Tom Hallyar is a teacher, writer, bushwalker, caver and adventurer. He has climbed isolated mountains in New Guinea, explored remote cave systems in New Guinea and the Philippines, walked across isolated Himalayan and Nepalese high country, and trekked lonely stretches of Alaska. In 1985 he made the diagonal journey from Wilsons Promontory by the southernmost Tasman Sea to Kalumburu where the Timor Sea laps the far off shores of the Northern Kimberley.
Garry Weare is enigmatic, funny and he has an enormous conscience. He brings into the story of his Himalayan traverse a succession of vignettes about people's lives that he meets along the way, relevant history, natural history observations and a delightful sprinkling of his inimitable sense of humour. The warmth of his relationships with his old Kashmiri friends and various people from the trekking fraternity adds a wonderful dimension to this journeyman's tale'. Peter Hillary Weare's finely rendered story of his five-month trek from the sacred source of the Ganges through the Kullu Valley, Zanskar and Ladakh to his houseboat in Kashmir is remarkably entertaining. The people he meets and travels with are fully-fledged characters that the reader comes to know and care about while the Himalaya, captured in all their variety, cast their spell. It is as if the act of walking allows the author to fully understand all the nuances - spiritual, environmental, social and political - of this inspiring region. 'A Long Walk in the Himalaya' is a book to savour, a book that the reader will return to again and again. English-born Garry Weare has had a long-standing relationship with the Himalaya. In 1970 he first went to Kashmir to teach. It changed his life and he went on to live on a houseboat in Kashmir, to pioneer many classic treks and to research the 'Trekking in the Indian Himalaya' guidebook published by Lonely Planet, now in its 4th edition. Weare is a life member of the Himalayan Club, a fellow of the Royal Geographical Society, a noted mountain photographer and a founding director of the Australian Himalayan Foundation. He has one daughter, two stepdaughters and lives with his wife Margie Thomas in the Southern Highlands, NSW.
After finding letters from her ancestors, Stephanie Meier decided to publish their story in the form of a novel. Their fate carried the family across three continents and through two world wars. We Walk in Memory' s Garden is Stephanie Meier's first book.
Embark on an extraordinary journey through the world of long-distance walking in "The Long Walk Home: The Joy of Long-Distance Walking." This captivating book is your passport to adventure, self-discovery, and the profound joy found in putting one foot in front of the other. From the bustling streets of Singapore to the serene Himalayan peaks, join intrepid walkers like Angela Maxwell and Levison Wood as they traverse continents, push their limits, and uncover the transformative power of slow travel. Their stories, along with practical insights and inspiring reflections, invite you to explore the world at three miles an hour – a pace that allows you to truly see, feel, and connect with your surroundings. But this book is more than just tales of epic journeys. It's a celebration of the small joys, the unexpected encounters, and the personal growth that come with every step. Whether you're a seasoned trekker or someone who's never walked further than your local park, "The Long Walk Home" will inspire you to lace up your boots and discover the world anew. Learn how to plan your own walking adventure, navigate challenges with a smile, and find beauty in the everyday. Explore how technology can enhance your journey without detracting from the essence of the walk. And discover how the lessons learned on the trail can bring lasting joy and meaning to your daily life. "The Long Walk Home" is not just about reaching a destination – it's about finding your way to a happier, more connected self. Are you ready to take that first step? Open this book and let the journey begin. Your long walk home awaits.
Kosciuszko National Park is all about contrasts. It is a vast area where all facets of the environment go hand-in-hand, and one cannot exist without the other. Turn these pages to explore Australia’s highest peaks and deepest gorges where warm summer days can give way to wintry storms and snow at the blink of an eye; where windswept, treeless mountains overlook dense forests of the Great Dividing Range; and icycold mountain streams tumble over escarpments to fill the dams and reservoirs of the Snowy Mountains Hydro-electric Scheme. Wildflowers are as stunning as wildlife is diverse; and stories of daring European explorers and settlers as fascinating as those of the resilient Aboriginal people who first visited this land. Enjoy short walks to historic gold mines, or to lookouts for panoramic views over the high country landscapes. Wander along marked trails to mainland Australia’s only glacial lakes, or try more challenging hikes into the wilderness zones. Australia’s toughest and most rewarding expedition walk, the Australian Alps Walking Track, will test your planning, navigation and endurance skills. Walk descriptions are complimented with sketch maps, gradient profiles, photos and detailed notes about the evolution and environment of this magic place.
Australian Alps is a fascinating guide to Kosciuszko, Alpine and Namadgi National Parks. It introduces the reader to Australia’s highest mountains, their climate, geology and soils, plants and animals and their human history. It traces the long-running conflicts between successive users of the mountains and explores the difficulties in managing the land for nature conservation. The book gives credit to little-known or understood stories of the people who have worked to establish better understanding of the Alps, especially their vital role as the major water catchments for south-eastern Australia. This new edition updates many themes, including the involvement of Aboriginal people in the region, catchment function and condition, pest plants and animals, fire and the issue of climate change. Written by a specialist with over 25 years’ experience in community education in and about the Australian Alps National Parks, this new edition features many excellent natural history and historical photographs. Ideal as support information for field trips, it will make a wonderful memento of an alpine visit. This book acts as a detailed companion to park interpretive material and to topic-specific field guides: it caters for readers who want a broad overview of areas of interest they will come across in a visit to the mountains.
No one could have planned for this... Lara Carson left her family and boyfriend Flynn eighteen years ago without a word to anyone. Why has no one heard from her since? Does it mean anything that she's suddenly reappeared in Bath just in time for her ex–best friend Evie's wedding? And what about Flynn? Even the most eagle–eyed observer can't tell whether he's happy to see her, or just stunned. While secrets pile up on secrets, and the gossip mill wings into high gear, the brand–new life Lara's searching for becomes ever more elusive. There's a lot of catching up for everyone to do, and Lara's return is going to be anything but a walk in the park. Praise for To the Moon and Back: "A tremendous look at friendship, hope, romance, and second chances."—RT Book Reviews, 4 stars "A romantic and lighthearted story...fans will eat this story up."—Publishers Weekly "Mansell crafts a lovely story with multiple plotlines, characters, and love interests."—USA Today "Absolutely, positively and outstanding story."—Night Owl Reviews Reviewer Top Pick, 5 stars
David Robbins published his first short story at 19 and his first book 25 years later. In 1986, for The 29thParallel, he was awarded South Africa’s prestigious CNA Literary Award, after having been shortlisted with Christopher Hope and J M Coetzee. Since then he has published extensively on southern African themes, becoming established as a writer of extraordinary perception in the literary travel and short fiction genres. In 1995 he published the first of two travel books covering 22 countries on the African continent, which enjoyed international success; and in 2010 he received a Lifetime Achievement Literary Award from the South African Ministry of Arts and Culture. A year before receiving this acknowledgement of his contribution to local literature, he had already embarked on the major project currently under discussion. Several visits to Australia had ignited his interest in the ‘Out-of-Africa’ hypothesis of modern humanity’s peopling of the world. Walking to Australia has been the result of extensive travel in the countries occupying the northern shores of the Indian Ocean, and of seven years of intermittent researching and writing. The book describes a 21st century journey following the direction taken by anatomically modern humans who left the African nursery around 80000 years ago and reached Australia 20000 years later. Along the way, they laid the genetic foundations for humanity’s oldest civilizations – and ultimately inhabited every corner of the globe. The result of these travels is not a scientific treatise. Although the science is not ignored, the centre lies elsewhere. The author undertakes this west-to-east endeavor in the imagined company of his autistic grandson, who serves both as confidant and as a human archetype. This allows the book to verge upon a unique blend of factual travel writing and an almost magical internalised interpretation. What the two travellers find together is a tangle of new experiences and responses, from which the linkages between primeval past and complex present gradually emerge. Here is a work of literary travel writing that describes an enchanted journey through some of the ancient places of the world and into the currently deeply troubled heart of the human adventure. The evidence encountered on the journey suggests that a fundamental universality of humanity’s place in the cosmos lies beneath all regional differences and is characterised as much by humility and co-operation as it is by the imperative to survive and/or the will to power. The book does not set out to prove a point, however, but to celebrate the complexity of human responses. It is more a creative work than it is a dissertation with an unambiguous conclusion. Nevertheless, the bibliography gives an indication of some of the sources used, which includes the work of historians, archaeologists, political scientists, biographers and psychologists, as well as authors writing on the various religions of the world.
