AUSTRALIANA
Woven around a series of historical accounts, fictionalised narratives and personal reflections, ‘The Pursuit of Wonder’ looks at the first Australian tourists and their discovery and reinvention of the Australian landscape.
Imagine an Australia before the tour buses and well-trodden bushwalks – a wild and often daunting country that did not easily yield the secrets of its natural beauty. Into this landscape, early Europeans ventured, ‘discovering’ nature at its most Romantic – sublime lakes, ancient mountain ranges, awe-inspiring caves and plunging waterfalls. Scenery that is now a familiar part of the Australian landscape – the Blue Mountains and the Jenolan Caves in New South Wales, Lake St Clair in Tasmania and Wilsons Promontory in Victoria, Mount Tamborine in Queensland and Mount Lofty in South Australia – stirred in these visitors a sense of awe. Richly illustrated, “”The Pursuit of Wonder”” is a celebration of travel in its many rambling, striving, inspiring guises and a revelation of a natural world that we now take for granted. Rediscover the wonder.
More than 200 years after Joseph Banks’ global tour we can still appreciate the magic of wonder, the motivation of thousands of tourists each year who seek out natural beauties. This beautiful book will appeal to those who enjoy their history placed in the best possible surrounds.
First Edition. Miegunyah Press series. Series 2 ; no. 65.
- vii, 351 p. : ill. (some col.), map, port., facsim. ; 24 cm.
- Bibliography: p. 321-332.
- Travelers — Australia — History
- Australians — Travel
- Tourism — Australia — History
- Culture and tourism — Australia
- Australia — Description and travel