The ongoing bibliography...

Anticipation is half the fun, right? I've been researching and trying to educate myself on all things "down under." With the dozens of books we've bought and many others checked out from the library, I thought it might be fun to keep a running bibliography. Who knows? You may just want to grab one of these titles yourself!

• The Practical Nomad---the authoritative guide for anyone planning a trip around the world; this book is laden with more information than you thought you wanted to know!
• Six Months Off---a little outdated, but a good starting point to thinking about a sabbatical
• One Year Off--This is a family's journey around the world; VERY inspiring; I first read this about 6 years ago, and it started off my quest for our family to do a round the world trip together; the arrival of Amarra just changed our time table a bit!
• 12,000 Miles in the Nick of Time--another family's journey; good, but not as entertaining as "One Year Off"
• Six Months Off by Lamar Alexander--Lamar Alexander was the governor of Tennessee for 2 terms. When his second term ended, he and his family went to Australia for 6 months to regroup and get to know each other as a family again. This was interesting, but not as helpful for planning a trip
• Living and Working in Australia---nuts and bolts
• Living Abroad in Australia---same as previous, but a little more reader friendly; this is published by Moon books, and I always like their travel guides
• Lonely Planet's East Coast Australia--our "go to" book for getting around while we're living in Port Macquarie.
• Lonely Planet's Sydney handbook
• Frommer's 500 places to Take Your Kids
• 1000 Places to See Before You Die
• Farther Than Any Man---the biography of Captain Cook, who charted the East coast of Australia and the entire coast of New Zealand; this is an easy read---entertaining and knowledgeable without being boring
• The New Global Student--ways to give your child a true international education

On my bookshelf, but not read just yet:

• The Fatal Shore---a classic novel of the history of Australia
• The Broken Shore--lent to me by a good friend
• Vagabonding
• Culture Shock: Australia
• Rough Guide's First Time Around the World
• Australia: culture and customs
• How to Survive Australia
• In a Sunburned Country by Bill Bryson

On the Kids' bookshelf:

• Are We There Yet? A travel around Australia
• Dingoes At Dinnertime-A Magic Tree House book by Mary Pope Osborne

I would love to hear feedback from anyone picking up these titles. Also, I would love more suggestions, especially if you know of any good books on the Aborigines, the native fauna and flora and diving the Barrier Reef. Those are deficient areas in my knowledge base.

Ciao!

Tamara