Showing results by author "Bill 'Swampy' Marsh" in All Categories

Bill 'Swampy' March has been on another adventure, this time gathering stories from outback towns and pubs across this wide brown land.The people you meet will touch your heart as 'Swampy' brings to life all the drama and delight of life in outback Australia. Find out how the population of Rabbit Flat doubled overnight and became an international headline; be part of the Australia-wide search for the mystery bloke who sells 'Johnson's Paw Paw Magic', an ointment that cures almost everything (including you-know-what!).... If there's a good story out there, 'Swampy's' captured it for this collection.

Yarns and memories that capture the experience of driving Australia’s outback roads, gathered by the inimitable Bill ‘Swampy’ Marsh. Whether they’re carting produce, stock, fuel or even (unbeknown to them) dead bodies, there’s one thing that can be said about outback truckies - they’re a colourful bunch. Meet the outback truckies who brave interminable distances, searing heat, raging floodwaters and foot-deep bulldust to transport goods and livestock all across this vast land, serving as lifelines not just to those in the bush but to those in cities as well.

The unique characters of the outback will touch your heart as Swampy presents all the drama and delight of life in remote Australia. There are tales of all-night revelry, the pub that became a refuge during a bushfire, the 13-year-old sent from the city to work on a remote sheep station, the priest with a sideline in illegal poker games, a sighting of the elusive yowie, a murder or two and a few ghosts thrown in for good measure. And, yes, the saddest story of all – the pub with no beer.

Boasting the biggest beats in the world – some as large as France – Australia's outback police have seen it all: natural disasters, incredible acts of selflessness, unspeakable crimes and daring rescues, just to name a few. And they've met some unforgettable characters along the way – from the murderer who stuffed his victims' bodies down wombat holes; to the policeman who arrested his own wife; to the prisoner who risked his life to rescue his own captor from certain death.