RC 832 DOWN UNDER (Abridged, Other audio format, Abridged edition)

'It was as if I had privately discovered a parallel universe where life was at once recognizably similar but entirely different…Insofar as I had accumulated any expectations of Australia at all, I had thought of it as a kind of alternative southern California, a place of constant sunshine but with a slightly British bent - a sort of Baywatch with cricket…'

Of course, what greeted Bill Bryson was something rather different. Australia is the driest, flattest, hottest, most infertile and climatically aggressive of all the inhabited continents and still it teems with life - most of it quite deadly.

In fact, Australia has more things that can kill you in a very nasty way than anywhere else.

Ignoring such dangers, Bill Bryson journeyed to Australia and promptly fell in love with the country. And who can blame him? Friendly people, clean cities, excellent food, glorious weather and cold beer…life doesn't get much better than this.

WARNING: Contains language which may cause offence

Kerry Shale has performed his acclaimed solo show The Prince of West End Avenue in the UK, Europe, South Africa, Australia, New Zealand and the United States. Other stage work includes plays such as The Normal Heart, True West and Disappeared. TV work includes Sharpe, Cracker and Tales of Narnia. His films include Yentl, RKO 281 and 102 Dalmations. Kerry has abridged and read Bill Bryson's The Lost Continent, A Walk in the Woods, Notes from a Small Island, Notes from a Big Country and Down Under. He has received three Sony Awards for radio acting and writing.

Abridged, running time approximately 3 hours