We leave on May 1, I have just started In A Sunburned Country by Bill Bryson and I am loving it! What a nice mixture of history and humor.

Any other suggestions for something atmospheric? Something with a nice summary of the flora and fauna of the Top End? Or outback crocodile tales? Nothing too scholarly, I would just forget most of the details of a historical treatment.

We will be at Kakadu and Port Douglas, with just a couple of days visiting a friend in Bateman's Bay south of Sydney.

I'm not a fan of Bryson, so I'm not sure how useful my recommendations will be for you, but here goes.

On crocodiles, probably the most interesting thing written is The Eye of the Crocodile by eco-feminist philosopher, Val Plumwood, who survived an attack in Kakadu. While she was a scholar, this collection is written for a more general readership. It was put together posthumously.

http://press.anu.edu.au/titles/the-e...the-crocodile/

If novels are of interest, Thea Astley's It's Raining in Mango, is set in Far North Queensland. Not an easy read, but it's an Australian classic.

Also Hector Holthouse's books on Far North Queensland in the goldrush of the 1800's.

You might also check out -

Tom Cole's <i>Hell West and Crooked</i>
"A living legend, a real-life Crocodile Dundee"

Nicholas Rothwell's <i>Wings of the Kite-Hawk</i> and <i>The Red Highway</i>

Nicholas Jose's <i>Black Sheep; Journey to Borroloola</i>

Keiran Kelly's <i>Tanami; On Foot Across Australia's Desert Heart</i>

Evan McHugh's <i>Outback Heroes</i>

Correction: for Rothwell that should be Nicolas without the 'h'

Be sure and go to THE TIN SHED restaurant when you are up in Port Douglas.I think it is like a dining club that people join if you live in Port Douglas (?) You go in and sign the "visitor/guest" book and then you get seated by the host/hostess. It overlooks the water,has wonderful food that is reasonable,fresh and very tasty!

Thanks everyone, I'll check these out. The Tin Shed is on my list.

Another two books you might like to consider:

"The Singing Line" by Alice Thomson. "The Story of the Man who strung the Telegraph across Australia, and the Woman who gave her Name to Alice Springs" is what it is subtitled on the copy I have borrowed. It is written by the great-great-grand-daughter of Alice and Charles Todd who, with her husband, in 1997 followed in their footsteps to track the telegraph and learn about her ancestors. My friend said it is a really good read. I am about to start it.

The other book is "We of the Never Never" by Jeanne Gunn. This is about the Mataranka area south of Katherine and a lone woman's experiences farming and surviving in the unforgiving outback. I read this many years ago and found it a good read about life in the "olden" days, saw the movie a couple of times and then in 2011 stayed in Mataranka for a night and a good look around.

While neither is about crocodiles, etc, they definitely are about the Australian outback and the Northern Territory.