ABOUT THE BOOKS
John Burgess had the benefit of growing up in what may have been the best decades in history — the 50s and 60s. Although New Zealand was far away from the action during World War II, many of his parents’ generation had been part of the ANZAC troops in Europe, North Africa and the Pacific. Post war, there was a strong sense of freedom and anticipation in a young country with a fast-growing economy. He benefitted from growing up in this period of optimism; it was reflected in his schooling, his early days farming and later, his sailing adventures in the Pacific and Indonesian waters, as recounted in this book.
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At the end of his first book, Life Luck and Liaisons, it was becoming apparent that sailing and travel were going to be essential ingredients in the life of John Burgess. In his teens, he had travelled the length and breadth of his homeland, New Zealand. Aged eighteen, he had travelled with a friend to Australia, hitch-hiking from Sydney to Mossman, north of Cairns. There followed a two-year sailing adventure across the Pacific and Asia. He knew that such an experience would not be his last. The seed was sown.
This second book is a series of travel stories. His time spent in London in the swinging sixties and yacht racing in the English Channel and then discovering outback Australia after he finally settled in Sydney. There were excursions to fish for Barramundi in Kakadu and a camping trip with his son in the Kimberley. He travelled from Perth to Broome and on to Darwin as well as exploring Cairns to Cape York and Thursday Island.
In the nineties, a sailing holiday in the West Indies reunited him with his English friend from sailing days in the UK. However, the most challenging sailing experience came later, as crew on an Australian yacht, sailing from the Maldives to Egypt.
There were other travel experiences including driving around Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula at the time of the Chiapas uprising.
In John’s view, Cuba offers a travel experience not to be missed, although game safaris in Botswana, with a train ride through South Africa thrown in, would rank equally.
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