| It is always interesting to read other people's | | | | myself, I must make a mental note of that to ensure |
| thoughts about the country you live in. You generally | | | | I don't end up in Alice Springs the next time I want |
| find the things that matter to you the most, are | | | | to drive to Sydney. |
| often the things others find least interesting. Or to | | | | I was delighted to find that Bill Bryson and I share a |
| put it another way, the things you take for granted; | | | | common interest, and that is the habit we both have |
| those things you live with everyday, and often never | | | | of buying the local paper of whatever city or |
| give a second thought to unless you have to, are | | | | community we are passing through. As Bryson says: |
| precisely the things others find the most fascinating. | | | | "What a comfort it is to find a nation preoccupied by |
| Things like the kangaroo, the platypus, koalas, | | | | matters of no possible consequence to oneself. I |
| wombats and echidnas just for starters. Then there | | | | love reading about scandals involving ministers of |
| are some of the deadliest snakes on the planet, | | | | whom I have never heard, murder hunts in |
| sharks, fresh water crocodiles, funnel-web spiders, | | | | communities whose names sound dusty and remote, |
| box jellyfish, and the blue ringed octopus. | | | | features on revered artists and thinkers whose |
| The other pleasure is discovering the wealth of | | | | achievements have never reached my ears, whose |
| interesting information writers like Bryson, are able to | | | | talents I must take on faith." |
| uncover during their research, which they | | | | One of the things Bill Bryson is noted for is the |
| subsequently include in their books. | | | | humour he brings to his writing. He seems to have |
| For example, until I read 'Down Under', I didn't know | | | | the ability to see the funny side of a nations many |
| that the Simpson Desert was named - in 1929 or | | | | quirks and foibles, and Australia is no different. His |
| 1932, depending on the source you choose - after | | | | description of listening to a cricket match while driving |
| Alfred Simpson, a manufacturer of washing machines. | | | | from Sydney to Adelaide, is one of the funniest I |
| Say, What? Apparently Simpson funded an aerial | | | | have ever read. |
| survey of the area and as a result had the desert | | | | I won't try to quote from the book since that would |
| named in his honour! | | | | spoil the fun for you, if you are yet to read Down |
| Thanks Bill, I will never look at my aging Simpson | | | | Under yourself. Suffice to say that I had to put the |
| washing machine in the same way again. | | | | book aside because I was laughing so uncontrollably. |
| Good writers also notice strange quirks that locals | | | | Bill Bryson was born in Des Moines, Iowa, and after |
| have long forgotten or simply don't 'see' anymore. | | | | living for many years in Britain with his English wife |
| Like when Bryson writes: | | | | and four children moved back to America. He is the |
| "Two of the leading explorers of the nineteenth | | | | best selling author of 'The Lost Continent', 'Made in |
| century were called Sturt and Stuart and their names | | | | America', 'A Walk in the Woods', and many other |
| are all over the place, too, so that you constantly | | | | great travel books. |
| have to stop and think, generally at busy | | | | If you haven't read Bryson's Down Under you should |
| intersections where an instant decision is required, | | | | put it on your reading list now. Despite the fact that |
| 'Now do I want the Sturt Highway or the Stuart | | | | it was published in 2000, it has never been out of |
| Highway?' Since both highways start at Adelaide and | | | | print, so you will have no trouble finding a copy, |
| finish at places 3,994 kilometres apart, this can make | | | | either in your local bookshop, online shop of choice, |
| a difference, believe me." | | | | or good secondhand book resellers. |
| He is right of course. And since I live in Adelaide | | | | |