Oceania Books

Australia is a large continent, and to provide a resource book that adequately covers all that could be possibly be seen or done by 4WD would require a far more voluminous tome.

Discover Australia By 4WD attempts to provide the best of the rest and in my opinion does so admirably.

Anyone who owns and frequently tours in their 4WD will find this book a must. It provides plenty of useful information, tips and genuine and up to date advice, which I find should be compulsory for such a book. There are lots of relevant photographs, and the maps are as up to date as you can get.

Lots of links to almost everything you could want, such as tourist bureaus, information centres and the like as well as useful advice on road conditions, weather conditions, camping sites, and so on.

I was, however, a little disappointed at the lack of information on Western Australia, which is the largest state, and yet rated very little by way of 4WD trips through the north west of that state, which is one of the better regions in W.A.

Otherwise, I would heartily recommend this book to all Australian 4WD enthusiasts and international travellers alike.

As a second grade teacher, my students loved hearing this book during our Australia unit. Very informative with great pictures! I recommend for any child with a love of animals and an interest in Australia.

bought this when we returned from visiting edinburgh. realized i had never actually read robert louis stevenson. only had seen movies of his work. so was great to find out more about a city we loved visiting, and great to experience reading his writing. found out why his works are classics - he's a really good writer! made me want to read more of his work.

This is a very informative book for someone interested in moving to New Zealand - FROM EUROPE (not from the U.S.) but, it is still a good start to my interest in moving there.

The war between Britain and Argentina over the Falkland Islands (Islas Malvinas to the Argentines) was a short but relatively bloody one. Even though relatively small numbers of fighting people were involved, it had enormous repercussions around the world. The military junta that was ruling Argentina at the time was engaging in a dirty war against the Argentine people. Thousands were referred to as the disappeared, as they were abducted and disappeared without a trace. This war and the economic problems had led to a tremendous decline in the support the ruling junta had among the Argentine people. Their solution was to engage in a popular war of "conquest." The thought was that Britain would be unwilling or unable to execute an effective military response across thousands of miles of Atlantic Ocean in order to retake the islands.
The Argentine military leaders also believed that the Reagan administration would come down on their side or at least avoid any overt aid to the British. At the time, the Reagan administration was involved in the funding of the Nicaraguan Contras, a group of anti-Communist rebels fighting the government of Nicaragua. The Argentine military was providing a great deal of political and material support to the Contras and the Argentines thought that Reagan would not jeopardize that.
All of these thoughts proved to be fallacious, as the Reagan administration was more concerned about the Soviet threat. Britain was a NATO ally and could not in any way be allowed to fail. Therefore, when it became clear that war was inevitable, the United States came down squarely on the side of the British. Argentina was thoroughly defeated and the military leaders were removed from power. It led to the restoration of democracy in Argentina and the ultimate trial of those who engaged in the policy of disappearing people.
This book captures all of what the Falklands War was about. The murky arguments about sovereignty, the inaccurate assumptions of the Argentines, the determination of the British people to prevail, the political situation in Latin America and the role of the United States. The war was small, remote and there was almost no real-time journalistic coverage. Yet it changed a great deal around the world and demonstrated how vulnerable surface ships were to missiles and torpedoes. A large percentage of the casualties on both sides were from the damage to ships and the world learned a new phrase, "the Exocet missile."

This is a useful guidebook for Australia. As is typical of Fodor's, it covers the major cities and a fair number of the less visited areas, cities, and islands. Provided is a representative selection of hotels and restaurants, and a fair number of attractions. It has many more maps than Lonely Planet, a definite plus.

Major problems: it is less useful for the traveller seeing Australia by road, since many country towns where motels are found are not covered (travelling from Adelaide to Sydney by a leisurely route, I looked for Port Augusta, Lithgow and Forbes in vain). Good metropolitan maps of the major cities would be appreciated, as well, showing each airport and city center.

Still, a very good guidebook which will be a great help for the visitor to Oz.

While I gleaned much useful info. from Fodor's guide, I wish that they had either given a better overview of lodging, or left it alone entirely. How does a hotel/apartment receive a review? What is the criteria? A bit more info. would have been helpful. Overall, a good tool for planning a trip to Oz.

If you want a grasp of the ambience of Fremantle, Western Australia, then consider this book. It takes you through the town and its cultural scene. Fremantle is actually quite small, and overshadowed by being in the urban sprawl of Perth, the capital city of the state.

In spite of this, Fremantle struggles to maintain a slightly separate identity, as suggested by the book. For an American familiar with Los Angeles, think perhaps of how Long Beach and the South Bay (Torrance, Redondo, San Pedro) try to have a different vibe from downtown LA and the Westside.

I purchased book a week before my trip and read on flight to Sydney. Soon determined there were a number of inaccuracies in the attraction pricing and other minor specifics (e.g., per Frommer there were 30 Explorer bus stops in Blue Mountain...there were actually 27, which Lonely Planet had right). The organization layout could be more simplistic (i.e., one attraction was discussed in various areas of the same section - used labeled flags to facilitate use). The book is bulky to carry around in backpack - editions should be available for specific regions (e.g., Sydney and surrounding). Worship service times and places could be added. Sydney is home to one of the most popular, largest non-denominational churches (Hillsong) and there was no mention of this (or other churches, other than the architecturally impressive cathedrals). Lastly, it would be great if Frommers would add local sites and activities. For instance, there is mention of the Sydney fish market but I found out through a local that cooking classes are offered. That would have been a fun "local" activity to have known about. I will buy the competitor book on my next trip and will then place my loyalty on one.

Book in good shape, shipping kind of slow