JB Priestly wrote a book about time ('Man and Time') and in it he referred to a WH Hudson novel called 'A Crystal Age'. His couple of paragraphs about 'A Crystal Age' stimulated my interest but nowhere could I find the novel he referred to. However, I did find 'Green Mansions' and I have read it several times. It is a beautiful novel with an undertone of darkness (is death the darkness that we all live with during the beauty of life?). Perhaps 'Green Mansions' disappointed me a little after triggering my romantic nerve. I did, however, keep exploring the writings of WH Hudson - 'Long Ago and Far Away', 'The Purple Land', 'Idle Days in Patagonia' and the wonderful 'A Shepherd's Life'.

On a recent trip to the States I visited a small specialist bookshop where it was suggested I might be able to get access to 'A Crystal Age' through abebooks.com. This was great advice. I have just finished reading 'A Crystal Age' and I concur with JB Priestley's assessment. 'A Crystal Age' is worth the effort of pursuing - it is a surprising first-person utopian novel in which Hudson's love of nature does not render him oblivious to the fact that there are downsides in all worlds - all imaginable worlds. Just like the dark shadows in 'Green Mansions'. The end of 'A Crystal Age' is so surprising - I believe very few readers would see what is coming - I certainly didn't as I rushed on towards it. There is a certain illogic to the ending, but there is also something that haunts me continuously. I hope the illogic has not been a contributing factor in this novel's failure to be reprinted. But why else has it not been picked up - I am sure there is a market.

'A Crystal Age' is a stronger less romantic novel than 'Green Mansions', but it is also exceptional for many reasons. I don't hesitate in recommending 'Green Mansions' but I also urge readers to pursue 'A Crystal Age' - it is only a matter of time before I will be re-reading it myself. As for publishers who are looking for books from the past to reprint - give 'A Crystal Age' a look.

I read the Classic Comic version of this book many times when I was a kid. I've only now just read the original and found it's haunting beauty lingered in my mind for the last 2 weeks. The description of Abels mental travails at the end of the book is a particularly memorable and inspired.

The main male charachter has reason to leave civilization and travels far into South American jungles, meets with native tribes, and finds one which takes him in. They all seem happy with him until his curiosity gets the best of him, and he goes to a 'forbiden forest' so feared by this tribe he becomes ostricised for having been there.

In the second part of this book he befriends a mysterious girl who lives in the forest and seems more farie than human. He finds himself doing things for her which he would have never thought he would do for another person.

This is a clasic love story, intriguing, beautiful, and tragic. This was one of my first introductions to the classics of lliterature, and prompted me to find and read more of classic literature which has greatly enriched the scope of my reading experiences.

This CD ROM give me the information I needed to plan a terrific trip to Fiji. The photos are outstanding and the navigation of the information makes it really easy to find exactly what you are looking for. I would not have stayed where I did (Yasawa Island Resort) had it not been for this CD I found over 20 pages of info, just on that resort alone! This was the best trip I've ever done.

A great presentation about traveling to Fiji. Probably the best travel CD ROM I've seen anywhere.

A wealth of information not found in any travel books. Had it not been for the Fiji CD ROM we would have never enjoyed the holiday we did. The detailed resort information gave us all the ammunition we needed to make a decision on where to go and what to do. We would have spent weeks trying to collect all this information by ourself. The presentation is very un-biased and non-commercial...we appreciated the soft-sell! Now we are planning to go back next year! Thanks Under Watercolours!

This is a companion book to Don Johnson's Cruising Guide to Maine Vol I Kittery to Rockland. See my review under that title.

As a sailer planning a world cruise, I view this book as one of the best cruising books I have read because it touches so much on the cultures and people along the way rather than merely on the sailing aspects. I have only read volume one and am eagerly awiting volume two. If you are not a sailer, this is a superb armchair travel book. You will really feel you are meeting people all over the globe. Sue manages to convey the excitement, beauty, learning and sharing of a couple sailing around the world.

It was very helpful and easy to follow. Not having travelled to Fiji before. This book prepared me in so many ways, from accomodation to places to visit and also giving me some idea on how much money I should take there. I would have been totally lost without this book. I recommend that you get it if you're planning to visit Fiji.

I loved this book, and it came in handy for me. I just recently went to Fiji and this book covered what I needed to know for my trip. Fiji is a wonderful paradise, but you need to do your research before you go...and this is the book to do it with.

Get this guide if you're goin' 2 Fiji! If you're thinking of the Mamanucas go to Tokoriki!

This book is seemingly a compilation of dive locations frequented by dive resorts, with little independent research or reviews of specific dive outfitters. The book lacks basic information on water temperatures, currents, winds and seasonal influences. The independent traveller primarily interested in snorkeling will also be disappointed in the lack of practical information on the best sections of the main islands for shoreline snorkeling.

Simple no-nonsense guide to diving in Fiji

"Ni sa bula vinaka", as it is said in Fiji. As a master diver who has dived since 1956, and has visited many of Fiji's dive sites, I can heartily recommend this book to anyone contemplating diving Fiji. The Mahaney - Witte team- authors, photographers and dive tour guides well-known and respected in the diving community- are knowledgeable and credible. Mind you, NO book can ever catalogue ALL of Fiji's diverse and innumerable dive sites... but this book is well planned, has a very good selection of sites- rated for conditions and experience levels- and information for the would-be Fiji diver. The book has some maps, and a visual feast of photos. In summary- going to Fiji to dive? Be prepared for stiff currents, and a kaleidoscope of colorful fishes and soft corals... and BUY THIS BOOK! Dive well and safely.

it's greaaaaaat!... and that's all i have to say about that!... exept that it's good for reports and stuff.

All you ever wanted to know about this fascinating place and a little bit more can be found in this book. Good reading, great pictures, and fun to share with friends. Makes a great gift for those who enjoy learning and sharing!

This was a fun book to read while traveling in Fiji. It provides a great perspective of the history of the islands complete with interesting and sometimes entertaining antecdotes of the author's travels through Fiji. The text alternates between the author's personal travel experiences and a drier (but still interesting) history of Fijian native culture and colonial influences.

This boook present what is, I think, one of the few GOOD ethnographies on Indo-Fijians. I say that, not because Mayer's analysis of Indo-Fijian culture is particularly helpful, but because the descriptions he provides of Indian life in Fiji are excellent source material for the scholar and the interested reader alike. I used this book as on of my main sources for a thesis at UC Berkeley, and I found the wedding scenes to be particularly helpful, but so too are the funeral rites, the holidays, and, of course, the pictures are nice. If you are looking for a simple, straight-forward analysis of Indo-Fijians and their culture, look elsewhere. Mayer is trapped in the stereo-types of his day and a lot better analyses now exists on different facets of Indo-Fijian life. In particular, there are many good articles now available, researched and written in the last ten years.

I bought this book before our trip to New Zealand to provide detailed/specifc information about using a Campervan to see New Zealand. We took the book with us and referred to it several times during our vacation there and found it to be neither helpful or accurate. Using a campervan to visit New Zealand had many serious considerations that I do not feel were adequately detailed in this very small, non detailed book. One of the funny things was that the book mentioned how patiently and how detailed the instructions would be by the campervan company. To the contrary was our experience, there was minimal information provided, just "You refuel here, the spare tire is here, you turn it on there. Any questions? No?, Well have a good day mate." Once out of the parking lot, the fun begain with trying to drive a stick shift situated on the "wrong" side of the vehicle and driving on the "wrong" side of the road. Had the book specified some of the problems associated with this, and the dangers, we would have had more realistic expectations. Since this book was a "Campervan" book, my expectations would be that the book would spend much more time on how to deal with such a "beast", as we came to consider our campervan.

In addition, the book gushed about the great roads, which were not great once outside of Auckland, and the lack of graffetti and trash, which we saw much of in Auckland and even in the rural settings. Many other details mentioned in the book we found not be be the case. The various sites to see were not discussed in enough detail to be either intriging or edifying.

This is not to discourage anyone from going to NZ, but I felt that the book did not cover the reality that a traveler meets. One would do much better with getting a general travel book of New Zealand, which be did, and use that for planning and executing his or her trip.

This is nice little book, but it is not at all what the description led me to believe it was and it is certainly not worth the cost. This is not a true guidebook at all. Rather, it is a very brief (only 128 pages total, with wide margins on all 4 sides of the page) account of the Hostrop's personal travel experiences with little tidbits of advice tossed in.

I have visited Australia twice and am planning a third trip, which is why I purchased this book. It will not be of use to me in planning my next trip, nor do I believe it would have been especially useful in planning my previous trips, even though my last trip was made in part in a campervan.

I also found the repeated urgings to make use of Newmans (a travel agency) a bit disconcerting. Was the Hostrops' trip underwritten by Newmans?

My advice: spend your money on the Frommer's and Lonely Planet guides. They will be much more useful.

Though my wife and I had a general guide to Australia and New Zealand, surprisingly, we felt that the Hostrops' book gave all the sightseeing information needed as most sites also had their own detailed literature. We appreciated the emphasized suggested itinerary given which took us to the most important sites and to the excellent recommended lodgings and campgrounds. We also appreciated the excellent information on the "free" stopover islands. On the way over, we stopped in the Cook Islands and on the way back we stopped in Tahiti. This a gem of a book which goes to the heart of what independent travelers need for a most enjoyable journey to Australia and New Zealand. Highly recommended for independent travelers.