Customer Reviews

Waltzing Australia

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

What a lovely book: a smart combination of memoir and a fresh view on the usual travel story. No one could write this well about travels in Australia without a true love for the country, its people, and its remarkable landscape. Cynthia Clampitt surprises us with a writing talent and story-telling technique that is tough to master, yet she is consistently compelling to read. She puts her full energy into explaining culture, history, anthropology, animal life, and the rigors of being a woman on a long solo journey. Honestly, I'm only 147 pages into this big book, but could not wait to share my enthusiasm for Waltzing Australia.

Helen Gallagher, author: Release Your Writing: Book Publishing, Your Way

Other reviewers do a nice job with what this book is about. Let me share that it became a chore to read after initially drawing me in with the promise of travel and adventure. It really is just a memoir of descriptive after descriptive accompanied by a good dose of the look and feel of the landscape, with a good bit of redundant language, i.e. "..it was a lovely little town.."

It does cover a tremendous amount of ground about the Australian landscape and botanical facts, and it is littered with some really fun stories along the way. The reader is a witness to her travels, watching her wander about, but there is just.. much that is repetitive. Perhaps if one were planning or reliving a trip to Australia, more of its charm and detail would become accessible.

After years of dreaming and planning, author Cynthia Clampitt quit her job, packed up her life,and followed the siren call of Australia. Part travelogue and part personal journal, WALTZING AUSTRALIA is the diary of her journey. Clampitt mixes snippets of anthropology, cultural history, geography, natural history, and sociology in a beguiling narrative about her breakout six months traveling on her own through Australia, giving the reader a detailed look at the wonders of the land down under.

Often personal, but seldom deeply introspective, Clampitt's glowing travel diary should inspire all who dream of traveling to a new land, of kicking off the traces of the day-to-day, or simply of visiting the land of kangaroos and koalas.

Cynthia Clampitt had a secure job with a steady paycheck and decided to leave it all behind to pursue her dream of becoming a writer. She packed up her stuff and headed to Australia where she spent the next 6 months recording everything she saw, did and felt. She spent time in the cities but really connected with the country and bush areas of the continent. She did everything from hiking, climbing, and horseback riding to shopping, eating great food, and relaxing. She experienced as much as she could in those 6 months and turned those experiences into, "Waltzing Australia", one of the best travel books I have ever read.

Within the pages of this fabulous travelogue Ms. Clampitt manages to express the beauty of the places she visits in a way that makes it easy for the reader to picture. She also throws in a little history here and there which made it even more interesting to me. However, what I enjoyed the most were her descriptions of her encounters with the people of Australia. When I was there I found the people to be extremely friendly and helpful and it was nice to see that Ms. Clampitt had the same experience with those she met throughout her journey.

Whether you have been to Australia or not, I highly recommend "Waltzing Australia" as either a great introduction to one of the most spectacular places on Earth or as a wonderful reminder of your past trip. Either way, this beautifully written book that will have you planning a first trip or a return visit in no time!

"As I sped over the soft earth, the wind in my face, the colors crowding in around me, I felt fleeter and freer than I can ever remember. Such is the liberating quality of joy."

You could read Waltzing Australia by Cynthia Clampitt and thoroughly enjoy a great travel book. This highly recommended journal is full of the history, the beauty and the mystery of Australia. In fact, if you suffer from occasional wanderlust, you should keep this book on your permanent library shelf so that you can escape into the various parts of Australia whenever you wish! I personally would visit Tasmania more often since Cynthia immediately captured me through the stories of her travels there.

But if I told you only about traveling through Australia, you would not be prepared and perhaps not realize until it is later in the book, that there is a very personal story being told. It's about one of our present-day female role models we should share with our children. It's about a gutsy woman who, while being in a successful corporate career realized that it was not what she wanted for her life. She wanted a writing career. Leaving the security of her corporate role, she first chose to fulfill a lifetime dream. She spent six months touring Australia!

There is little that Cynthia writes about herself, but when she does add those personal comments, such as the one quoted above, I urge you to stop and consider those words about your own life--Can we say that we experience "the liberating quality of joy"? Let your heart decide whether Cynthia has a special message for you that will run throughout this book... If so, then sit back and enjoy waltzing along with Cynthia as she tests her limits, especially physically, and in many other ways!

"My spirit seemed to vibrate...in sympathetic response to...innocence, the fierceness, the solitude...I studied them a while longer, smiled..."

This lengthy journey covers approximately 20,000 miles as Cynthia toured Australia. The book has been easily divided into parts of the country so that you can hone in on that section if you are fortunate to have a few weeks to travel to a specific spot. It is written in a travel diary format that provides broad strokes as well as daily activities of events. There will be information about the history of the location being traveled, notes on wildlife as well as the land and water displays. To give you a taste, I'll share with you just some of the details that show the variety of information and that were especially interesting to me:

· Nearly everybody knows the old song about the Kookaburra. It is the largest member of the kingfisher family and is best known for its rollicking "laughter."

· Wages were once paid in "rum."

· "Beyond words" can only be used to describe the beauty of the rainforest.

· Everything, including cars, the weather, life...is referred to as "she."

· The riverboat postman on Hawkesbury River carries not only mail, but food, medicine and even people!

· Captain Cook traveled along the coast naming bays, islands and landmarks. He "peacefully changed the map of the world more than any other single man...."

· Rub a large stone...in the fertility cave to become pregnant, according to Aboriginal legend!

· The Stirling Bells grow nowhere else in the world other than the Stirling Ranges; each of the seven varieties has its own mountain, growing nowhere else in the ranges!

· Tasmania's Wallabies are only 2 to 3 feet and they grasp fingers to eat out of your hand.

· Wombats have short necks, making it impossible to look up, so they beg for food by trotting up and staring at your ankles.

· Tasmanian devils owe their names and reputations to the insanely wild screaming/choking/snarling/roaring sounds they make for normal conversation!

· Sydney's opera house cost $102M, raised mostly through lotteries.

With that last I must stop. There seems to be one overlying theme about Australia that is readily apparent. People are happy, friendly and proud of their country. People open their homes to strangers. When a car or bus is broken down, everybody stops to help. I love the Australia that I read about in Waltzing Australia by Cynthia Clampitt. I was 18 when I, too, thought of traveling to that country. If I never get to, though, Cynthia has given me a taste of that "heaven" that I missed. Perhaps you, too, have a dream...

"I wondered again, as I have wondered before, why this place moves me so. I am drawn to the remoteness, to the vigor, the fierceness...and its spirit whispers to my spirit..."

G. A. Bixler

(Official Apex Reviews Rating: 4.5 Stars)

Waltzing Australia takes the reader on a journey through the heart and soul of the country & continent affectionately known as "Down Under." Comprised of chronological entries in an extemporaneous travel diary, Cynthia Clampitt's tome serves as a comprehensive guide to just what makes Australia one of the most unique and inviting places on earth.

Guided by Clampitt's masterful narration, the reader is treated to the vicarious thrills and excitement that she experiences on her sojourn through a land that she had long dreamed of but never visited. Along the way, she learns volumes of native history, sees breathtaking sights that others only read about in books, and becomes increasingly fascinated with the vast and sundry local wildlife. She also builds invaluable new friendships, through which she's introduced to the customs, mores, and folkways that bring the land to life.

Aside from its geographical and sociological appeal, Waltzing Australia's true power lies in the notable lessons that it can teach readers - lessons whose inherent value elevate them above those found in traditional history books. As a personal witness to the environment and living history of the country, Clampitt lends her already compelling account an added, deft touch of humanity, which makes it universally more appealing than a bland, sterile recapitulation of facts and information.

For a welcome, first-hand account of a fascinating place of truly well-earned renown, readers would serve themselves well to peruse the pages of Waltzing Australia. In so doing, they may very well ignite the same fire within themselves as that which propelled Clampitt to visit the fabled mini-paradise - and feel just as fulfilled as a result.

Krystal Pearson

Apex Reviews

I fell in love with Australia in 1993, when I made my first trip. It stole my heart then and continues to hold it now. I am fortunate to sell travel to this diverse and amazing country, so I have been back many times.

Cynthia Clampitt sees inside MY heart and puts on paper feelings I have yet been able to describe adequately

She paints vivid pictures of people, places and adventures. I can feel the sun, hear the crush of the bush beneath my feet and smell the salt of the sea.

I know I will go back again to Australia but I can revisit anytime just by picking up Waltzing Australia and reading a few pages.

I will treasure and keep this book for a very long time!

This is a compelling tale of adventure and dreaming. Cynthia takes us on a journey and climbs her 'Everest'. Many Australians make similar journeys to Cynthia- it is still a challenging country to travel through. Yet as we share her travels something becomes clear; there is one thing that most of us cannot do.... and that is to write about our adventures and dreams in such an engrossing way. This is what marks this travel book apart from other similar tales; it is a piece of literature. As an Australian I could almost smell the scent of eucalyptus leaves coming out of the page. (This is the highest praise an Australian can offer!)

This is such a wonderful and compelling book! As a nature photographer, I have a sense of adventure and a love of the outdoors that is shared by Cynthia and expertly conveyed to the reader along the way. I was amazed at her journey and felt I was right there with her. I found myself reading slower during the last few chapters of the book as I didn't want the journey to end. This book really brings to life the wonders of Australia and I admire Cynthia's adventurous spirit and joy in discovering all that nature has to offer.

I read Cynthia's extensive travelogue in short bursts. I used her excellent skills at painting verbal pictures of Australia's magnificent and varied landscapes to visit Down Under when Chicago's brutal winter weather became too much to bear. I traveled to Australia years ago, but only had two weeks to stay. I found great pleasure in the many gaps Cynthia filled in for me regarding spectacular locations that ended up on my "next time I'm here" list. Cynthia's love for Australia is evident in her attention to detail and made Waltzing Australia a thoroughly enjoyable read.