Customer Reviews

Keep Australia On Your Left: A True Story of an Attempt to Circumnavigate Australia by Kayak

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

I got this one for my birthday and started reading it with great enthusiasm. Few people have attempted to circumnavigate Australia in a kayak and except of Paul Caffyn no one succeeded so far. Therefore, Eric Stiller (the author) and Tony Brown (his paddle partner) are in good company with their failed attempt to complete the circumnavigation. This book is Eric's account of five months of paddling over 3500 miles from Sydney along Oz's east and north coasts to Darwin.

Paddling almost half the way around Australia in a Klepper foldable boat in five months is a great adventure. It must have been quite an amazing journey along one of the worlds most beatiful shorelines. However, there is hardly any of this aspect in the book. Instead you'll get bored of Eric's dwelling in endless complaints about his sore butt, the always higher-than-expected swell, and his ever ongoing struggles with Tony. The only thing more disappointing than Eric's whining about all the evil surrounding him is the stretch of lousy b/w pictures (on all of which the water is as flat as a mirror, so there must have been a couple of good days at least).

The title refers to Tony's rejection of Eric's request to buy charts for the trip. Instead, he recommends, to simply "keep Oz on the left". I would not want to go on a week-long trip with a guy as naive as that. Tony's naive attitude and Erics subordination to Tony's moods borders on stupidity more often than not. Day after day the two get up too late to make their distance in daylight, they have to make a dangerous landing at some beach they can hardly see in the dark, they find some food and exhaustedly fall asleep, which makes them get up too late the next morning and so on. They once take off in a storm out of a "cabin-fever" mood and almost die that day, triggering a coast guard search. A long list of misjudgements and rants of self-pity later, the duo almost get themselves killed in the gulf of carpentaria and, to the big relief of the reader, give up their journey shortly thereafter.

Eric does not seem to really enjoy any of this whole trip - everything always seems to be worse than expected. He doesn't seem to live the journey, he seems to long for it to end before it even started. The book reads as if all this was pushed onto him, and this way it ends up to be a depressing account of quite a tremendous achievement. Unfortunately, Eric does not seem to understand anything of what has happened. Instead of writing a pity-party of a book like this, he should fall down on his knees and thank his god for the fact, that he pulled his sorry butt out of this alive.

As an Australian I loved the way the author described the characters in this book. They all seemed to be giving, friendly folk who saw this "Epic" trip as a cool thing to do but nothing to get too excited about. It made me a little homesick. Eric Stiller writes with a style that slowly hooks you and then gently pulls you along for a wild ride without getting too worked up. He almost gets too emotional and then he'll break away just in time, especially with regards to a girlfriend back in the states. While some will say Eric was a bit of a whinger, and to some degree he was, I noted with interest that it was Eric who did the majority of planning before and during the trip and that Tony while having a she'll be right mate atttitude also came accoss as a guy who was used to having the mundane things done for him by someone else and that he was there for the adventure. I really enjoyed this book and I have never been in a kayak before. Highly recommended to those like myself who enjoy all travel narratives.

Keep Australia on Your Left is a very interesting book on a number of accounts. People who travel with friends in foreign lands know the inevitable strains that traveling in unfamilar territory places on a relationship. Couple that with the harrowing experiences that Eric and Tony encounter daily in their kayak, Southern Cross, and you've got an adventure that is not only taxing on the body, but also the psyche.

To me, a non-kayaker, the fact that the trip was made in a kayak is irrelevant. It is interesting because it is about traveling in a foreign land, travelers finding themselves in dangerous circumstances, and the strain of travelers extracting an irreparable toll on the travelers' relationship.

Unlike a couple of my fellow reviewers, I do not know Eric Stiller. But based solely on what I have read, I have to say that the one major issue that I have with the book is that I don't exactly like Eric! I commend him for his honest feelings throughout the book, but I found him to be extremely self-involved, quite unrepentant, and for lack of a better phrase, "smarter than thou." And I question how much he has learned or has changed as a result of his experiences. I feel for Tony's having had to endure this for the duration on the trip under life-threatening circumstances.

That said, I enjoyed the book and commend both of them for making it as far as they did.

Keep Australia on Your Left is a very interesting book on a number of accounts. People who travel with friends in foreign lands know the inevitable strains that traveling in unfamilar territory places on a relationship. Couple that with the harrowing experiences that Eric and Tony encounter daily in their kayak, Southern Cross, and you've got an adventure that is not only taxing on the body, but also the psyche.

To me, a non-kayaker, the fact that the trip was made in a kayak is irrelevant. It is interesting because it is about traveling in a foreign land, travelers finding themselves in dangerous circumstances, and the strain of travelers extracting an irreparable toll on the travelers' relationship.

Unlike a couple of my fellow reviewers, I do not know Eric Stiller. But based solely on what I have read, I have to say that the one major issue that I have with the book is that I don't exactly like Eric! I commend him for his honest feelings throughout the book, but I found him to be extremely self-involved, quite unrepentant, and for lack of a better phrase, "smarter than thou." And I question how much he has learned or has changed as a result of his experiences. I feel for Tony's having had to endure this for the duration on the trip under life-threatening circumstances.

That said, I enjoyed the book and commend both of them for making it as far as they did.

What does that mean? It means that the book is very, very well written and of enormous appeal - IF YOU ARE white, thirtyish, male and upper middle class (in other word, like the writer). Since I am all of those things, I thought it was exceptional, practically describing me and my friends, who are also fraternity brothers (like the author) and into adventure sports (like the author). Will you enjoy it if you dont meet these criteria? Mabye, but keep in mind that it is not an adventure story like Jon Krakauers "Into thin air", where its not about the people as much as the adventure. Its more like Bill Brysons "In a sunburned Country", where its almost a journal about traveling, with lots of interesting side notes. The only thing I would have wished for, Eric (if you read this, and you're the type of guy who would)is that you had included diagrams of some of your more complex descriptions (kayak parts, etc.) Still, wonderful adjective use and very vivid writing. Hope you take another trip soon.

this is a great story marred by incessant whinging. mr. stiller's priorities seemed to be the number of kilometers acheived per day and making a relationship withstand the strain of time and distance. very little was mentioned about wildlife and sights along the way, even less about the author's personal growth. transcribing your journal is not a literary effort!
however, the accomplishment of these two fellows was outstanding!

While, I can't say this book was a bad read, I can say that it was uninspiring. For me the biggest problem with the book is that Mr. Stiller comes off as whiny, confused, self-centered, and childish. The superfluos details of his failed love interest is a case in point. Did the guy think he had any real hope of maintaning a relationship with a bartender he hooked up witht he night before he left? More time spent on the imapct of being away from family and serious, life-freinds would have shown a greater depth of feeling. Also, the breif periods of non-whiny self-reflection are not well integrated and don't show any actual growth of charater. I know this is real life, but in a book this long drama counts.
Also, Mr. Stiller is no Hans Junger or John Krakuar(sp?). His descriptive flare burns out after the first few pages. The beauty of the landscape and the diversity of the people are skimmed over. Instead we get mundane details and whiny self-indulgence. Endless descriptions of Stiller's bitch sessions about his paddling partner, obsessing over planning, and the vain hope of picking up a letter from the bartender, who dumps him.
The account of the trip--which I must point out involves TWO people--is poorly balanced. Tony Brown gets the short end of the stick and that is really too bad. Tony Brown must be one hell of a guy to put up with Stiller for as long as he did. Also, it seems to me that Brown was actually "into" experiencing the trip as an adventure. I'm pretty sure that with a paddling companion like Mr. Stiller I would have bailed much earlier that Tony eventually did.
For a good tale of kayak expeditioning read On Celtic Tides by Chris Duff.

I loved the book, but let me explain my qualifications. I study, design, build and live decked sailing canoes for cruising, usually solo boats. The Klepper double in the book (we own one, too, & a single) is a close relative to a cruising sailing canoe.

Captain James Cook is at the top of my historical heroes list, also, and Eric and Tony went along Cook's path.

And I know Eric.

So I have three reasons to like the book and it doesn't fail.

It will become a fixture of small boat literature. Rate it with others, say Bligh's open boat voyage after the mutiny, or Verlen Kruger's canoe trip with Steve Landick, and later Valerie Fons, of a figure eight around North America. It will join the exalted list of Klepper achievments beginning with Hans Lindemann's Atlantic crossing.

But I think it has more. It has the insides of a complex fellow, as unique a communicator as exists.

In the genre of small boat cruising stories, one doesn't expect the best technical qualities. Some of the books are self-published. Some are from tiny companies just beginning. Keep Australia On Your Left has some of those problems. The most apparent after a few pages is editing. But after a score of pages, that's forgotten. And I know how Eric speaks, and how difficult he'd be to edit.

But the trip is real, the waves threaten, the bugs bite, the people are alive---or half dead with fatigue and trials. It's an astonishing achievment as a book and a journey. Hugh Horton

Let me first start off by saying that I have a little more insight on this author. I lived next door to him most of my childhood. We played basketball, electric football, touch football and even street hockey. This book does not surprise me about him. Growing up, he was very intense. When Eric had an idea that got into his head, he took it upon himself to plan, re-plan and do whatever it takes to get the job done. My review title is a summary of what this book is really about. I too, had the opportunity to go one an adventure with one individual. Our transportaion were bicycles. I surely learned toleration, acceptance, frustration, compassion and any other feeling for the other person. The journey is only part of the story. There was a definite personality clash between the two and that is what finally did the trip in. This is real life. Not everything happens the way we want it to or ends the way we intend it. I give him major credit for even attempting this unfathomable journey. I know I surely wouldn't attempt it; not even with my wife, who is my best friend....

For anyone that has read Don Starkell & sons account their 12,000+/- mile canoe from Winnipeg, Canada to the Amazon will have experienced a true account of individuals setting out on an adventure of discovery and strengthening a close bond.

After reading Starkell's famous book, who hasn't thought finding a partner and setting of on such an adventure?

Eric Stiller and Tony Brown went on such an adventure! The book has some awkwardness, as did the trip.

It is a good book over-all and a necessary book for anyone needing to re-evaluate some of the romantic notions of stepping out of modern society into the life of "adventure" and the "wilderness".

All the power to Eric & Tony for all the fun & experiences they had!