Into
the wild
Will
Chaffey was eighteen in the late eighties when he boarded a plane
in New York bound for Australia. Though he had recently graduated
from one of Boston’s most prestigious private schools, a
disastrous senior year meant that he hadn’t been accepted
into college. Instead, he took what the college counsellors grimly
called ‘time off’.
Despite having no idea what he wanted to do with
the rest of his life, Will had a plan for the next six months:
to get as far away as possible from the dark New England winter
and the stifling expectations of college and career.
In Australia, Will met an enigmatic herpetologist
and wanderer called Geoff. Together they formulated a plan to
walk from the headwaters of the Prince Regent River to the falls
of the King Cascade on the north-west coast of Western Australia
– a hazardous journey never before attempted by white men.
Along the way they would look for Australia’s rarest python
and document their experience for Australian Geographic.
Trekking through a harsh and seductive landscape,
their expedition turned into a life-and-death struggle when the
boat they expected to collect them at King Cascade never arrived.
Stranded in the wildest of places and running out of supplies,
Will is transformed in ways he could never have anticipated.
A gripping adventure and a wise and funny meditation
on the journey to adulthood, Swimming with Crocodiles brims with
curiosity and insight. It is a book about forging your own path
and discovering that the most valuable lessons are learned when
you least expect it – and, sometimes, when you are a world
away from the life you have known.
To win a copy of Swimming with Crocodiles,
visit our competition page.
