Description

In one short week exploring and mapping the coast south of Botany Bay, Matthew Flinders, George Bass and young William Martin had a series of adventures. Artist Christine Hill knows the coast well and visited all of the locations in her research for the paintings which illustrate this story of three young men having the ‘time of their lives’ in a strange land.

They set out from Sydney Harbour to locate a river which Henry Hacking, who led the colony’s hunting parties, had heard was beyond Botany Bay. The little Tom Thumb II sailed too fast and too far south and was dumped by the surf on Towradgi Beach. At Lake Illawarra’s entrance they met some local Aboriginal people who made them rather nervous, but they could not get away until night-time.

Bellambi Beach provided a peaceful resting place on their return journey but a ‘Southerly Buster’ summer storm in the night nearly wrecked their boat beneath the cliffs of the Royal National Park. Wattamolla Cove finally offered a safe refuge … and next day when they finally ‘discovered’ the waterway which became known as the Hacking River, they were surrounded by sharks!

Adults and children alike will enjoy this lively new version of a much-loved Australian tale of courage and adventure from the early colonial days of New South Wales.

ISBN: 9780994470508