A day-by-day journal of discovery

Jonathan Green, feature columnist and humourist for The Age Melbourne, had a yearning to pack the Land Rover, the camper-trailer and his family, and 'do the lap' - travel around the coast of Australia. How to find the time? His wife, Sally Heath, was a working journalist. His children, Peter and Lucy, were at school.

The Editor had a great idea! Why not wheedle time off for the family and take the column around Australia with you, reporting on all the strange places and experiences? Why not go Around Australia in 80 Days?

So began a truly entertaining newspaper series, with Jonathan filling those columns with action, wit and exotic musings, pausing only to take breath on his 'days off' - two precious days a week without a deadline bearing down on his neck. The pace is fast and furious, with human encounters, natural and mechanical hazards, weird and wonderful sights and scenes recorded in Jonathan's light-hearted style.

The Age readers showed their pleasure, filling the mail­bags with comments and stories of their own.

In Around Australia in 80 Days Jonathan's adds to this collection of his columns with some insightful essays on such subjects as Distance, Race, Dust, Breakdowns, The Sky, The Kindness of Strangers, Caravan Parks ....

Sally, Peter and Lucy also contribute comments from their own on the-spot diaries, and it is all illustrated with a bright collection of 161 photographs and mementoes