Is That Thing Diesel?: One Man, One Bike and the First Lap Around Australia on Used Cooking Oil
4 journalers for this copy...
Journal Entry 1 by alkaline-kiwi from Auckland, Auckland Province New Zealand on Tuesday, February 4, 2014
Purchased for BookCrossing purposes during an opshopping expedition in Glen Innes, Auckland today.
Journal Entry 2 by alkaline-kiwi at BookCrossing Stall - Everything and Everyone Pride Market in Auckland, Auckland Province New Zealand on Friday, February 14, 2014
Released 10 yrs ago (2/15/2014 UTC) at BookCrossing Stall - Everything and Everyone Pride Market in Auckland, Auckland Province New Zealand
WILD RELEASE NOTES:
Available from the BookCrossing Table of Temptation at Everything and Everyone Pride Market on 15th February 2014 4pm - 7pm.
Caught! Will be read later...
I don't know about this one.
The stuff about his cat and its dementia is freaking gold; I laughed so hard I couldn't breathe.
On the other hand, there were some real problems. In my book, you can't call it a motorbike ride around Australia if the bike travelled about 20% of the way in the back of a truck. It doesn't matter what the issue is with the bike, you should pick up where you left off. That basic idea seems self evident, but it's clear that it was more important that the ride fit in with his leave from work than that it was genuine. Very disappointing that it gets loaded into the truck after barely a day's riding too.
Also, if the author thinks he's a former alcoholic, he's nuts. I assume he doesn't realise there's anything odd about his drinking mostly because all his mates seem to be equally screwed up. It was really distracting to the story how unprofessional the lot of them seemed to be about the task.
One final gripe - the path illustrated in the map in the front of the book has significant differences to the text. I think the map is the wrong one.
Overall though, my major issue is that the story just isn't that interesting. It reads more like a fairly bland diary than a Bill Bryson memoir. I kept going but would have been okay not to, and won't read it twice.
The stuff about his cat and its dementia is freaking gold; I laughed so hard I couldn't breathe.
On the other hand, there were some real problems. In my book, you can't call it a motorbike ride around Australia if the bike travelled about 20% of the way in the back of a truck. It doesn't matter what the issue is with the bike, you should pick up where you left off. That basic idea seems self evident, but it's clear that it was more important that the ride fit in with his leave from work than that it was genuine. Very disappointing that it gets loaded into the truck after barely a day's riding too.
Also, if the author thinks he's a former alcoholic, he's nuts. I assume he doesn't realise there's anything odd about his drinking mostly because all his mates seem to be equally screwed up. It was really distracting to the story how unprofessional the lot of them seemed to be about the task.
One final gripe - the path illustrated in the map in the front of the book has significant differences to the text. I think the map is the wrong one.
Overall though, my major issue is that the story just isn't that interesting. It reads more like a fairly bland diary than a Bill Bryson memoir. I kept going but would have been okay not to, and won't read it twice.
Journal Entry 5 by sgjim at Caffé Amore - 162 Pulteney Street in Adelaide, South Australia Australia on Wednesday, April 23, 2014
Released 9 yrs ago (4/24/2014 UTC) at Caffé Amore - 162 Pulteney Street in Adelaide, South Australia Australia
WILD RELEASE NOTES:
Taking it to a BookCrossing meet-up
Journal Entry 6 by sgjim at Caffé Amore - 162 Pulteney Street in Adelaide, South Australia Australia on Wednesday, April 23, 2014
Released 9 yrs ago (4/24/2014 UTC) at Caffé Amore - 162 Pulteney Street in Adelaide, South Australia Australia
WILD RELEASE NOTES:
Taking it to a BookCrossing meet-up
I agree. If the bike is in the back of the truck for some of the trip then technically the author hasn't actually achieved his goal.
Journal Entry 8 by footomas at Cafe Amore in Adelaide, South Australia Australia on Tuesday, July 8, 2014
Released 9 yrs ago (7/8/2014 UTC) at Cafe Amore in Adelaide, South Australia Australia
WILD RELEASE NOTES:
Taking to meet-up tonight.
Received at the monthly bookcrossing meeting in Adelaide.