The adventure I never had

Ian writes: Way, way back when I was in the final year of high school (OK, in 1956) many of us heard stories of the big adventure and big money to be found shooting crocodiles in the far north of Australia. They were the days when we thought the only good croc was a dead croc, and the skins fetched high prices for handbags and those dreadful boots men used to wear.

For a lad who'd grown up in one of the world's most provincial and isolated cities – more than a thousand kilometres of rough dirt road helped separate Perth and the eastern Australian states – the prospect seemed appealing. Fortunately, this lad had sensible parents.

From time to time I've wondered what I would have experienced if I'd packed my bags and headed for Darwin. I'm about to find out.

In the Globusz catalogue, I've spotted an interesting read – Parched Seas, by Ian Sharp – an account by a guy who did just what I'd once dreamed of.
According to the blurb:

An employment advertisement for fisherman to work the Northern Queensland winter season is the catalyst to set the wheel-of-fortune spinning and the saga unfolding.Attracted by the promise of a tough and lucrative lifestyle, the young Sharp embellishes his resume with a bundle of skills drawn straight from his imagination, and he’s delighted when his creativity is rewarded and he gets the job.After handing over two hundred and fifty Australian pounds, as a returnable sign-on bond, to Captain McKenna, and his partner Leo, Sharp joins fifteen other young hopefuls and takes his place on the team. The hefty bond money, paid by all the workers, except for Sharp, is designed to deter the crew from jumping ship.
Now why would all these guys want to jump ship? After dipping into Parched Seas, and noting Sharp's gutsy writing, I think I'm about to find why.

I'll share my thoughts further when I've read it properly.
http://www.globusz.com/ebooks/Parched/index.asp



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