The story of the Australian and UK books starts together. They were both conceived in my mind about 6 years ago (see Cooking with Love Story).

The story of the Australian and UK books starts together. They were both conceived in my mind about 6 years ago.

Throughout its creation, the book been checked by both Aussie and UK proofreaders, to make sure it’s understandable to everyone. I’d like to thank in particular Merry Pearson, who has massive experience in expertly proofreading cookbooks, and the wonderful Graham Burgess who went well beyond the call of duty.

We also found out about the best printers to use while we were in Australia. I met an author in Melbourne who recommended Everbest printers. He very kindly gave me a copy of his book on Australian language and elocution (a useful guide for cross referencing our own English phrases.

We were impressed with the quality of the printing. This book even had its own case and ribbon. Everbest printers have offices in Sydney, Hong Kong and London so it was easy to co-ordinate everything.

Everbest team printing our book

We’d already done a ‘book tour’ across the entire Australian continent last March 2016. Six months earlier (in the UK summer of 2015) we thought the books would be well and truly done by the spring I mean the Australian autumn 2016. How wrong we were! It took an extra 12 months!

So our book tour became a book ‘preview tour’ with Ayurvedic and cookery workshops and retreats. Although the main thing was having lots of fun meeting everyone and seeing more of the country.

Us in beautiful Port Macquarie

We did a wonderful road trip up the East coast, from Canberra to Port Macquarie. Finding vegetarian food whilst traveling proved challenging, but then we discovered Olivers the wonderful organic healthy motorway freeway stop.

Our Australian adventures…

We started with workshops in Melbourne, Adelaide and Albury Wodonga, then a weekend retreat at Pete and Gini’s farm near Canberra. Our tour also included a weekend retreats in Bowal and then up the East Coast in Port Macquarie (where we stayed at an organic dairy farm).

An outdoor cookery demo in Port Macquarie

Then we flew across the continent to Perth to join Mouli Mackenzie on the Western Australian tour, which included Shoalwater, Bunbury and Esperance.

Amazing Esperance in WA

The book’s adventures…

The UK and Australian cookbooks will be printed together, but packed into different containers and ships. They will both sail as far as Singapore.

Then it’s the final farewell—with the UK books heading up Malaysia, towards the Indian Ocean, and the Australian books traveling south down the coast of Borneo, crossing the Equator, then going past Bali. The latter finally move into Australian continental waters as they head to Darwin. Steaming onwards following the barrier reef to Cairns, Brisbane and then past Sydney Harbour and entering Botany Bay container port.

Download the map below, and put it somewhere visible so you can track the books progress. They will be leaving Hong Kong on the 25th Jan. It will take 4 days to reach Singapore. Then heading off at the start of February, stopping at Darwin on the around 7th. They will head along the north coast around the barrier reef, calling at Brisbane, then for the final sprint towards Sydney.

Use this map to track the books’ progress