When a 10-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.
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...
R.A. Dalkey was born in Cape Town. After selling hand-written newspapers to classmates in primary school, then winning awards for lucid essays whilst studying journalism at Rhodes University, it was inevitable that he would make a living out of words. Under his real name (Richard Asher) he's been published by GQ, Reader's Digest, The Sunday Times, Australian International Traveller, Reuters, Autosport and Sports Illustrated, to name just a few.
As a sport and travel journalist, he's always favoured an immersive approach. He's driven outback trucks in Australia and crashed racing cars in Europe. He once conducted a two-year experiment trying to be a professional golfer. Having visited 75+ countries, he's slept rough in Jo'burg, been arrested in Mongolia and mugged in Barcelona.
Apart from growing up in the euphoria of post-Apartheid South Africa, he lived in the USA, Australia and the UK before settling in Vienna in 2016. He relished learning German and now speaks four languages.
Dalkey also narrates his own audiobooks.
He's on Twitter @mygreenjacket and Instagram @worldsleeper.
