A caravan trip around Australia is, for many people, part of retirement. Greg Bearup, and his partner Lisa Upton, are journalists, not grey nomads, and they are interested in the people they meet, not descriptions of the scenery.

I wanted to read and review this book as we have driven much the same route —-the northern and west Australian parts of Greg and Lisa’s tour at least— this year. We have also lived in Guyra, know Greg’s parents, and met Greg when he was working in Pakistan, and his mother had asked us to take him a jar of vegemite and a hand knitted pullover.

The book is enjoyable. Greg was able to hunt out, meet, talk at length, and then write, in a very engaging manner about some people engaged in lots of varied activities as he and Lisa travelled with their van, and their young son. Greg writes about a retired brain surgeon in Tasmania, who translates ancient Chinese poetry; they travelled for a while with members of a showman’s’ guild to various shows in Queensland, visited a million acre cattle station, and Lisa worked a night as a trainee receptionist in a Port Hedland brothel, to mention just a few of their experiences.

It really makes towns like Broome seem more like a place where people live, than just a tourist destination, when you are aware of some of the interesting people who live there. Greg also has the ability to work some very funny yarns into his writing and some of these yarns are about Guyra people.

Grey nomads and others travelling in outback Australia often are aware of the problems associated with the indigenous peoples of the area, but rarely speak to any of them. Alcohol is obviously a big problem, and there does not appear to be much work done, or a willingness to look for it. Greg quotes aboriginal leader Noel Pearson, who says that welfare is not the solution. Greg has tried to understand and outline the issues. He visited Tingha the day after Rudd’s sorry speech in parliament. The attitudes of the locals varied form indifferent, to wishing to be regarded as, and live as the same as everyone else.