Great Australian

Unlike most other World War II accounts, this work covers the South Pacific operations in detail. The audiobook includes many now-forgotten operations that deserve to be well remembered. Significantly, the official Australian history of World War II correctly observed that Australia's part in the Pacific war is barely mentioned in American histories. This volume finally brings the major Australian contribution to the fore.

Imagine a sea of sparkling, clear blue water speckled with multicoloured coral. Imagine crabs, turtles, dugongs, sea snakes and hundreds of species of fish swimming among this coral. Now imagine this scene stretching out for more than two thousand kilometres, or 1240 miles! This is the Great Barrier Reef, which is so expansive it is said that if you dived along it every day of your life you would not see it all.

Rural and remote ambulance drivers and paramedics are a dedicated and gutsy bunch who work tirelessly to care for their communities, often in isolated and inhospitable conditions, with few resources but plenty of experience, courage and care. Ambos deal with it all: car crashes, delivering babies, snake bites, heart attacks, lost bushwalkers, drug overdoses—even the occasional crook camel. One thing they are never short of is a story or two to tell.

Sir Hubert Wilkins is one of the most remarkable Australians who ever lived. The son of pioneer pastoralists in South Australia, Hubert studied engineering before moving on to photography, then sailing for England and a job producing films with the Gaumont Film Co. Brave and bold, he became a polar expeditioner, a brilliant war photographer, a spy in the Soviet Union, a pioneering aviator-navigator, a death-defying submariner - all while being an explorer and chronicler of the planet and its life forms that would do Vasco da Gama and Sir David Attenborough proud.

Yarns and memories that capture the experience of driving Australia’s outback roads, gathered by the inimitable Bill ‘Swampy’ Marsh. Whether they’re carting produce, stock, fuel or even (unbeknown to them) dead bodies, there’s one thing that can be said about outback truckies - they’re a colourful bunch. Meet the outback truckies who brave interminable distances, searing heat, raging floodwaters and foot-deep bulldust to transport goods and livestock all across this vast land, serving as lifelines not just to those in the bush but to those in cities as well.

In these frustrating days of diesel and electric trains it is hard to remember the smell of coal smoke, the hiss of steam, and the sting of cinders flying into your eyes. With his passion for the olden days and his famous ear for a good yarn, Bill ‘Swampy’ Marsh has brought together another enthralling collection of funny, dramatic and hilarious stories from drivers and gangers, firemen and guards, their families and everyone in between.

A collection of real-life stories and memories that capture the experience of nursing in the bush, gathered by the inimitable Bill 'Swampy' Marsh, best-selling author of Great Australian Flying Doctor Stories and Great Australian Police Stories. With hearts as big as the outback, rural and remote nurses are a dedicated and gutsy bunch who work selflessly to care for their communities, often in isolated and inhospitable conditions, with few resources but plenty of experience, courage and care.

Drawing on interviews, official records, private archives, and his own family history, Jason M. Colby tells the exhilarating and often heartbreaking story of how people came to love the ocean's greatest predator.

Australia's Greatest Escapes is a collection of stories about the most hazardous aspect of the prisoner of war experience - escape. Here is all the adventure, suspense, and courage of ordinary Australians who defied their captors; men who tunneled to freedom, crawled through stinking drains, or clawed a passage beneath barbed wire in a desperate attempt to flee captivity.

Great Australian Aviation Stories is a collection of dramatic true stories and colourful accounts of our fascinating aviation history. These stories also show the "human" side of aviation...how it changed the lives of ordinary people, workers, and travellers. Included are amazing stories of history-making flights by Kingsford Smith and Ross and Keith Smith, and accounts of the exploits of Bert Hinkler, Amy Johnson, Nancy Bird, and our early outback aviation pioneers.

This photo-based tour includes over 125 pictures from interesting and historical locations around Australia and New Zealand with short background histories / information. Featured locations include: the Sydney Opera House, the Sydney Harbor Bridge, St. Mary's Cathedral, Supreme Court of New South Wales, Katoomba Scenic World, The Blue Mountains (including the Three Sisters), Featherdale Wildlife Park, the Eureka Skydeck Tower, the Koala Sanctuary and Penguin Parade, the Great Barrier Reef, Hobbiton (the location where the Lord of the Rings and Hobbit movies were filmed), the Waitomo ...

Greater Than a Tourist - Brisbane Queensland Australia, by Claire Heath, offers the inside scoop on Queensland’s capital city, which basks in a year-round great climate.

The devastating 2019-2020 Black Summer bushfires threw the importance of our volunteer firefighters into sharp focus. But these brave men and women don't just step up to protect life and property in fires; they are also there to help in road accidents, plane crashes, natural disasters like cyclones and floods - and, yes, they even rescue pets that have got themselves into strife. This audiobook serves as a tribute to the thousands of volunteer firies across Australia who roll up their sleeves and selflessly put their lives on the line to assist their fellow human beings.

The ultimate collection of Australia's craziest cons and mad schemes from a master storyteller. Australia is the birthplace and setting of some of the wildest, craziest and least-likely-to-succeed cons and rorts in history. From the cleverest double-crosses to the most unlikely and maddest schemes, master storyteller Jim Haynes reminds us that we've never been shy of pulling a trick or two.

Australia has always been a land of mysteries. Some are ancient, some are historical and many continue to perplex us today—and will probably continue to do so tomorrow. More often than most of us would like to think, things simply vanish and people disappear without explanation, leaving a trail of heartbreak across generations. Australia also has its fair share of buried loot and fabulous riches gone missing—somewhere. Master storyteller Graham Seal has gathered mysteries from around Australia.

I tell you, you meet some strange characters in this game.... Boasting the biggest beats in the world - some as large as France - Australia's outback police have seen it all: natural disasters, incredible acts of selflessness, unspeakable crimes and daring rescues, just to name a few. And they've met some unforgettable characters along the way: from the murderer who stuffed his victims' bodies down wombat holes to the policeman who arrested his own wife....

One of the great mysteries of Australian life is that a land of sweeping plains, with one of the lowest population densities on the planet, has a shortage of land for houses. As a result, Sydney’s median house price is the second most expensive on Earth, after Hong Kong’s. The escalation in house prices is a pain that has altered Australian society; it has increased inequality and profoundly changed the relationship between generations – between those who have a house and those who don't. Alan Kohler tells the story of how we got into this mess – and how we might get out of it.

The devastating 2019-2020 Black Summer bushfires threw the importance of our volunteer firefighters into sharp focus. But these brave men and women don't just step up to protect life and property in fires; they are also there to help in road accidents, plane crashes, natural disasters like cyclones and floods - and, yes, they even rescue pets that have got themselves into strife. This audiobook serves as a tribute to the thousands of volunteer firies across Australia who roll up their sleeves and selflessly put their lives on the line to assist their fellow human beings.

What happened when a young man ditched the office and headed to the outback of Australia for the adventure of a lifetime? In 2002, a young Englishman left London behind to try something new on a working holiday. One year; 2,000 sheep: 4,000 km travelled. Horses and quad bikes; two light aircraft; one Ford station wagon. He uncovered real life far from the hustle and bustle of the beaches and coffee shops of the East coast. There were "Skimpies", surly farmers, tough miners, vets and call-girls. How did he go learning to fly, and getting behind the wheel of a ten-tonne truck? A must-read for...

Yarns and memories that capture the experience of driving Australia’s outback roads, gathered by the inimitable Bill ‘Swampy’ Marsh. Whether they’re carting produce, stock, fuel or even (unbeknown to them) dead bodies, there’s one thing that can be said about outback truckies - they’re a colourful bunch. Meet the outback truckies who brave interminable distances, searing heat, raging floodwaters and foot-deep bulldust to transport goods and livestock all across this vast land, serving as lifelines not just to those in the bush but to those in cities as well.