Tumbrella

THE PROFESSIONAL TRAVELLER

We’re a bit jealous of Charley Boorman. The English-born, Irish-bred son of film director John Boorman started as an actor before hitting the big time travelling with buddy Ewan McGregor in Long Way Round. He’s now gone from Sydney to Tokyo, By Any Means, for a new DVD and book…

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THE MAN THAT WALKED ACROSS AUSTRALIA
Since serving as a Royal Marines commando in Afghanistan, 29-year-old Dave Leaning has developed a taste for crazy charity challenges. Last year he skied the 2,600km length of Norway. This year he decided to walk across Australia. He talked to Tumbrella about the challenges of such an epic trek and offered some tips on how best to enjoy a tasty meal of snake and camel heart.
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LONELY PLANET PHOTOGRAPHER RICHARD I’ANSON
Ever find yourself obsessed with trying to capture that perfect photo? Us too. So we went to Lonely Planet camera king Richard I’Anson. His pictures have been published in more than 400 Lonely Planet books and he has authored Travel Photography: A Guide To Taking Better Pictures. He gives us his top 10 tips.
Is good photography a natural gift?
It can be learned. There are basic rules.
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BEST JOB IN THE WORLD WINNER BEN SOUTHALL
For the next six months, Brit Ben Southall has the Best Job in the World – as island caretaker for Queensland’s Whitsundays. He had to beat 34,000 people and deal with a global media frenzy to get the job. Chatting from his $4million pad on Hamilton Island, Ben talks about riding ostriches, life in the Whitsundays and dealing with negative press stories.
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A BIG THINGS FANATIC
Craig Scutt, the English author of Big Aussie Icons, talks Big Stubbies, Big Cane Toads and Big Bull’s balls
Australia’s Big Things: what’s the attraction?
Sometimes it takes an outsider to appreciate just how weird and wacky things that people take for granted actually are. There are 150-odd Big Things around Australia and there’s nothing like that really, in England.
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AN OUTBACK ADVENTURER
Belgian adventurer Louis-Philippe Loncke is the first white man to trek 800km across Australia’s Simpson Desert, north to south, unassisted.
What made you want to do a challenge like that?
After my first adventure across the West MacDonnell National Park, I was talking to Swiss backpackers who’d driven across the Simpson Desert. They told me it was a beautiful landscape, but said it would be an insane idea to walk there. I started to look on the web for people who had walked it, the harshest desert of Oz.
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REBEL LONELY PLANET WRITER THOMAS KOHNSTAMM
The American former LP writer caused a storm of controversy when he released a book detailing his experiences as a guidebook author. Let’s just say the Lonely Planet bosses weren’t too happy…
Were you surprised by the reaction to your book?
I didn’t expect anything on that level. I knew that LP would have some objections, but I think that a big part of what happened is that nobody had actually read my book when all this went down. It does talk about my experiences as a LP writer. A lot of things were taken out of context.
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COMEDIAN DANNY WALLACE
Danny Wallace not only discovered ace comedy collective The Mighty Boosh, but also penned a series of rib-tickling books, including The Yes Man, (now a Jim Carrey film). More recently he has toured some of Australia’s Big Things for a column in UK newspaper The Guardian.
You’ve been Down Under touring the Big Things…
My wife is Australian and we met in London. Her brothers would ironically send pictures of the Big Things. I didn’t really know anything about them, so when I came over to Australia…
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LONELY PLANET FOUNDER TONY WHEELER
You were born in England, grew up around the world and settled in Australia. How come?
It was completely chance that we ended up in Australia. The first time we’d lived in Sydney and liked it very much, but thought let’s try somewhere else so we ended up in Melbourne, where we’ve been ever since.
What should travellers do while they’re Down Under?
I would always say the Outback. A lot of people are going to go to the Great Barrier Reef. That’s a great thing to do and I’ve always enjoyed travelling up the reef. However…
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GUIDEBOOK AUTHOR LEE ATKINSON
Hello Lee. How did you get into travel writing?
More good luck than good management. I started off working for the map-making department, with the NRMA. I used to spend my life on the road helping to survey the roads. Not that long into it I realised that you could actually make a living wandering around the countryside and the world, getting to travel and getting paid for it,and I just thought, “I like this idea”.
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INDIE TRAVEL PODCAST’S CRAIG AND LINDA
Craig and Linda have been travelling full-time for the last three years. The Kiwis also run the excellent Indie Travel Podcast which recently won them Best Podcast category in Lonely Planet’s Travel Blog Awards.
Congratulations on the Lonely Planet award. Is your life all champagne and showbiz parties now?
CRAIG: Since winning the Best Podcast award, we’ve done nothing but drive around in stretch limos.
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TWO GUYS AROUND THE WORLD
William and Sammy are two Americans who document their travels on www.twoguysaroundtheworld.com. Their website won Best Video Blog and Best Travel Blog at Lonely Planet’s recent Travel Blog Awards.
Why do you think you won?
WILLIAM: We don’t try to get preachy about things, or be too informative, we just try to entertain.
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