Following Burke and Wills Across Australia

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A Touring Guide

By: Dave Phoenix

eBook - June 2015 - eRetailers

Learn about the experiences of Burke and Wills as you follow the track of their 1860-61 journey.

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. + Full description

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.

- Short description

Reviews

"With this guide, your trip will be much smoother."
Graham Erbacher, Weekend Australian, 2015

"This outstanding, intricately researched and comprehensive tome is a must have guide for anyone wanting to go on a modern expedition following the tracks of the ill-fated 1860-61 Burke and Wills expedition."
RM Williams Outback Magazine, September 2015

"No matter how tough you're doing it, there was always someone who did it tougher. To see how tough some of the toughest did it, modem-day adventurers can use a guide book to follow in the camel tracks of Bourke and Wills - albeit from the comfort of a 4x4."
4 x 4 Australia, September 2015

Details

Paperback | June 2015 | $ 49.95
ISBN: 9781486301584 | 416 pages | 245 x 170 mm
Publisher: CSIRO Publishing
Colour photographs, Maps

ePDF | June 2015
ISBN: 9781486301591
Publisher: CSIRO Publishing
Available from eRetailers

ePUB | June 2015
ISBN: 9781486301607
Publisher: CSIRO Publishing
Available from eRetailers

Features

A comprehensive travel guide with maps, things to look for, places to see.
A re-telling of a fascinating story of exploration, mostly in the words of the explorers themselves. Many of these accounts from the various members of the expedition and supporting parties have never been published and have been transcribed specifically for this publication.
A collection of beautiful images, ranging from historic paintings and sketches to high quality photographs of modern memorials and scenery.

Foreword
Introduction
Using the Touring Guide
1 Melbourne
2 Leaving Melbourne
3 Crossing the Mountains: Bulla to Knowsley
4 Crossing the Plains: Knowsley to Tragowel
5 Along the Rivers: Tragowel to Swan Hill
6 Swan Hill to Balranald
7 Balranald to Pooncarie
8 Pooncarie to Menindee
9 Menindee to Mutawintji
10 Mutawintji to Tibooburra
11 Tibooburra to Thargomindah
12 Thargomindah to Innamincka
13 Innamincka to Birdsville
14 Birdsville to Boulia
15 Boulia to Cloncurry
16 Cloncurry to Karumba
Other Sites in Victoria
Appendices
Index

Authors

Dave Phoenix is a recognised expert on the history of the Burke and Wills Expedition and is currently the President of the Burke & Wills Historical Society. He has done extensive research into the experiences of the various parties and to determine the route taken by the Expedition. In 2008 he walked 3750 km from Melbourne to the Gulf of Carpentaria, following this route.