The Tap Cats Of The Sunshine Coast


Book Description

The Tap Cats, a Queensland based tap dancing group face unexpected challenges when they enter the Seniors Superstar competition. Through the observant eyes of Carol's journalist niece Melissa, we meet Carol, Sofia and Bonnie whose lives have been intertwined since primary school. Their hopes, dreams, ageing, heartaches and heart mends have been woven together in a close web for decades. Bonds which are in danger of unravelling when long held secrets are revealed. Secrets that rock the foundations of their friendship and the destiny of the Tap Cats. ​Set in the stunning landscape of the Sunshine Coast, the women tap their way through the competition, as well as trials and tribulations, all the way to New York and a Greek Island.




Gough and Me


Book Description

When Gough Whitlam moves into her street in Cabramatta in 1957, eight-year-old Christine has little idea how her new neighbour, one of the most visionary and polarising political leaders of Australia, would shape the direction of her life. Born to working-class parents and living in a fibro house built by her truck-driver father, Christine simply dreams that one day she might work as a private secretary like her aunt. But when the reforms Whitlam championed give Christine the chance to go to university, her world expands. She experiences the transformative power of education, struggles to balance motherhood with being the family breadwinner, and faces her own mental health battles. She follows a path forged by Whitlam, from scholarships he fought for, to local community initiatives he generated, and even as far as China, where Whitlam crucially initiated Australia’s relationship when he visited the country in 1973. Written with genuine heart and humour, Gough and Me is a nostalgic and deeply personal memoir of social mobility, cultural diversity, and the unprecedented opportunities that the Whitlam era gave one Australian working-class woman.




The Changing Room


Book Description

‘Vain trifles as they seem, clothes have, they say, more important offices than to merely keep us warm. They change our view of the world and the world’s view of us.' - Virginia Woolf Anna is in her sixties with her dream job and the man to match. Claire is a fourty-six-year-old philanthropist with a picture-perfect family. And then there is Molly, who has seen more strife in her twenty years than anyone should, but has more love to give than most. When their lives are turned upside down, these women must discover how to start over amid a world of pain. Guided by Suitability, a clothing an styling service for disadvantaged women, Anna, Claire and Molly find the courage to rebuild their lives – with a few outfit changes along the way. Inspired by the experiences of the women behind the charity Dress for Success, The Changing Room proves that sometimes losing everything leads you towards freedom, and that hope can be found even in the unlikeliest of places.




Australia


Book Description

DK Eyewitness Travel Guide: Australia is packed with color photographs, illustrations, and detailed maps that will help you discover Australia region-by-region, from the aboriginal sights of the Northern Territory to the wilderness of Tasmania. This fully updated guide includes 3-D illustrated cutaways and floor plans of must-see sights such as the Sydney Opera House and Canberra war memorial, as well as street-by-street maps of major Australian cities and towns. Detailed listings will guide you to hotels, restaurants, bars, and shops for all budgets. What's new in DK Eyewitness Travel Guides: New itineraries based on length of stay, regional destinations, and themes. Brand-new hotel and restaurants listings including DK's Choice recommendations. Restaurant locations plotted on redrawn area maps and listed with sights. Redesigned and refreshed interiors make the guides even easier to read. With hundreds of full-color photographs, hand-drawn illustrations, and custom maps that brighten every page, DK Eyewitness Travel Guide: Australia truly shows you this destination as no one else can.




Stray


Book Description

Clever, moving, imaginative and funny, this is both a wonderful adventure story, and a sly look at humans through the eyes of a cat. A cat of literary distinction - Naomi Lewis, Observer A.N. Wilson has written a classic... His episodic, quasi-picaresque story is deeply read-on, funny, moving and exciting ( Literary Review). Pufftail the tabby cat was a prince among strays. He was charming, adventurous, a gentleman of the road - not for him a life purring around the shins of a Two Footer. Now that he's old and grey-whiskered, he can laze in the sun, telling the story of his life to his admiring young grandkitten. Not all his memories are happy though. He's been thrown out of a moving car, been experimented on in a science lab and joined the violent Cat Brotherhood. Some Two Footers have been kind to him, but he'd rather be free. And he can't understand humans at all. Why do they live in giant cages? Why do they put smoking chimneys in their mouths? And why do they want their own animals?




Lost in River of Grass


Book Description

"I don't realize I'm crying until he glances at me. For a moment, I see the look of anguish in his eyes, then he blinks it away and slips off into the water. I immediately think of the gator. It's still down there somewhere. . . ." A science-class field trip to the Everglades is supposed to be fun, but Sarah's new at Glades Academy, and her fellow freshmen aren’t exactly making her feel welcome. When an opportunity for an unauthorized side trip on an air boat presents itself, it seems like a perfect escape—an afternoon without feeling like a sore thumb. But one simple oversight turns a joyride into a race for survival across the river of grass. Sarah will have to count on her instincts—and a guy she barely knows—if they have any hope of making it back alive.




Sea Kayak Desolation Sound and the Sunshine Coast


Book Description

This paddling guide to Desolation Sound and the Strait of Georgia provides historical travel information on a part of the Inner Passage between Vancouver Island and the BC mainland. Follow the Marine Trail up the east coast of Vancouver Island with perhaps a digression to Hornby or Denman islands. Or tackle the savage inflow-outflow winds of Jervis Inlet to reach the jewel of Princess Louisa Inlet.




Cat and Dog


Book Description

Cat and Dog are not the same, in fact they are very different and the perfect subjects for a tale of opposites. Enjoy their adventures as they fight and play, chase and hide, in an escapade that includes some special high-drama storytelling in the illustrations of this deceptively simple book. Tullio Corda depicts a relationship that is familiar to us all and provides a clever surprise ending. A truly relatable tale in just 32 words!




Catfulness


Book Description

Human beings love to create problems for themselves. I observe this on a daily basis, as do all my feline friends. They never stop, and one of their favourite tasks is to find more tasks to do. They are always looking for something, as if the life they have isn't enough. They say they're looking for happiness - but do they know what happiness is? We cats know the art of living. We eat when we're hungry, sleep when we're tired. Sitting for hours outside a mouse hole has taught us patience. Staring at an aquarium has brought us meditation. And we know how to please ourselves. Catfulness is a seven-week mindfulness programme for human beings. If they can live their lives more like us, the world will be more serene. As Sigmund Freud said, 'time spent with cats is never wasted.'




Group Feast


Book Description

Cora Caley - A woman of fantastic beauty and wealth. A woman who had been denied nothing. Now her most incredible enterprise had been completed. She had transformed acres of Australia' hot and arid desert into lush greenery and in its midst had built The House - a house of unequalled grandeur. And to crown her latest and most splendid achievement she was going to be hostess for the perfect party. She had spared nothing to ensure absolute elegance and lavishness for her guests. Yet, as the party began Cora felt a tremendous sense of failure (she knew Plan X would most assuredly have to be instituted). The party was failing, but only because it somehow seemed to culminated the terrible vacuum of Cora's own life. She was doomed to emptiness and she was terrified. As the party progresses she is confronted by ex-husbands, former lovers, her sister, her daughters, servants and to all she seems on the verge of madness. Maybe she is, but then again maybe her own realization of the sterility of her life is her one sane thought - maybe it is her lifeboat. Weaving through reality and fantasy, Cora reveals herself as Everywoman struggling not only for happiness and love, but for the certainty of her own definite and meaningful character.