Tag Archives: australia

The Amateur Tramp – The man who walked around a continent

The Amateur Tramp – A Walk of Ten Thousand Miles Around Australia. Thousands of people have climbed the highest peaks of the Himalayas. Hundreds have visited all nations on UN’s list and 12 made it all the way to the moon. But this guy..!

In 1921, Aidan de Brune packed his backpack and walked around the entire continent of Australia by the coastline. We are (almost) sure he is the only person who ever did that. Even more impressive, he did it all alone and without assistance.

The amazing adventure was documented by himself along the way as he wrote articles about it for the Australian newspaper Daily Mail along the route.

The route around Australia

The walk took about two and a half year, and the accomplishment made Aidan de Brune famous. This book about the walk is written by Colin Choat, who kindly allowed us to post the book here.

Download ‘The Amateur Tramp’ here:

The Amateur Tramp

Wonderland of the Antipodes

“One little pickle of a fellow, with bright black eyes, who had quite overcome his terror, amused himself by creeping up behind the others, and frightening them by shouting in their ear, “ Nui pakeha, nui pakeha” (the big white man, the big white man is coming!) — meaning me; at which they would burst into tears, and run like rabbits from the sup­posed cannibal—your humble servant.”

Wonderland of the Antipodes and other sketches of Travel in the North Island of New Zealand by J. Ernest Tinne was published in 1873. He was astonished by the beauty of the island and during many trips by foot, canoe and horseback he visited the North Island many times. The descriptions are personal and it is clear that Ernest respected the natives and was very interested in geology, anthropology, botanics and the Maori way of life.

Download the free PDF e-book here (160 pages/8 MB):

 Wonderland of the Antipodes