Oceania Books

If you're goint to Fiji, this is the book for you. This recently updated guidebook is very comprehensive and provides excellent information on Fiji. I strongly recommend also buying the Fiji map, too.

A new edition of Finding Fiji is available and can be located by searching for "Moon Fiji" on this site.

Finding Utopia is a children's picturebook about searching for wonder in the world - a quest that can lead to truly grand discoveries. An American family and their Aboriginal friend travel to Australia, looking for a glimpse of Utopia. While there, they travel on camels, see the outback, meet a wise Aboriginal couple, visit the sacred Uluru rock site, and learn about the native animals and creation myths of Australia. The jam-packed color illustrations and the extensive text are further supplemented with notes at the back of the book, about noble leaders and great ideas that promoted world harmony and peace. A glossary of Aboriginal words rounds out this amazing tour of Australia's wonders and human ingenuity in the quest to create and live in a perfect world.

In Flying Foxes, Fruit And Blossom Bats Of Australia, two acknowledged authorities on Australia's bats, Leslie Hall and Greg Richards, effective collaborate to produce an informative, illustrated guide to Australia's thirteen species of Megachiroptera -- the "mega" bats. While these bats are nocturnal, they live in forests rather than caves, they navigate by sight rather than radar-like sound reflection (echolocation), and their long snouts and large ears and eyes give them a canine-like appearance and the resultant appellation of "flying foxes". Flying Foxes discusses such controversial matters as these creatures being kept as pets, the management of flying fox populations, and recent incidents of viral diseases being transmitted from the bats to humans. The informative, authoritative, comprehensive text is enhanced with line drawings by Louise Saunders and twenty-nine superbly presented color photographs (including many by acclaimed wildlife photographer, Theo Allofs). A highly recommended addition to exotic wildlife reference collections, Flying Foxes, Fruit And Blossom Bats Of Australia is also available in a trade paperback format (1575241765, $21.50).

Fodor's 2000 Australia gave very clear and concise information about all areas in Australia. The book begins with beautiful color photos and brief information highlighting attractions in the different regions of Australia. Then it goes into great detail providing information about things to do, places to stay, where to eat, and available tours. There is a wide range of listings encompassing all price ranges. Sample itineraries are provided as well as a multitude of addresses and phone numbers for travel guides. There are local maps throughout, as well as a full size pull-out map. The book is organized nicely and perfect for someone who is interested in planning a trip to Australia.

This book is pretty thorough. I haven't gone on my trip yet, but I feel much more confident traveling with this book in hand. I'm very pleased and the information is all relevant to this year. Written clearly and concisely and something for every budget.

This guide was concise and easy to find things in. It divided the city into the various regions and had what there was to see and do in each area. It was a great fast reference tool for activities and places to see.

If you are using this guide for hotel and restaurant info, that is where it is a bit lacking and I would refer you to another book or to the fodors.com website where on the message boards you can ask Australians or prior travelers about first hand experiences.

Truly a guide to what there is to see and do when in Sydney! (And I hope if you travel there you will love it as much as my new husband and I did!)

Being on a long term stay in New Zealand, we have received nearly all the travel guides as gifts. This on is by far and away the most functional. It is not merely a laundry list of sites and hotels, but includes rankings and other information to prioritize your visit. It helps enable you to get the most out of the time you have available. Strongly recomended

This travel guide to New Zealand wins five stars for two reasons.

First, this book explodes with dozens and dozens of color photographs and color maps. You cannot help but be "wowed" with the beauty of the nation of New Zealand, as well as the beauty of this book.

Second, this travel guide points out--using a star system--(1.) how naturally beautiful; (2.) how kid-friendly; (3.) how historically intersting; (4.) how walkable, and (5.) how photo-friendly a whole list of cities and regions are. This information is precious because it helps you plan out your trip accordingly. (By the way, I took this book with me to New Zealand, and I found their rankings accurate and very helpful.)

But this guide alone won't be sufficient for travel in New Zealand. You'll have to add another one or two guides that are far more chock-full of details and practical information than "Fodor's See It New Zealand" is. My suggestion is "The Rough Guide to New Zealand," which served as my go-to lifesaver when I was over their on my honeymoon.

What an excellent find. I highly recommend it, both for Australia and Western Australia. It's new, different and has information that other guide books just don't have.

After utilising the Lonely Planet books through various countries, I became increasingly frustrated with the format, inaccuracies and out of date information. Above all, I was sick of being one of the crowd, following other LP readers from place to place, having the same conversations.

A few years ago in South America, and using the LP SA, I had the lucky nature to photocopy a few pages from the Footprint SA handbook. Wow. Bible thin paper and stacked full of quality information. Yes it took a small while to get used to the format, but from then on there was no turning back. So when I [ad]ventured to Australia, and discovered that a brand new [i.e. not a 'revision'] Footprint Australia Handbook had been released, I jumped at the chance. I was not disappointed.

In Western Australia, for example, I'm fairly sure the tips are not in any other guide book, and on visiting some of the guesthouses and recommendations one sometimes gets the feeling that these places are rarely visited. And some of the locations give you the distinct impression of what it was like for the first [white] explorers.

I enjoyed the refreshing editorial style, layout, enthusiasm, funny comments, quality and quantity of information.

I suppose one would never know, but if I had stumped for the LP, I would not have known what I would have missed, but now that I do know, I really should keep it a secret, but that wouldn't be fair would it?

The only real downside is having to choose what to complete in the time available, oh well, another holiday then! Thankyou Andrew, Katrina and Darroch.