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BoardFree: The Story of an Incredible Skateboard Journey Across Australia
As Featured in the Guinness Book of Records, this is the thrilling, inspiring story of Dave Cornthwaite's epic journey down-under by a most unusual form of transport. Tired of the nine-to-five, Dave decided one day that he needed a change – a big change. As Featured in the Guinness Book of Records, this is the thrilling, inspiring story of Dave Cornthwaite's epic journey down-under by a most unusual form of transport. Tired of the nine-to-five, Dave decided one day that he needed a change – a big change. And so he jumped on his RollsRolls longboard (the Land Rover of skateboards) and broke a world record, skating the length of Great Britain. Not content with such glories, he decided to go one better and during the second half of 2006 skated from Perth to Brisbane, a distance of 4,500 miles – raising money for three childrens' charities in the process and earning a reputation as a mad pom. This is the story of Dave's motivation, his stamina, and his enduring good spirit in the face of a huge challenge. Grippingly written and with fantastic photos from Dave's collection, this is an unputdownable real-life adventure story. Dave amassed loads of news coverage in Australia and around the world during his journey and will return to Australia later in 2007 to attempt another world record and to conduct an extensive speaking tour.
288 pages, Paperback
First published April 27, 2008
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
April 29, 2020
Pretty incredible journey across Australia on a longboard.
The book is a little drawn out - he doesn't even get to Aus until halfway through. I see why he wanted to show the whole process but some of it could've been edited down a little better; there's quite a lot of moaning about other team members, bad press, and lack of funds raised etc.
Having said that, it is still quite readable throughout.
He comes across as a little bit of a hard taskmaster at time. If you've asked a load of people to give up months of their time and pay thousands for the privilege then it seems a bit strange to question their commitment and bitch them out, but I suppose at least you're getting a heartfelt retelling of what he went through.
There's slight spoilers in the photos are in the middle of the book and the captions clearly were never checked as there's loads of glaring typos - even Sydney is mispelled - TWICE!
Before reading I was under the impression that he skated around the whole outside of Aus on a normal skateboard, solo, which obviously would've been utterly insane. Instead he crossed the bottom on a longboard with a big support team, which is merely completely nuts... and an absolutely stunning achievement.
I think it's a real testament to the author how many people he managed to get behind him before he had even started the trip or done his warm up, and obviously he has gone on to do other similar things that are also impressive. Great job Dave!
The book is a little drawn out - he doesn't even get to Aus until halfway through. I see why he wanted to show the whole process but some of it could've been edited down a little better; there's quite a lot of moaning about other team members, bad press, and lack of funds raised etc.
Having said that, it is still quite readable throughout.
He comes across as a little bit of a hard taskmaster at time. If you've asked a load of people to give up months of their time and pay thousands for the privilege then it seems a bit strange to question their commitment and bitch them out, but I suppose at least you're getting a heartfelt retelling of what he went through.
There's slight spoilers in the photos are in the middle of the book and the captions clearly were never checked as there's loads of glaring typos - even Sydney is mispelled - TWICE!
Before reading I was under the impression that he skated around the whole outside of Aus on a normal skateboard, solo, which obviously would've been utterly insane. Instead he crossed the bottom on a longboard with a big support team, which is merely completely nuts... and an absolutely stunning achievement.
I think it's a real testament to the author how many people he managed to get behind him before he had even started the trip or done his warm up, and obviously he has gone on to do other similar things that are also impressive. Great job Dave!
March 17, 2022
This is an ode to freedom. An ode to taking action and designing your life, instead of going through days bumbling along as "life happens to you".
As in life, there are many ups and downs in this narrative, so it's humbling to see the honest perspective of twenty something year old Dave Cornthwaite as he embarks on an epic ride to raise awareness and funds for children's charities while longboarding across Australia.
If you're an educator working with youth, particularly conflict, I think it provides many examples for reflection about how we can choose to communicate our feelings and thoughts.
As in life, there are many ups and downs in this narrative, so it's humbling to see the honest perspective of twenty something year old Dave Cornthwaite as he embarks on an epic ride to raise awareness and funds for children's charities while longboarding across Australia.
If you're an educator working with youth, particularly conflict, I think it provides many examples for reflection about how we can choose to communicate our feelings and thoughts.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews