The Road to Innamincka, R.A. Dalkey
The Road to Innamincka, R.A. Dalkey
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The Road to Innamincka
The Escapades of a Wannabe Outback Trucker

Author: R.A. Dalkey

Narrator: R.A. Dalkey

Unabridged: 9 hr 30 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: First District

Published: 11/06/2021


Synopsis

When a 9-year-old R.A. Dalkey decided he was going to become an Outback truck driver, the poor Australia-besotted boy had no idea what he was getting into. He’d been born on the wrong continent for a start. And even if he could make it out of Africa one day, where was an Australian work visa to come from? Or, for that matter, a licence to drive 53-metre trucks on red desert roads?A sensible adult would have filed that dream away as a juvenile fantasy and gotten on with life. Especially after taking five attempts to get the most basic of car licences.But R.A. Dalkey never claimed to be a sensible adult, did he?Join the author as he pursues the ultimate whimsical travel quest. From that careless moment of childhood inspiration, this true account will take you to small town South Africa, the ugly side of Cape Town, the claustrophobic sprawl of Greater London and New Zealand’s sleepy Waikato. And then on to the Holy Grail: Australia.Once there, Dalkey digs deep into this puzzling, generous nation as he travels to every one of the mainland states. He explores Australia’s quirky history and its modern cities, from seductive Sydney to bad-ass Brisbane. He rides trains across the Nullarbor Plain and watches cricket everywhere. But all this is merely the backdrop to his dogged pursuit of that decades-old mission: driving heavy loads to tiny rural specks deep in the Outback…

Reviews

Goodreads review by Janice on December 16, 2021

I enjoyed this contemporary book about a Capetown born Brit almost achieving his dream of driving road trains in outback Australia. An unlikely starter, the author often fails his road tests and has difficulty with bureaucracy. He has many positive experiences which endear him to Sydney and Perth in......more

Goodreads review by Rene Reed on May 30, 2021

The one book you need to read this summer Without doubt, the book we all need to read right now. It's a story about having a dream and making it happen despite the hardships thrown at you. Also as someone never really interested in going down under, this book gives an incredible account of Australia,......more

Goodreads review by Duncan on August 17, 2021

I really really enjoyed this book. Having read all of Dalky's work this is his best yet. A simple journal of a man trying to achieve a childhood dream (this one of driving road trains in the Outback) is funny, inspirational and insightful. From frustration with pointless bureaucracy, to colourful ch......more