Customer Reviews

Cold Beer and Crocodiles: A Bicycle Journey into Australia

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Roff first covered his trip around Australia in a three part series in National Geographic a few years ago. It was a find to discover he had written an entire book on his journey since cycling around a country roughly the size of the United States should produce more material than just three magazine articles. It's not quite the same prose either, so if you did read these articles, you're not reading a reprint.

"Cold Beer and Crocodiles" is a poor title, especially when Smith's account proves there is so much more to Australia than the two. He does an excellent job of describing the different climates he rides and lives through.

Just as skillful is his portrayal of the various Australians he meets along the way. I spent several months in the country a few years ago, so I can relate to their overwhelming hospitality and generosity (most). As few truly unfriendly and hostile Australians as I met, I'm glad Smith wasn't afraid to mention the few he came across. They're such a small minority, especially if you consider a similar trip made around say the US. A small number would be so open to a strange cycling by their homes. Traditionally, Australians are used to strangers traveling through covering the vast distances in search of work. Even so I think Smith fortunate to get a rare glimpse (for the rest of the world anyway) into an outback station, several, and we're lucky to read about his other experiences. His balance between the positive and negative provides a wonderful narrative of his trip. I agree with other reviewers the book winds up extremely quickly, and he skips through and by several places worth commenting on. He barely writes about this trip in Tasmania. But this isn't the Rough Guide to Australia. What is mentioned and left out is entirely up to the writer. There are several other books on travel in Australia, such as Bryson's "In a Sunburned Country" to give a different spin on Oz.

Cold Beer and Crocodiles (crocodiles barely feature at all!) is an excellent travel adventure which will appeal to anyone who cosily enjoys the vicarious experience of someone else battling to survive in an extreme landscape: in this case, the Australian Outback. Having lived in Australia for 15 years without developing any emotional attachment to the country, Roff Smith quit his job at Time magazine to undertake a mammoth 10,000 mile round trip of Australia, his rationale being a desire to try to find the 'real' Australia and 'real' Australians, engage emotionally "with the country I'd lived in as a stranger all these years". His chosen mode of transport, a 21 speed touring bicycle would let him get close to the land, experience Australia, its sights, sounds and smells.

In the early stages, Smith expends much pedal power shaking off the Sydney suburbs and running the gauntlet of heavy, aggressive traffic. City and suburbs sloughed off, six months of gruelling Outback travel follow: its when he hits the furnace of the Outback that the words blaze off the page as he is plagued for months on end by flies, thirst, dust, scorching heat and feelings of loneliness; is overtaken by huge triple roadtrains, horns blaring, barrelling down desert highways; witnesses spectacular thunder and sizzling forked-lightning desert storms; bivouacs in scrub under night skies "full of stars as sharp as needles"; works in sheep and cattle stations in the guts of the country - the barren interior; picks melons; visits an Aboriginal Community; duels for weeks on end with the vast, hostile expanses of empty reddish plains baking under the blistering sun - "so much nothing out there...just miles and miles of nothing". Surviving to the next roadhouse is the order of each day! On his travels, Smith encounters a mixed bag of people (mostly helpful) slap bang in the middle of nowhere - in remote roadhouses, isolated settlements or in outstations hundreds of miles of sand, scrub and spinifex away from the nearest town.

If the thought of living on the edge appeals to you, read this book. Now try "One For The Road" by Tony Horwitz, another equally good, well-written travel venture into the Australian Outback but this time from the very different perspective of a hitch-hiker. Both books strongly recommended!

When I was 26, about 8 years before the author made his journey, I almost undertook exactly the same adventure (even following the same roads - I had the whole thing planned out, with significantly more detail and prep than the author made), so when I heard about this book, I had to read it. I was not disappointed. His effusive story telling style was a pleasant surprise to me, and read it cover-to-cover. I think his National Geographic piece on the trip was more reflective, if I recall correctly, and you didn't get as much insight in the book as to what sort of turmoil made him take the trip, but I guess he felt it wasn't relevant. I would have also liked a bit more detail about his personal transformation, and a bit more about what certain regions were like. For example, his terrifying journey (or is that "escape"?) across the south of Australia was gripping reading, but there wasn't much about the geography, such as the spectacular coast. It didn't exactly paint a picture. It's not as poetic about the natural beauty of Australia as I'd like, but he HAD been a resident of Australia for some time before he took the trip. He wasn't exactly looking at it with tourist's eyes. My only real complaint, then, was that the book was too skimpy. I would have happily travelled with him for another 100 pages, as I didn't want it to end. If there's ever a second edition, I hope he fleshes it out a bit, maybe borrowing from the NG article. I have to say that after reading it, I'm both glad I didn't go (I might be dead now!), and even more sorry I didn't (it's dangerous, but possible and rewarding). Congratulations to the author for his courage, and thanks for satisfying a bit of my wanderlust.

The force of my desire to hear more from an adventurer like Roff Smith is the litmus test of how much I enjoyed this summertime page-turner. Although I longed for greater detail at every leg of his journey, I sensed Smith's efficient writing style pulling me forward to the next landscape and the next experience.

Smith's adventures complete the Australian experience started by Eric Stiller's "Keep Australia on Your Left: A True Story of an Attempt to Circumnavigate Australia." While cycling 10,000 miles puts Smith in contact with many more aspects of this unique continent, Stiller's failed kayaking attempt deals more with the problems of bringing another personality onboard. Both are compelling reads.

While Smith seems open to making new acquaintances along the way, his reported loneliness is magnified by the adsence of a certain warmth - a feeling conveyed by descriptions of the support and concern from friends and family that surely must have accompanied him. On the other hand, this might just be a carry-over from the sanitized writing requirements of the "National Geographic" series.

"Cold Beer and Crocodiles" is a stop-and-start-anywhere book. Each chapter offers readers the craft and closure of a short story.

I loved this book. I like reading adventure travel books, but this one really caught my imagination. Roff Smith is a humorous writer with a knack for capturing the nuances of speech and behavior that make Aussies Aussies. Unlike many travel writers, Smith is neither condescending to his subject nor is he blind to the faults of the subject matter. Instead, he discusses the Australian psyche from the viewpoint of an adopted son, pointing out both the foibles of the Aussies as well as the things that make them a great country.

HIGHLY recommended for anyone with an interest in our antipodean neighbor or in bicycling!

Having travelled through Australia a number of times by airplane, car, and train, I found the perpspective of a bicylist to be enlightening, funny, and exasperating. While I never intend to pedal around Oz, I think Smith captured the spirit of the country. It was a good read. I would recommend the book but not the means of transport....

Having finished only half the book, I'm amazed at the experiences he has. I'm at a loss to understand just how he went about getting into the situations he did. And yet, being a cycle-tourist myself, I can understand.

Let me explain a bit. While Smith was riding inland, in central Queensland, he decided he wanted to visit a sheep station (ranch) and see how it operated. Somehow he got in contact with the MacIntoshes of Fairfield Station. He stayed for days, helping out on the ranch.

Later, while pedaling through hot plains of Northern Queensland in the dry season, a couple of guys pulled up behind him in a Land Rover and offered him a beer. They got to talking, and again Smith spent days with newfound friends in the outback. They camped, fished, and in the end Smith was invited to a wedding.

And time after time, the author was invited to stay over for dinner or to sleep in the spare bedroom at various homes along the way.

During my everyday comings and goings, it's hard to imagine that one could so easily make new friends and have such adventures. People are not so trusting, so willing to share their lives. I thought to myself, this isn't the way things work. And then I remembered what it was like to pedal from Phoenix, Arizona to El Paso, Texas. And then Smith's adventure seemed plausible - even made sense.

While on a bike ride through the Southwestern US, a friend and I experienced quite a few gestures of goodwill. A woman drove twenty miles to offer us a ride when several spokes snapped. A man opened his home to me and offered up his computer, refrigerator, and even his shower. Three families on holiday in the mountains shared their meal with us and were more than willing to give us a ride down the mountain to a New Year's party the community was putting on at the community center.

When I think back, people are anxious to share and offer a helping hand, sometimes. But why isn't every day life like this?

Perhaps it's something to do with being a cyclist on the road. Maybe it's because being a cyclist in the middle of a desert is a good icebreaker. Or perhaps people feel inclined to help someone so vulnerable to the elements. Or maybe they're just curious.

Whatever the case, I both identify with Smith's experiences and am baffled by them. It's a book I can hardly put down.

Roff Smith's adventure created quite the resume for his job with National Geographic! His bicycle trip around Australia made me wax nostalgic about the trip I made across the heartland of the US in the summer of 1982. I understand why there were periods of hundreds of miles where he didn't write any words. Or as he was making the trip from Eucla Pass and on in to Melbourne that he didn't remember much of that part of the trip. He was bone weary and ready to chuck it in. I felt that way by the time I got to Trail of Tears State Park in Missouri from Portsmouth, New Hampshire. The wind in your face, the heat (though shy of the 130 degree oven that he slogged through). I enjoyed the descriptions of friends he made along the way and good times. I think probably by the time you've made your way to the middle of nowhere and find kindred spirits, you care less for formality. I didn't incurr any of the road rash such as he got careening out of control outside of Perth, but when you are on a bicycle, you are more at the mercy of the elements and the good will of strangers than you are when you would be traveling by greyhound or by auto.

This was a thoroughly enjoyable read. I am preparing for a trip to Australia. It gave good insight into the customs and people. Though I may bicycle some, I don't think I'll be traveling but a hundredth of the distance he covered on bike.

UPDATE - Jamie and I traveled to Australia and used the CityRail to get us to downtown Sydney as the first stop. We used Rolf's "Australian Traveler Guide" (National Geographic) and wound our way through the Royal Botanic Garden from the St. James train stop. This was an absolutely wonderful introduction to Sydney and Australia. Thanks again to Roff Smith. You can tell the man loves Australia!

Roff Smith hit a crossroads one day and didn't know whether he should stay in Australia or move back to the US. Since he hadn't really seen or experienced Australia like he felt he should have, how could he be expected to make a decision as to whether he should stay? The only solution, of course, was to hop on his bicycle and pedal 10,000 miles around the entire island.

Along the way he meets up with the requisite cast of weird characters, tries as much Australian outback life as he can handle, and just plain experiences Australia. He writes about his struggles, emotional and physical, to actually complete the trip. But whether it's bad luck, hurt legs, a chance encounter with a tcomplete jerk, all his setbacks are rendered unimportant when he gets a chance to see the things that make Australia what it is. It's a great book.

The only valid complaint I can voice has already been said by most of the other reviewers: the book is too short. The author spends the first half of the book going about one-third of his trip. The last half of his trip occupies barely the last quarter of the book. The addition of another 100 pages wouldn't make this book too long or unreadable; it would only serve to fully flesh it out.

Perhaps one other disadvantage is that the book may inspire you to want to take a bicycle journey of your own! Hmmm, I know that Australia's been done ... has anyone pedalled all around New Zealand?

...but I wouldn't have wanted to have been there with him. The author does an exceptional job writing up the landscapes, his experiences and thoughts. I was captive. I didn't want this book to end.
As other reviewers have stated, the only flaw is that we would have wanted more detail, more information. If ever there is a second edition, I will be among the first to buy the book. I would love to take the trip again, looking for more details in every encounter and circumstance. I highly recommend reading about this painful, enjoyable, amazing journey.