Australia Adventure

Sixteen-year-old Nipper and his Gallipoli mates Lanky, Spud, Bluey and Wallaby Joe are starving, freezing and ill-equipped. By November 1915 they know that that there is more to winning a war than courage. The Gallipoli campaign has been lost. Nipper has played cricket with the Turks in the opposing dugout, dodged rocket fire and rescued drowning, freezing men when the blizzard snow melted. He is one of the few trusted with the secret kept from even most of the officers: how an entire army will vanish from the Peninsula over three impeccably planned nights.

Sixteen-year-old Nipper and his Gallipoli mates Lanky, Spud, Bluey and Wallaby Joe are starving, freezing and ill-equipped. By November 1915 they know that that there is more to winning a war than courage. The Gallipoli campaign has been lost. Nipper has played cricket with the Turks in the opposing dugout, dodged rocket fire and rescued drowning, freezing men when the blizzard snow melted. He is one of the few trusted with the secret kept from even most of the officers: how an entire army will vanish from the Peninsula over three impeccably planned nights.

What are the 79 wackiest excuses for being late to school? How do you stop a maniac dentist from terrorising children? Why is the new smartphone so ridiculously dumb? And what does it take to get every single student at Milford Junior School put on detention? Find out in this hilarious collection of short stories. One thing is guaranteed - you will never pick the endings!

In every coastal town in Australia, there's a bait shop and a boat ramp. Fishing rods are strung up in laundries and garages around the country, waiting for their next outing. Walk over a bridge, look across to a wharf and there will be people casting a line. Many people have a special fishing spot, and families pass on tips from generation to generation and exchange fishy tales of amazing catches and near misses. Bringing her personal passion for throwing in a line, author and historian Anna Clark celebrates the enduring pleasure of fishing in The Catch.

Ambitious country reporter, Del Fisher, seems to have it all. She's just landed her dream job, along with an engagement to Nick, Winga's most eligible bachelor and son of local mayor and mining tycoon, Carson Shaw. But Del is blindsided when a feature article and its shocking allegations about the Shaw family is published under her name. Del and Nick's relationship is torn apart. Devastated by the unintentional havoc she has caused, Del flees to the family farm at Berrimilla in the heart of beautiful Kingfisher Valley.

Destroying every vampire on earth can get messy.... Cadence Findley and the LIGHTS team are on a mission to annihilate every vampire in existence, especially Holland, the vampire queen, who has sworn vengeance for the attack in Melbourne. But something's not right in Kansas City, and not everyone is on board with the plan, which makes taking Holland down even more difficult. Is Holland infiltrating the ranks, and if so, can Cadence stop it in time to wipe out the queen's growing vampire army once and for all? The Clandestine Saga follows the story of Cadence Findley, Vampire Hunter ...

Felix refuses to shower. Last time, he ended up in another world. But Dad and Olly have noticed he smells pretty bad. At least he's prepared this time, wearing bathers just in case. He turns on the shower and . . .

Felix hates Mondays. Dad's yelling at him to get up. His little brother, Olly, is being super annoying. So when Felix shuts the bathroom door, he wishes he could get away. He turns on the shower and...REEEEKKKKKK! Felix finds himself standing in the middle of a field...naked...with an army of soldiers charging at him.

Zeelie wonders if they're in danger. When temperatures soar to 47 degrees one hot summer day, 12-year-old Zeelie hopes the nearby bushfires everyone's talking about aren't heading towards her family's new home. What will they do if the wind changes direction? What about their belongings and their beloved pets? And why hasn't her mum and brother returned from Melbourne? Nothing can prepare Zeelie for what's to come.

At the age of ten, and just short of four feet tall, a boy from Ballarat named Johnny Day became Australia's first international sporting hero. Against adult competition he wooed crowds across continents as the World Champion in pedestrianism, the sporting craze of the day. A few years later, in 1870, he won the Melbourne Cup on a horse aptly called Nimblefoot, this time impressing British royalty and Melbourne's high society. And then, still aged only fourteen, this already-famous athlete and jockey disappeared without a trace. Robert Drewe picks up where history leaves off.

Perched high on the snowy slopes of the Mabombo Ranges lies The Grandest Hotel on Earth. It's wilder than the African savanna, more fantastical than Disneyland and more magical than Shangri-la. So when ordinary 11-year-old Vincent meets the hotel's young Florence, he sets off on a path leading into his most wondrous dreams. But, of course, dreams have a funny way of taking strange and surprising turns, and, before long, Vincent is torn between right and wrong, friendship and family and the most enticing of desires—to see into the future.

This short piece outlines the adventures I had both in the air and on the sea. My travels took me on a flying safari across Australia and cruising around the coasts of Tasmania and New Zealand's South Island. Both spectacular, breathtaking places in their own rights. Let me tell you, the rewards outstripped the risks by a long way.

Following are a few brief excerpts from this guide, written by a lifelong resident of Australia. She covers everything you might want to know about this part of Australia - guaranteed! The places to stay, from budget to luxury, rentals to B&Bs; the restaurants, from fast food to the highest quality; the beachwalks and bushwalks; the wildlife and how to see it; exploring the country by air, on water, by bike, and every other way.

Bindi and her American friend, Kelly, are on a surfing tour in Mexico and the United States. Totally gnarly! Getting to surf with green sea turtles is a complete thrill. But one of their fellow surfers is acting suspiciously, and Bindi realises that he’s got more than beautiful waves on his mind. Be careful of the wipe-out, dude!

Bindi's birthday party at Australia Zoo is going to be huge. Karaoke, animal rides, dancing competitions, it's all happening! But when a spoilt ten-year-old boy decides he wants to take home one of the zoo's precious water dragons, chaos ensues.

The Irwins are on their annual crocodile-tagging trip in the Cape York Peninsula, the home of the extraordinary Steve Irwin Wildlife Reserve. When Bindi and Robert chance upon a campsite set up by a father and daughter behaving like two fish out of water, they set about discovering the real reason behind their trip to the reserve.

Bindi takes a pair of troublesome English twins out for a whale-watching trip of a lifetime. But when one of the twins spots an emergency flare, they race to the scene of a boating accident, only to notice an oil spill, which may jeopardise marine life for hundreds of kilometres!

While on an early morning bushwalk, Bindi and her best friend, Rosie, notice smoke on the horizon. On a super-hot day, this can only mean one thing. Bushfire! The girls spend an exhausting day helping out at the Australian Wildlife Hospital, caring for the victims of the fire.

Atticus Van Tasticus is back. And this time he means business. Having escaped certain disaster on the high seas, he's on the scent of treasure. Then the call comes from above: 'Ship ahoy, Captain, ship ahoy!' If only it were good news, which of course it ain't. Vicious, mean and mighty unclean Bjorn Ironhead is on the warpath - and Atticus and his crew are in his sights. Stay and fight, or run and hide? But where do you hide a pirate ship, and who's this Captain Half Map, and, most of all, where's that treasure of treasures?

Sandy Thorne launched the first bestseller I've Met Some Bloody Wags!: By Biting the Top Off a Stubbie of Beer on the Midday Show, and has spent over 20 years travelling the world spinning bush yarns and humour. Battler gets a vacation when his missus wins a holiday on the Gold Coast. The kids have never seen the sea and Battler has never seen the brief-as-brief bikinis…they're all just about to go completely woomba! Please note: Battler O'Brien is no softie.