After tales from the USA and Britain, Bill Bryson turns his roving eye to Australia, the only island that is also a continent and the only continent that is also a country. It is the driest, flattest, most desiccated, infertile and climatically aggressive of all the inhabited continents. It has more things that can kill you in a very nasty way that anywhere else. Yet when Bill Bryson travelled to Australia he promptly fell in love with the country. And who can blame him? The people are cheerful, the cities safe and clean, the food is excellent, the beer is cold and the sun nearly always shines. He tries to find out why Aussies are so cool, digging up a past that reveals convicts, explorers, gold diggers and outlaws.

当你驾车行驶在世界最长的公路上时，感受风吹动你的头发；关于在这个神奇、壮观的国度自驾的信息。找出Lonely Planet最欣赏的澳大利亚亮点。探寻特里比莱申角热带湿地。在这里雨林向海洋致意。追踪细节，了解作为澳大利亚原住民的土著人文化。

本书通过六十多篇独立成篇的笔记和随笔，从不同角度阐释澳大利亚这个国家的文化内涵。通过记录澳大利亚这个大陆的发现、移民过程以及其后的演变，介绍土著人的来历和生活，呈现当地华人的历史和现状，探究其背后的哲学根源和历史根源，并据此对中西文化进行比较。