Antipodean reading
I'm going to Australia and New Zealand for a month or so in March and right now we're in the middle of quite a large and complex operation of sorting out where to go, booking flights and finding accommodation. Anyway, to the point. I always like to try to read a couple of books that originate from, or are about, the country I'm visiting. So has anyone got any suggestions for Antipodean reading? It could be fiction or non-fiction and food-related or history books are always good.
Also if anyone has any suggestions for places to stay in the Hunter Valley or Blue Mountains then that would be most helpful.
Update: And, of course, I should have thought of the wonderful Daunt Books on Marylebone who include guides, novels and non-fiction arranged by country. They had the not-available-at-Amazon "The Future Eaters", as recommended by Angus
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I remember really enjoying:
The Fatal Shore by Robert Hughes (colonial history)
The Future Eaters by Tim Flannery (mostly about climate change in oz)
The Secret River by Kate Grenville (historical novel)
Any novel by Tim Winton or Peter Carey
See also http://ask.metafilter.com/31084/Whats-the-Great-Australian-Novel
In Blue Mountains stay close to Katoomba/Leura Don't know accommodation but the Carrington could be an interesting experience (seen better days victorian style, unusual in australia probably expensive without facilities)
To eat if you can make it to Blackheath next town on railway along from Katoomba I can highly recommend Vulcans, but you may need to book a day or two ahead.
For reading I'd recommend The Songlines by Bruce Chatwin. For accommodation in the Blue Mountains Katoomba YHA is in a great location and is pretty nice as YHA's go.
Thanks guys, I shall check those out
There's also Down Under by Bill Bryson, just to scare you a bit :)
english passengers - michael mann
the bone people - kerry hulme
oh, and watch 'once were warriors'
I've never read it but lots of people have recommended The Bone People by Keri Hulme. I have a copy on my desk if you'd like to borrow it.
How lovely, well I am doing the exact opposite to you, planning to leave Australia and travel in the UK. In terms of the ideal books to read about Australia I think it would be difficult without knowing what sort of experience you were after. If you stick to the cities then obviously the books about the outback etc won't really help. I would say the whole Tim Winton/Bryce Courtney is obvious.
Just don't watch Wolf Creek, or Home & Away or Neighbours for that matter. We aren't really like that.
If you go to Katooma, the three sisters, the scenic railway is probably were you would probably want to go.
Sorry I can't be of more help!
Bone People is excellent, read it myself while onthe south island, and very atmospheric it was. I also enjoyed a little facinating non-fiction: New Zealand has some bizarre and startling geology, so I really enjoyed reading "the earth: an intimate history" by Richard Fortey. I guess this, or any other really well written pop sci geology tome would be worth taking along.
Hi Tristan,
Don't know if you're still in Australia, but an absolutely brilliant book about Sydney is Leviathan by John Birmingham.
It's billed as "An unauthorised biography of Sydney" and that pretty much hits the mark.
PS don't know if you're willing to do any radio/digital platforms talking while you're in Sydney, but I'd be interesting in meeting you if so. I'm working on digital radio for the ABC.
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