Australia Adventure

Stevie Vegas is just your average 12 year old school kid living in suburban Valley Dale, with a passion for skateboarding. He thinks his life is pretty normal...that's until he discovers he's an Illuminator with extra-ordinary mind powers. Then the Shadowcasters arrive and he's forced into a battle as ancient as time itself, one that pits Illuminators against Shadowcasters: lightbringers against demons. Stevie Vegas must find a way to steal the source of the Shadowcasters' power, the cursed stones. Only then will he have the advantage in the fight for his life…

Hey, you - yes, you! Remember when we found that really deep hole and you jumped in and I had to jump in to rescue you and at the bottom of the hole we found the cave of the legendary Peanut Butter Beast? That was one of our deepest - and most dangerous - adventures ever! What? You don't remember? Well, have I got a story for you! Let me remind you how it all went down ... and down ... and down ... and down.

Australia has been invaded. While the outnumbered Australian Defence Force fights on the ground, in the air, and at sea, this quickly becomes a war involving ordinary people. Ben, an IT consultant, has never fought a day in his life. Will he survive? Grant, a security guard at Sydney's International Airport, finds himself captured and living in the filth and squalor of one of the concentration camps dotted around Australia. Knowing death awaits him if he stays, he plans a daring escape.

Grab a flashlight, crawl under the covers and dive into the twisted, unexpectedly hilarious world of Rowley Jefferson's imagination. You'll meet zombies, vampires, ghosts and much more in these comically terrifying tales. Rowley's spooky stories might leave you laughing, but beware - you could end up sleeping with the lights on!

Oliver Wormwood is sure his new job in the library will be boring. Until he learns that books hold great power - and danger. By the end of his first day, Oliver has witnessed the librarian's death, been frozen by a book, met a perplexing number of cats, and fought off a horde of terrifying creatures. With only a mysterious girl called Agatha to show him the ropes, Oliver needs to learn fast . . . if he wants to live longer than the 112 assistant librarians before him.

Opal, snakes, and supernatural beings. In Outback Australia, there’s more than one thing that’ll kill you…and it’s not entirely human. ? Deep in the harsh and unforgiving Australian Outback lies the sleepy opal mining town of Solace. Frequently bypassed by all but the desperate, there’s nothing spectacular about it…on the surface. Solace is a haven for supernatural outcasts. A witch runs the general store, a vampire cuts and polishes opal, the mechanic is a werewolf, a fae is the local layabout, and an elemental works the mine. Everyone has a past, and the Exiles of Solace are ...

From Curio Bay to Golden Bay, in Down South writer Bruce Ansley sets off on a vast expedition across the South Island, Te Waipounamu, visiting the places and people who hold clues to the south's famous character. Not so very long ago, the South Island had most of New Zealand's people and just about all of the money. Gold miners found fortunes in the hills and rivers, sheep barons straddled mountains, valleys and plains. Wealthy southerners ruled the government. Where now lies the South Island's golden fleece? And what is its future?

Meixing Lim and her family have arrived at the New House in the New Land. Everything is vast and unknown to Meixing – including the house she names Big Scary. She is embarrassed by her second-hand shoes, has trouble understanding the language at school, and is finding it hard to make friends. Meixing’s only solace is a glasshouse in the garden, which inexplicably holds the sun and the moon and the secrets of her memory and imagination.

This charming account of the voyage of two men in a small boat half way round the world from Plymouth to New Zealand in 1953 is a rare insight into a time, not long ago, when sailors had no GPS, electronics, radio or any of the mod cons that we take for granted today. Without lifejacket or a life raft, they 'just took what came along', hand steering all the way, navigating by sextant, hand-cranking their engine and using oil lamps for light at night and for navigation. Sailors will be staggered how primitive conditions were only a few decades ago, even though it was the norm at the time.

Under the clamour of the Sydney Harbour Bridge being built nearby, Grace Fairweather is working in her father's grocery shop in The Rocks when she begins making her own confectionery. Her colourful creations of toffees, lollies and chocolates soon become crowd favourites, and Grace begins to dream of one day opening her own sweetshop. When the roguish but irresistible Londoner Alfie Sweeting comes to work for the Fairweathers, his ambition for her success thrills her - so much so that she begins to question her engagement to Norman.

Little Sammy Went vanishes from her home in Manson, Kentucky - an event that devastates her family and tears apart the town’s deeply religious community. Kim Leamy, an Australian photographer, is approached by a stranger who turns her world upside down - he claims she is the kidnapped Sammy and that everything she knows about herself is based on a lie. In search of answers, Kim returns to the remote town of Sammy’s childhood to face up to the ghosts of her early life. But the deeper she digs into her family background the more secrets she uncovers....

Acclaimed explorer Rob Nash has lost his way. Grieving the death of his wife, and blaming himself, he sees no reason to carry on. But when 'Uncle' Frank Douglas offers him the chance to lead a cave-diving expedition in the jungles of Papua, Nash can see some light at the end of the tunnel. But the expedition might not be what it seems. With a decades-old Japanese submarine buried deep in a cavern, and a team hellbent on unleashing the treasures it hides, Nash finds himself on a ship heading for danger.

Back at Alexandria, with their friend Curtis Pepper visiting, Kensy and Max are enjoying the school break. Especially when Granny Cordelia surprises them with a trip to New York! It's meant to be a family vacation, but the twins soon realise there's more to this holiday than meets the eye. The chase to capture Dash Chalmers is on, and when there's another dangerous criminal on the loose, the twins find themselves embroiled in a most unusual case. They'll need all their spy sensibilities, along with Curtis and his trusty spy backpack, to bring down the culprit.

Kensy and Max's next spy mission sees them head to the City of Lights.

Evie, a widow and stationmaster's daughter, helplessly looks out for the weekly visit of the handsome man she and her sister call The Southerner on their train platform in the wilds of Northern England. When polite salutations shift to friendly conversations, they become captivated by each other's reticent manner. After so much sorrow, the childless Evie can't believe love and the chance for her own family has come into her life again.

Remember the time we went to the Land of Lost Things to look for my lucky rabbit's foot and then we got lost too? That was one of our most exciting, surprising and knuckle-headed adventures ever. What? You don't remember? Well, have I got a story for you! It all started like this . . .

Join Andy, Terry and Jill for a flying dot adventure! Up, up and away!

Nature is excessive, lovely, and ominous in the Solomons and the Melanesians who live there, often blond or redheaded, are the blackest of all people. Before World War II such names as Guadalcanal, Savo, Munda were rarely heard. Guadalcanal, over 100 miles long by 30 miles wide, is the largest island. Then in descending order there's Malaita, San Cristobal, Choiseul, New Georgia, and Santa Ysabel. All of them are mountainous, covered with rain forest, and laced with rivers.

Bindi, Robert and Terri Irwin are on their way to Sumatra to collect three gorgeous tiger cubs to take back with them to Australia Zoo. But Bindi is horrified to see the huge logging operations that are going on so close to the endangered tigers’ natural habitat. Soon after they are introduced to the mischievous trio, Bindi and her new friend Madi get involved in tracking down a nefarious gang of tiger poachers.

Hector Cross, ex-SAS officer, private security expert, widower. His wife was taken much too soon, by a cruel man with evil intentions. Johnny Congo, psychopath, extortionist, terrorist, the man who murdered Hector's wife. Cross wants him dead. So does the US government. Congo is locked up on Death Row in the most secure prison in the free world, counting down the days until his execution. He's got two weeks. He wants out. He's escaped before and knows he can again. Cross, still licking his wounds from his last bruising encounter with Congo, is back and ready for work.