Thumbs Up Australia by Tom Parry

Thumbs Up Australia by Tom Parry

On the Road meets Down Under in this really rough guide to the adventures of an enthusiastic hitchhiker and his reluctant girlfriend on their quest for the real Australia. Hitching lifts with the desert's dodgiest drivers and taking breaks in the roughest roadhouses, this is Tom Parry's witty, warts-and-all tale of hitchhiking 8,000 miles across - and around - the Australian outback with his thumb, his backpack and his French girlfriend, Katia. As the couple hitch their way around the near empty highways, they encounter as wide a cross-section of Aussie society as you could ever hope to meet. In cattle stations, Aboriginal communities, remote waterholes, caravan parks, hippy communes and roadhouses, they see a country that remains as extraordinary today as it was for the first nineteenth century settlers. Loosely following the routes carved out by the legendary explorers who first traversed the great continent, the couple get to grips with the country's fascinating history. Set against a backdrop of the real Australia - not 'as seen on TV'- Thumbs Up Australia is full of wonderful anecdotes and endearing tales of some of the country's most idiosyncratic characters, from the grizzled Aboriginal elder with his tales of dreamtime, to an amphetamine-swallowing road train driver. And at the end of their journey, it is ironically Katia who suggests thumbing a lift to the airport!

A very readable and enjoyable tour of Oz that will only inspire the adventurous traveller to get off the well-trodden path If you're planning on a spot of hitchhiking, then the advice given here is not to be missed-- Ian Waller, editor Real Travel magazine
Parry is a great recorder of on-the-road conversations and does a pretty good job of capturing the Aussie vernacular. * Sydney Morning Herald *
Thumbs Up Australia is Tom Parry's gripping, funny and enlightening account of an 8,000-mile hitchhike around Oz -a fascinating insight into the harsh Outback. * Daily Mirror *
Tom Parry took on one of the marathons of hitchhiking. He has written a colourful and amusing account of the journey. -- John McCarthy, Excess Baggage
Traversing 8,000 miles of Australian outback with a reluctant French girlfriend makes an entertaining read. * Traveller magazine *

Tom Parry is a journalist on the Daily Mirror. He has written travel essays for Traveller, France and Global Adventure. He first hitchhiked around Australia at the age of 18.

SKU	Unavailable
ISBN 13	9781857883909
ISBN 10	185788390X
Title	Thumbs Up Australia
Author	Tom Parry
Condition	Unavailable
Binding Type	Paperback
Publisher	John Murray Press
Year published	2006-03-30
Number of pages	256
Prizes	Short-listed for Dolman First Travel Book Award 2007
Cover note	Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary.
Note	Unavailable