Life begins when you join the oil field. But there was life before that. JC challenged the highway stormtroopers of a Distant Queensland Town on a Daring Mission - Where a Thirst for Life Became overridden by the Power of Beer! Farm chores sure could be dull, and JC was bored beyond belief. He yearned for adventures in the outback - and adventures that would take him beyond the farthest shores to distant and icy landscapes. But JC got more than he bargained for when he was intercepted by a QLD police officer and given a cryptic ultimatum to leave a beautiful town operating under a dark and powerful authority. JC didn't know why this was, but he knew he had to save himself - and soon, because time was running out. Armed only with courage and with the skills taught to him by his father, JC was catapulted into the middle of the most dangerous deep-sea drilling platforms ever...and he was headed straight for a desperate encounter on the Russian Nogliki station many know as the Death Star!

International businessman Peter Holmes à Court left the executive world and found himself living deep in rural France with only his seven-year-old twin girls for company. Peter was struggling as a single father in a foreign country - unsettled by the sudden move away from a traditional job, and completely baffled by the society around him. His only plan: to ride L'Etape du Tour, the challenging amateur leg of the Tour de France. In an effort to find some new friends in the community - and a bike for the race - he discovered the region's small bicycle factory. He was soon spending his days there: photographing his custom bike being built, meeting the locals, and learning about the rich traditions of artisan craftsmanship. Trying to enjoy the simple things and become a better father, Peter slowed down, and started to reflect seriously on history, industry and the structure of our modern economy. He and his daughters finally began to put down roots and understand the beauty and calm of a small-scale existence – and a very different approach to excellence and the well-lived life. This is one man's compelling, informative and funny story about the wisdom of children, the nature of work today, and the science of bicycles.

Record of a young prospector who travelled from New Zealand to the Mt Margaret goldfields of Western Australia in February 1895, and who died, struck by lightning, in March 1896. Includes a brief biographical introduction by the editor who found the diary by chance while prospecting at Hawks Nest in the Mt Margaret goldfields in 1980.