Bryson's Australia.

I am currently reading an amazing novel. The 1988 Booker Prize-winning Oscar and Lucinda by Peter Carey. It is fabulous, [I can’t wait to write of it] and takes place in Australia. While reading, I am often reminded of the book In A Sunburned Country by Bill Bryson. Anyone who reads Bryson knows that it is always MORE than a travelogue you have your hands on. It is comedy between covers. Here is something I wrote about Bryson’s book, back then...
Two words come to mind after I've closed the covers of this book. Hilarious and Informative. And Bryson wastes no time at getting to the hilarious stuff. A few pages into the first chapter he describes how he went into a jet-lag induced coma during a sightseeing tour of Sydney. I was reading this in a public place and laughed for about five minutes without breathing... seriously, tears and all! It was very therapeutic for me. Every few pages he again says something undeniably witty, and this makes the book a joy to read. I loved every minute of it.
On the informative side, I felt that the book covered as much of "habitable" Australia as possible. It seems very thorough, I followed along with an actual travel guide, cross-referencing and reading further about every site that Bryson mentioned here. I was not aware of the incredible vastness of this country, it's almost unbelievable. 23,000 miles of coastline! Having driven the length and breadth of Canada many times (always with an eye to the odometer), I tried to gauge what is comparably going on here in the Sunburned Country... wow, Australia is crazy man! Keep a gas can and canteen handy if you're driving through...
And secondly, I was not aware of the political history of this land and the diversity of living creatures (including trees) that call Australia home. Now I know. Bryson's book is not only a personal travelogue, but it's also a regurgitation (maybe that word is a bit too vomit-like, but you know what I mean) of a lot of obvious research and study on his part.
Bryson is the intrepid wanderer. He is always more curious, and walking a bit further into things than anyone else. And at times, he's so well-researched that he helps out the tour-guides! He demonstrates a respect for the country and for the living things there (including the people). Towards the end of the journey, he is on one of his rambling jaunts, this time in King's Park in Perth. There in front of him, an echidna ambles across the path, and just as quietly disappears into the undergrowth. Bryson says, "I couldn't have been more thrilled." This is the spirit with which he travels, and writes. He is ever ready for amazement, and I know his interest in the natural beauty of things is infectious, because I caught it! About the echidna incident, he says "In a country filled with exotic and striking life-forms my high point was finding a harmless, animated pincushion in a city park." This attitude is consistent with what he considers one of Australia's "most amazing wonders of all"... the living prehistoric stromatolite beds at Shark Bay on the Western Australian coast. These aquatic growths are virtually unchanged from how they existed 3.5 billion years ago. Bryson again... "Now, if that is not an exciting thought, I don't know what is."
Me neither.
This book is an unqualified gem, and should be read by everyone who has already been, or has not yet been, to Australia!