Adventures in Caravanastan

by Greg Bearup

Greg Bearup and his partner Lisa Upton survived three years living together in Pakistan and Afghanistan, but life with the Taliban was nothing compared to taking a toddler to Caravanastan.

Following the trail of the superannuated wildebeest, they wind up the jockey wheel, check the safety chains and hitch up the van for the great lap of Australia with their baby son, Joe. Along the way they park the van behind the Dagwood Dog stand and run away with the showies, break down in croc-infested waters, talk iambic pentameter with the great poet Les Murray, share tunes with John Butler and pimp Lisa to a brothel in the Pilbara. Their blue-eyed, blond-haired little boy has his own adventures: charming madams, attempting to swim with man-eating reptiles, and escaping in dramatic fashion from the van.

Genres: Travel, Nonfiction

327 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2009

Reviews

[Carolyn]

Parts of this book were charming but a lot of the time I wanted to throw the book across the room because of how pompous the author was.
I also found it a bit unstructured. It felt like they spent a month in Tasmania & a week in SA. Did they? Or did it just feel that way? I wanted some self reflection at the end, a chapter summing up their experiences & what they'd learned.

[Hammad]

Every Australian has at least once thought about circumnavigating Australia which is about 15,000 km in its shortest form, and lot longer along the coastal line and interesting places. Many do this as grey nomads (Retirees in Campervans). Greg Bearup & Lisa Upton, both accomplished journalists were lucky enough to get sponsors and a book contract to do this pilgrimage relatively earlier in their lives with their 1 year old first child in a caravan. This is a travelogue of their 1-year long road trip of mainland Australia and Tasmania.

Most of inland Australia is barren with very sparse population. So, they instead focused on finding interesting people in all the remote places they visited. Thanks to their connections and both being people person, they found plenty of such people to keep the book interesting & engaging. The people they meet included accomplished poets, artists, neurosurgeons, mining millionaires, fishing moguls, brothel owners, political activists etc. Their meetings are like casual interviews touching various social, cultural & environmental challenges Australia is facing. In the style of BBC articles, author has mostly relayed the opinions of concerned parties and has refrained to come to any conclusion whatsoever from his side.

The book offers a lot to learn about Australia and its people. There is some political feeling to the book as it touches the subjects of Aboriginal history and present condition, the way public welfare (aka tax) money is being spent, people sentiment about immigrants and some of the environmental concerns.

Save for the occasional dull pages, it is a nicely written graspable book that would particularly be of interest to people who want to learn about social life in regional Australia and its cultural history. This is not a traditional travelogue though life in a caravan for a travelling family is one of its interesting sub-themes.

[Kaye Arnold]

I thought this would be more about the actual caravan and mishaps etc, but it was more the stories that the journalist got from the people he and his wife interviewed on their journey. It was still good, with moments of humour, but I was a little disappointed. However, I did learn quite a bit about some of the towns around Australia and which ones we will try to avoid when we do our lap.

[Ita]

Interesting at times with the place they see and the people they meet but quite a bleak view of the aboriginal communities they visit.

[Sharon]

Really liked this book. Raised some interesting points about the state of things in some parts of Australia and to be honest, some images are not very flattering.
Agree with the remarks about the ease of welfare being given out and making life too easy for some.
This book sounds like the trip was a great adventure and like most Australians, one should make it a mission to circumnavigate the country just to say you have done it and seen ALL of my homeland (or at leasy as much as can be seen when one travels around Australia in a set time)

[Kristine]

This was a lovely mix of travel stories, people stories, and national issues stories. I enjoyed reading a journalists perspectives while undertaking the great Australian travel adventure, but was particularly impressed with the chapters that dealt with writers, artists, our environment and the challenges of indigenous Australians. Well worth a read.

[Robyn]

Great book about a couple and their toddler taking and early 'grey nomad' trip around Aus. Written by a journo, and takes a good look at the various realities of the lives of people around this great land. Definitely good when planning a big drive yourself!

[Michelle]

Brilliant book and incredibly well written journal of their year in a caravan in Australia with his wife and toddler. There is so much wonderful diversity in australia this book makes me want to Jack it all on, buy a van and get on the road

[LibraryKath]

I love a little armchair travel, and this one was a lovely meandering read through Australia in a caravan.

[Eliana Barrenho]

Amazing book to complement our extraordinary Aussie adventure!!!

[Paulo]

Great book. made me understand Australia much better. And prolonged our wonderful trip through Australia!

[Alex Podesser]

Great read...............humourous,informative....makes you want to head off on a trip around Australia.

[Diane in Australia]

3 Stars = Okay. I liked the book. It was worth reading.

[Carolyn]

Sounded great.... pompous, self indulgent flop. Good luck to future readers