Surprising Lands Down Under book by Mary Ann Harrell

Down Under means down home to the people of two nations, Australia and New Zealand, and delightful destinations for travelers to the South Pacific today. Remote even in the jet age, these countries share a habit of welcoming visitors with informal ease and pungent hood humor. "The more ribbing you can take," remarks the author, "the better you'll like it Down Under."

In this book, you'll meet people who startle and amuse you; you'll sense the challenge of new destinies in the Pacific as both nations look to the future. You'll learn their common heritage as former British colonies, still linked by allegiance to the crown, by legends of heroism and sacrifice in war, and by stubbornly democratic ways.

With memorable text and photographs that range the breadth of Australia and the length of New Zealand, the book also underlines the profound differences between two deeply individual countries.

You'll journey among the jagged young mountains of New Zealand, the "Shakey Isles" where geysers and earthquakes teach geology. You'll find the proud heritage of Polynesian seafarers mingled with legacies from Britain - a distinctive blend in the land that calls itself Godzone. That is, God's Own Country.

In Australia, you'll traverse intimidating distances where any living thing represents a triumph of adaptation. You'll meet survivors - Aborigines whose forebears made homelands have through 40,000 years; other Australians for whom two centuries mark an epic of settlement; newcomers just learning the ways of Oz (as Aussies call their unpredictable country). You'll go from ancient forest to the animal gardens of the Great Barrier Reef, from the outback outpost known as the loneliest pub in the scrub to Melbourne's rich variety and the festival glitter of Sydney.

You'll come to understand why being Down Under can give you the elated feeling of being on top of the world.