Air Cadet Willy Williams is 14 years old and in Year 9 at High School in Cairns, North Queensland. Because his ambition is to become a pilot in the Air Force he takes every opportunity to go flying. He is also a very passionate young male who is discovering girls. To complicate his love life he is torn between the beautiful red-haired Barbara in his class and Marjorie, who is a year younger. The problem is that Barbara, the object of Willy's admiration, does not respond to his advances, while Marjorie is head over heels in love with him.When an opportunity to go for a flight in a restored World War 2 PBY 'Catalina' seaplane is offered Willy jumps at it. But during the flight up to the east coast of Cape York Peninsula he makes a discovery that leads him into mystery and danger.During the following weeks Willy is tested to his limits, both emotionally and physically as he travels to the remotest and most dangerous parts of Far North Queensland during the torrid months of the tropical summer. He finds that there are rivals, false friends and dangerous enemies in the world of aircraft wrecks and vintage planes.What is the mystery, and how do Willy and his friends cope? To find out read on and join the flight up the coast of Cape York.

The Coast of Australia provides the first comprehensive account of the Australian coast.

This book describes the entire coast and beaches and barrier systems of Australia. It covers the coastal processes and systems that form and impact Australia's 30.000 km coast, 12.000 beaches and 2750 barrier systems. These processes include geology, geomorphology, climate, waves, tides, currents, sediment supply, as well as coastal ecosystems. The coast is divided into tropical northern and southern temperate provinces, within which are seven divisions, 23 regions and 354 coastal sediment compartments each of which is described in detail in the 34 chapters. Within these systems are the full range of wave through tide-dominated beaches and barriers ranging from cheniers to massive transgressive dune systems together with a range of onshore and longshore sand transport systems. This is an up to date reference for the entire coast, its present condition and likely responses to the impacts of climate change.

"From the appendix to the Narrative of a survey of the intertropical and western coasts of Australia /by Captain Phillip Parker King, R N , vol ii p 566, &c " Folded map on front endpaper.

Reproduction of the original: Narrative of A Survey of the Intertropical and Western Coasts of Australia by Phillip P. King

This book tells the story of a French cabin boy, Narcisse Pelletier, and his life with the Uutaalnganu people of north-east Cape York from 1858 to 1875. Even though it is all but forgotten in Australia, and in France is known only in its broad outlines, Pelletier's story rivals that of the famous William Buckley, both as a tale of human survival and as an enthralling and accessible ethnographic record. Narcisse Pelletier, from the village of Saint-Gilles-sur-Vie, was fourteen years old when the Saint-Paul was wrecked near Rossel Island off New Guinea in 1858. Leaving behind more than 300 Chinese labourers recruited for the Australian goldfields - believed to have been subsequently massacred by the Rossel Islanders - the ship's captain and crew, including the cabin boy, escaped in a longboat. After a gruelling voyage across the Coral Sea, they landed near Cape Direction on Cape York, where Pelletier found himself abandoned when the boat sailed off without him. He was rescued by an Aboriginal family and remained with them as a member of their clan until 1875 when he was sighted by the crew of a pearling lugger. 'Rescued' against his will, Pelletier was conveyed to Sydney and then repatriated to France. The author, Stephanie Anderson, came across Pelletier's story by chance in an old French anthropological journal. As she started researching it, her fascination with the story grew. She found that Pelletier had left an account of his experiences, first published in 1876, that had never been translated into English. Now, for the very first time, this remarkable story is available to read in English, complemented by an ethnographic commentary by anthropologist Athol Chase and an in-depth introduction by Anderson. Pelletier: The Forgotten Castaway of Cape York is required reading for anyone with an interest in Australian history, anthropology, or the intriguing world of pre-colonial Aboriginal life.