An earthy, entertaining collection of yarns about twenty larger-than-life outback characters. Meet Ron Canlin, who one day began sculpting the sandstone walls of his opal mine. Ten years later, every drive and tunnel in Ron's claim is full of wonderful sculptures - the eighth wonder of the world. Or Peter Venables, with his flowing white beard, puffing his pipe like a character from the pioneering 1800s, whose teams of Clydesdales plough, sow and harvest the crops they eat. Or Janie Marsha...

Meet fourteen remarkable Australian (and one Kiwi!) jacks and jills of all trades with a wealth of experiences from the good old days to modern times. Hailing from all walks of life, they share their memories with renowned yarn spinner Sandy Thorne in a collection of stories full of wisdom and wit.There's Danny, the champion jockey who refuses to ever truly hang up the saddle; 'Dusty', the WW II rear gunner who survived thirty raids over Germany; and Dot, the seemingly dainty 97-yea...

Since launching her first best seller 'I've Met Some Bloody Wags!' by biting the top off a stubbie of beer with her teeth on the Midday Show, Sandy Thorne has spent over 20 years travelling the world and promoting bush humour. The Battler books are based on the hard-as-nails men of the land that called the most remote corners of the Outback their home. Battler O'Brien has been a battler all his life – riding the rodeo circuit and droving sheep with his missus on the far west stock route to...

Since launching her first best seller 'I've Met Some Bloody Wags!' by biting the top off a stubbie of beer with her teeth on the Midday Show, Sandy Thorne has spent over 20 years travelling the world and promoting bush humour. The Battler books are based on the hard-as-nails men of the land that called the most remote corners of the Outback their home. All the hilarious things that happen when the irrepressible larrikin bushie and his wild and woolly brood move onto their 50,000 acre 'bloc...

Since launching her first best seller 'I've Met Some Bloody Wags!' by biting the top off a stubbie of beer with her teeth on the Midday Show, Sandy Thorne has spent over 20 years travelling the world and promoting bush humour. The Battler books are based on the hard-as-nails men of the land that called the most remote corners of the Outback their home. Battler O'Brien, from way out back of Bourke, a larikin sheep cocky, gets a vacation when his missus wins a holiday on the Gold Coast. Not ...

Patty spent the first thirty three years of her life living with her family on remote outback station properties - Old Bando, Minetta, Old Outstation - in south west Queensland, Australia. When her brother, Kerry developed a brain tumor, they moved to live in Charleville - a small outback town. Patty has an understanding of the land, and a great love of reading. Look beyond the words to a life lived devoid of any luxuries, without ever a complaint, but full of simple joys, happiness and lo...

Peter Moore left the city behind in 1952 to become part of a dying breed - a long-distance drover. In My Droving Days we follow his progress through the 1950s as he rubs shoulders with the larger-than-life characters - and their dogs and horses - who trekked along the outback stock routes of western Queensland and New South Wales.Meet the world's worst cattle dog and the station hand, Charlie, who blows an outside toilet (and its contents) sky high; thrill to the high dram...

Peopled by many of the legends of the Australian outback, this is the extraordinary true story of how one ordinary woman grew up to champion Australia's outback heritage.Jane Grieve was born and raised on a farm on the Darling Downs in Queensland. She grew up with the wind in her hair and the rich black Darling Downs soil between her barefoot toes, her vivid imagination captivated by the tales of her Colonial forebears and the romantic notion of Australia's outback...

Living in the wilder parts of Australia has its challenges.These are the true stories of one person's journey from Australia's suburbs to the remote northern Outback, and then to remote rural Tasmania.It is a story of deadly snakes, bush drumming, killer bicycles, Tasmanian tigers, and barramundi fishing.Compiled by Matt Flynn, a former Northern Territory journalist who also publishes fishing and outdoors magazines.

CHOCK-A-BLOCK FULL OF CLASSIC AUSTRALIAN YARNS, JOKES AND NONSENSERyle Winn is the master of the cock and bull tale, and this is a collection of the funniest yarns he's ever heard. There's something for everyone – life-of-the-party jokes, rib-tickling pub stories and fair dinkum yarns, which are worth the wait for the punch line. All of them remind us that we're a motley mob who view the world from down under.This book is full of the sh...

'Great Australian Stories is true to its title as it wanders from bush track to spooky hollow, follows the path of yowies and bunyips, searches for Lasseter's Reef, meets Dad and Dave and, on a different path, Henny-Penny, and then rambles into the cities where just as many entertaining characters are ready to tell their stories.' - From the foreword by Warren FaheyAustralia has a rich tradition of storytelling that reflects our unique history and experie...

'From the helicopter I could see the property's waterholes surrounded by paperback trees, its red-stone cliffs lit by the rising sun. And grass, endless seas of grass. Here was the vision splendid: Nat Buchanan's grass castle. Gurindji country. And my country, Australia.'This is big country, the outback, home to the largest cattle and sheep stations in the world. Yet few of us know what goes on behind the farm gate. What's life really like when next door is 500 kilometres away, and ...