquely personal view of the Flinders Ranges.

DOWN TO EARTH-AUSTRALIAN LANDSCAPES - Photos: Richard Woldendorp, Text: Tim Winton Fremantle Arts Center Press, Named photographer of the year for his landscape photography, Richard Woldendorp's love of the Australian landscape has led to extensive travels throughout the country. As Tim Winton says "The land is out there. Somehow its looming presence presses upon us, perhaps even helps define us. The best of our painters, poets and prophets have taken their inspiration from it".

EXPLORE WILD AUSTRALIA-THE BUSH TUCKER MAN - Les Hiddins Penguin, Les Hiddins, 'The Bush Tucker Man' invites you to follow in his footsteps, discovering the unique bush tucker, the spectacular landscape and the people who make the Northern Territory so special.

AUSTRALIAN BEACHES - Foreword by Robert Drew Garry Allen Publishers, Australian beaches are renowned the world over. Visitors to these shores head for the sand at Bondi in Sydney, The Whitsundays in Queensland and Bells in Victoria, to name a few. They are drawn to wide sweeping beaches, city beaches, shell beaches, beaches fringed with coral, rocky beaches, and rain-forest lined beaches - you name it, Australia's got it all!

THE KIMBERLEYS-JOURNEY THROUGH AN ANCIENT LAND- Nick Rains New Holland Publishers, The Kimberleys is characterised by its vastness and intriguing ancient landforms; it epitomises the great Outback of Australia. Filled with rugged ranges, inland remnants of ancient limestone reefs and mighty rivers and cascades, this book presents a dramatic and unique view of this area.

AUSTRALIA'S NATURAL WORLD - WILD AND FREE - Through the lens of Nicholas Birks New Holland Publishers, Australia's magnificent wildlife includes: the bounding of a kangaroo across the arid red centre, a koala mother moving slowly through the gum trees with her baby clinging to her back. Nicholas Birks has captured Australian birds and animals in spectacular photographs quite unlike any other. His passion for conservation, landcare and harmony with the land shine through his text.

HISTORY, ADVENTURES & BIOGRAPHIES:

KINGS IN GRASS CASTLES by Mary Durack Probably the best saga of pastoral Australia published. This is the story of the colonisation of rural Australia, of squatters and cockies, of mad gold rushes, of tremendous success and appalling disaster.

KIDMAN: THE FORGOTTEN KING by Jill Bowen As a barely literate youth of 13, Sidney Kidman ran away from home and worked as an odd-job boy in a grog shanty in outback Australia. He became the greatest pastoral landowner in modern history. This book is a timely reassessment of the extraordinary Australian known as the Cattle King, driven by a grand plan for the remote, arid regions of Australia, keeping him locked in a battle with the land - and against drought.

THE SINGING LINE by Alice Thompson The construction of the Overland Telegraph Line in the 1870's was a great logistical feat. Charles Todd was in charge of the mammoth task and in the course of the enterprise, named Alice Springs after his wife. In 1997, their great great granddaughter, Alice Thomson, set out to track the telegraph and her ancestors. The Singing Line brings together an irresistible mix of family history, with a modern-day young couple's sometimes hilarious, sometimes hazardous trek across the continent.

THE STRENGTH OF OUR DREAMS by Sara Henderson The long-awaited sequel to the best selling 'From Strength to Strength'. It takes us through the next six years of an incredibly varied life sharing the frustrations, tragedies and triumphs of outback life.

CROCODILE DREAMING by Marie Mahood A family saga spanning 17 years of 'wet' and 'dry' seasons in the Top End leading up to the granting of Aboriginal citizenship in 1966. In this sequel to A Bunch of Strays, the author gives a unique twist to today's Reconciliation and evokes a side of Australian bush history of which we can all be proud.

NOTHING PREPARED ME! by Edna Eckford Quilty This story of a woman's life in a man's world epitomises the courage, resourcefulness, ingenuity, strength and determination of those who made the Outback what it is today. Told in the language of the time, it makes no concessions to political correctness. A true picture of life as it was, not how we would have liked it to be.

BENEATH WHOSE HAND by R.M. Williams As a teenager, R.M. Williams went bush, and trekked through the deserts and ranges of Central Australia as a camel man of a two-man expedition. He then worked as a drover. The sale of a hand-made packsaddle to Sir Sidney Kidman was the start of a business that grew rapidly. Soon bushmen from all over Australia were sending 'cash with order' for R.M.'s elastic-sided boots and other products, making him a household name. This is his story in his own words.