Following Burke and Wills Across Australia

Author: Dave Phoenix
Publisher: CSIRO PUBLISHING
ISBN: 1486301592
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 415

Book Description
Every Australian has heard of Burke and Wills but few have travelled in their footsteps. In 2008, historian Dave Phoenix decided to walk across Australia from Melbourne to the Gulf of Carpentaria, following the track taken by the ill-fated Burke and Wills Expedition. Now you can follow them too. Following Burke and Wills Across Australia guides you on a road trip that follows one of history’s great transcontinental journeys, sharing the explorers’ experiences on the way. Maps lay out a route that takes you as close as possible to the Expedition’s track. As you travel the outback roads, you can learn all the details of the day to day journey of the Expedition from the explorers’ own words, and compare what you see with their descriptions of the country in 1860–61. Each chapter provides information about what to see now: the location and descriptions of the markers and memorials placed along the route over the 150 years since the Expedition, and places where you can stand where the explorers stood and look out over prospects they drew and described. The book is a perfect companion for those wanting to see outback Australia, and at the same time understand a journey that has attained mythic status in the history of Australian exploration. Even if you want to follow only part of the track, this is the book for you.

The Dig Tree

Author: Sarah Murgatroyd
Publisher: Text Publishing
ISBN: 1921922265
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 391

Book Description
Wills knew that he was fading fastest. On 26 June, he decided the only honourable thing to do was to sacrifice himself to save his companions. ‘Without some change,’ he wrote, ‘I see little chance for any of us.’ In 1860, an eccentric Irish police officer named Robert O’Hara Burke led a cavalcade of camels, wagons and men out of Melbourne. Accompanied by William Wills, a shy English scientist, he was prepared to risk everything to become the first European to cross the Australian continent. A few months later, an ancient coolibah tree at Cooper Creek bore a strange carving: ‘Dig Under 3ft NW’. Burke, Wills and five other men were dead. The expedition had become an astonishing tragedy. Sarah Murgatroyd reveals new historical and scientific evidence to tell the story of the disaster with all its heroism and romance, its discoveries, coincidences and lost opportunities. Generously illustrated with photographs, paintings and maps, The Dig Tree is a spell-binding book.

Burke and Wills

Author: Peter FitzSimons
Publisher: Hachette Australia
ISBN: 0733634095
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 702

Book Description
The iconic Australian exploration story - brought to life by Peter FitzSimons, Australia's storyteller. 'They have left here today!' he calls to the others. When King puts his hand down above the ashes of the fire, it is to find it still hot. There is even a tiny flame flickering from the end of one log. They must have left just hours ago. MELBOURNE, 20 AUGUST 1860. In an ambitious quest to be the first Europeans to cross the harsh Australian continent, the Victorian Exploring Expedition sets off, farewelled by 15,000 cheering well-wishers. Led by Robert O'Hara Burke, a brave man totally lacking in the bush skills necessary for his task; surveyor and meteorologist William Wills; and 17 others, the expedition took 20 tons of equipment carried on six wagons, 23 horses and 26 camels. Almost immediately plagued by disputes and sackings, the expeditioners battled the extremes of the Australian landscape and weather: its deserts, the boggy mangrove swamps of the Gulf, the searing heat and flooding rains. Food ran short and, unable to live off the land, the men nevertheless mostly spurned the offers of help from the local Indigenous people. In desperation, leaving the rest of the party at the expedition's depot on Coopers Creek, Burke, Wills, Charley Gray and John King made a dash for the Gulf in December 1860. Bad luck and bad management would see them miss by just hours a rendezvous back at Coopers Creek, leaving them stranded in the wilderness with practically no supplies. Only King survived to tell the tale. Yet, despite their tragic fates, the names of Burke and Wills have become synonymous with perseverance and bravery in the face of overwhelming odds. They live on in our nation's history - and their story remains immediate and compelling.

A Successful Exploration Through the Interior of Australia

Author: William John Wills
Publisher: London : R. Bentley
ISBN:
Category : Australia
Languages : en
Pages : 426

Book Description

The Life and Adventures of William Buckley

Author: William Buckley
Publisher: Text Publishing
ISBN: 1921776595
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 134

Book Description
‘Flannery has done us a service first by reissuing the story of a fascinating adventure from 200 years ago, and then by setting these events in perspective with his lucid introduction.’ Canberra Times ‘At 2.00 pm on Sunday, 6 July 1835, a giant of a man shambled into the camp left by John Batman at Indented Head near Geelong...’ In 1803 the convict William Buckley, a former soldier, escaped from the first official settlement in Victoria, near Sorrento on Port Phillip Bay. For three decades the ‘wild white man’ lived with Aborigines around the bay, before giving himself up in 1835. First published in 1852, The Life and Adventures of William Buckley is the ultimate survival story of early Australia and provides an extraordinary insight into pre-contact indigenous society. Tim Flannery has published over thirty books, including the award-winning The Future Eaters, The Weather Makers and Here on Earth and the novel The Mystery of the Venus Island Fetish. In 2005 he was named Australian Humanist of the Year and in 2007 Australian of the Year. In 2007 he co-founded and was appointed Chair of the Copenhagen Climate Council. In 2011 he became Australia’s Chief Climate Commissioner, and in 2013 he founded the Australian Climate Council. ‘This account, in Buckley’s words...has all the elements of a Boy’s Own yarn: convicts, savages, privations, wars, cannibalism, survival, treachery and the founding of a colony.’ Herald Sun

A Source Book of Australian History

Author: Gwendolen Swinburne
Publisher: DigiCat
ISBN:
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 260

Book Description
"A Source Book of Australian History" is a concise full history of Australia from the discovery of Tasmania to the National Australian Convention and the establishment of the Commonwealth of Australia. The book was aimed at students interested in learning the subject. Each chapter has a short synopsis at the beginning to better comprehend the subject.

The Aboriginal Story of Burke and Wills

Author: Ian Clark
Publisher: CSIRO PUBLISHING
ISBN: 0643108106
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 450

Book Description
The Aboriginal Story of Burke and Wills is the first major study of Aboriginal associations with the Burke and Wills expedition of 1860–61. A main theme of the book is the contrast between the skills, perceptions and knowledge of the Indigenous people and those of the new arrivals, and the extent to which this affected the outcome of the expedition. The book offers a reinterpretation of the literature surrounding Burke and Wills, using official correspondence, expedition journals and diaries, visual art, and archaeological and linguistic research – and then complements this with references to Aboriginal oral histories and social memory. It highlights the interaction of expedition members with Aboriginal people and their subsequent contribution to Aboriginal studies. The book also considers contemporary and multi-disciplinary critiques that the expedition members were, on the whole, deficient in bush craft, especially in light of the expedition’s failure to use Aboriginal guides in any systematic way. Generously illustrated with historical photographs and line drawings, The Aboriginal Story of Burke and Wills is an important resource for Indigenous people, Burke and Wills history enthusiasts and the wider community. This book is the outcome of an Australian Research Council project.

Kings In Grass Castles

Author: Mary Durack
Publisher: Random House Australia
ISBN: 1742749976
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 711

Book Description
‘... far better than any novel; an incomparable record of a greart family and of a series of great actions.’ The Bulletin When Patrick Durack left Western Ireland for Australia in 1853, he was to found a pioneering dynasty and build a cattle empire across the great stretches of Australia. With a profound sense of family history, his grand-daughter, Mary Durack, reconstructed the Durack saga - a story of intrepid men and ground-breaking adventure. This sweeping tale of Australia and Australians remains a classic nearly fifty years on.

Epic Drives of the World

Author: Lonely Planet
Publisher: Lonely Planet
ISBN: 1787010023
Category : Travel
Languages : en
Pages : 615

Book Description
Buckle up for the next installment in our 'Epic' series and the follow-up to Epic Bike Rides of the World. Epic Drives of the World, a beautiful hardback, showcases 50 of the greatest road trips on Earth, from classic routes in America, Australia and Europe, to incredible adventures in Asia and Africa. Organised by continent, each route features a first-hand account, awe-inspiring photographs, illustrated maps and practical advice on when to go, how to get there, where to stay and what to eat. From Hawaii's Hana Highway and Vietnam's Ho Chi Minh Road, to Utah's National Park Circuit and Germany's Black Forest High Road, Epic Drives of the World will inspire any motorist to hit the open road. African and Middle East drives include: The self-drive Safari (Zambia) Crossing the Kalahari (Botswana) Passing over the Panorama Route (South Africa) Marrakesh to Taroudannt (Morocco) Cruising Clarence Drive (South Africa) The Americas drives include: The Highway to Hana in Hawaii (USA) The Salar de Uyuni (Bolivia) The Pacific Coast Highway (USA) Crossing the Carretera Austral (Chile) Canada's Icefields Parkway Asia drives include: On the trail of Ho Chi Minh (Vietnam) Crossing the Kathmandu Loop (Nepal) Hightailing from Thimphu to Gangtey (Bhutan) South Korea: From top to toe The road from Srinagar to Manali (India) Europe drives include: Black Forest High Road (Germany) The Wilds of Abruzzo (Italy) Croatia's Adriatic coast Norway's west coast The Magic Circle (Iceland) Oceania drives include: Southern Alps explorer (New Zealand) The Great Ocean Road (Australia) Northland & the Bay of Islands (New Zealand) Following the Captain Cook Highway (Australia) Alice Springs to Darwin (Australia) About Lonely Planet: Lonely Planet is a leading travel media company and the world's number one travel guidebook brand, providing both inspiring and trustworthy information for every kind of traveller since 1973. Over the past four decades, we've printed over 145 million guidebooks and phrasebooks for 120 languages, and grown a dedicated, passionate global community of travellers. You'll also find our content online, and in mobile apps, video, 14 languages, 12 international magazines, armchair and lifestyle books, ebooks, and more, enabling you to explore every day. Lonely Planet enables the curious to experience the world fully and to truly get to the heart of the places they find themselves, near or far from home. TripAdvisor Travelers' Choice Awards 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015 and 2016 winner in Favorite Travel Guide category 'Lonely Planet guides are, quite simply, like no other.' - New York Times 'Lonely Planet. It's on everyone's bookshelves; it's in every traveller's hands. It's on mobile phones. It's on the Internet. It's everywhere, and it's telling entire generations of people how to travel the world.' - Fairfax Media (Australia) Important Notice: The digital edition of this book may not contain all of the images found in the physical edition.

William John Wills

Author: John Kiste
Publisher: The History Press
ISBN: 075247250X
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 192

Book Description
In 1860 the Australian interior was unmapped and unknown to European settlers. When the Victorian Exploring Expedition tasked Robert O’Hara Burke, William John Wills and a party of nineteen men with crossing the country from South to North, this was soon to change. Following their slow and arduous journey from Melbourne to the Gulf of Carpentaria, John Van der Kiste gets to the heart of the expedition and the men involved. This book explores the way in which poor leadership skills, explosive characters and limited rations pushed the explorers to the limits of human capability. By 1861 the crossing had been declared a success, but only one man returned from the Gulf of Carpentaria. For the first time, William John Wills’ short life is examined in its entirety. In doing so, Van der Kiste details the character and motivations behind the man whose meticulous diaries secured the Wills name for posterity. Now 150 years on, Wills’ biography is a gripping tale of human endeavour.