Customer Reviews

Australia (Odyssey Guides Australia)

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is an odd little hybrid, but quite useful. With beautiful photos, like a coffee table book, but small in size; with many maps, but none detailed enough to really use; with travel suggestions, but little "getting there" or "where to stay" information, it is a little bit of this and a little bit of that. What it does, more than say "Watching Wildlife," is put the flora and fauna in an ecological and evolutionary context, explaining why a particular species or area is unusual, and worth seeing. There are many sidebars with interesting natural history, and references to recent scientific studies along this line. But it is also a guide to the highlights of where to see nature in Australia.
Bottom line is, you will need other guides to fully plan an ecotourist trip to Oz, but you will get a lot more out of the trip if you read this book first.

A nice book, although a bit out of date. Really needs a new edition. That said, it has some remarkably interesting stuff in it. The author takes a look at why some of the animals are as odd as they are. Evolution has shaped the marsupials to fit just about every available ecological niche, even in the face of a very adverse climate. The Koala for example has a tiny brain and very slow metabolism, as an adaptation to a very low, toxic diet of Eucalyptus leaves. Robby

"The best guidebook [about Lord Howe island] is Australia: An Ecotraveller's Guide by Hannah Robinson," Mark Rowe, Travel Overseas, November 2005.