The Wrong Way Home [Paperback]

London to Sydney in 25 countries--that's the task that Peter Moore, an Australian working in England, set himself. The catch was that he had to travel overland, no flights allowed within a budget of five thousand Australian dollars.

Because of "pure, unadulterated hippy envy" he attempts to discover the music, sex and drugs of the 60s hippy trail. The Wrong Way Home tells the story of his journey through Eastern Europe, the Middle East, Asia and Australia (check his ports of call on the map at the front of the book).

Moore writes like a young Bill Bryson with earrings and ponytail, pointing out the ironies and idiosyncrasies of his own and other cultures. Take the example of the cling-on koala he gives to a Chinese friend in Lanzhou as a token of thanks--he makes sure he removes the "Made in China" label first.

The book is peppered with cartoon-like characters that Moore meets on his journey; the Czechs with matching haircuts, the spitting Chinese, the drunken Australians. Juxtaposed with his acidic observations Moore writes movingly of his experiences in war-torn Bosnia and the visit to his grandfather's grave in Singapore. --Anna Hornsey

A humorous travel book encompassing the hippy trail of the Sixties and written by the author of NO SHITTING IN THE TOILET.

When Peter Moore announced he was going to travel home from London to Sydney wihtout stepping on to an aeroplane he was met with a resounding Why? The answer was a severe case of hippie envy: hippies had the best music, the best drugs, the best sex. But most of all, they had the best trips.

Knowing that his funds were woefully inadequate and that his chances of actually making it through such notorious hot-spots as the Balkans, Iran and Afghanistan were, in a word, slim, Peter was never one to err on the side of caution and over the next eight months (and twenty-five countries) he followed the trail overland to the East. It would prove to be a journey of exhilarating highs and, on occasions, frustrating lows, of diverse experiences - including the world's most expensive disco (in Albania), the bombed-out villages of Croatia, the opium fields of Laos, student riots in Jakarta, an all-night beach rave on a small island in Thailand - and memorable encounters with a wonderful cast of often eccentric, at times exasperating and, once in a while, overly amorous characters.

Funny, irreverent and acutely observed, The Wrong Way Home will strike a chord with anyone who has ventured on such a life-enhancing Grand Tour. It will also entertain (and perhaps alarm) all those who love to read about such adventures but would never be fool enough to grab that rucksack and go.

Peter Moore
Peter Moore is a freelance advertising copywriter and website producer who works only to support his insatiable travel habit. He has written for various Australian and British publications, including The Times and Sydney Herald, and it the author of two acclaimed travel books, The Wrong Way Home and The Full Montezuma, and the classic alternative travel guide, No Shitting in the Toilet. When he's not on the road living out of his trusty backpack, he lives in Sydney with his collection of souvenir plastic snowdomes.