The Search for an Australian Paradise

Best known for his 'Australian Slanguage', Hornadge this time writes of all those from settlement to the present who have sought their own idea of Paradise, either on our shores or on such famous expeditions as those to Paraguay. This is a bible of beachcombers and Paradise hunters, from Mary Gilmore to Cedar Bay Bill. This book covers over three centuries of Australian history from the earliest explorations to modern times. Bill Hornadge has drawn together a resource of government, group settlement and individual dreams. Terra Australia, Norfolk Island, Lord Howe Island, Van Demon's Land. Hornadge outlines all the key 19th Century experiments in communes and collectives, including Utopian colonies in Paraguay, New Italy in New South Wales, the Queensland Co-operatives and the Village Settlements of South Australia. Oddities like the Hahndorf Walkers and oddballs like Fred Robinson make way for Bob Hawke's bizarre Kibbutzim plans and Japanese plans for Yeppoon. Communal living at Cedar Bay, the anarchies of Nimbin, Island hideaways and Third Age Nomads reveal the rich and various enterprise of recent paradise seekers.