The Devil in Tim Penelope's Travels in Tasmania

When Tim Bowden went back to Tasmania to explore his state of origin for the first time in many years, he was reminded of his adolescent assertion that 'Tasmania is the testicle of Australia, suffusing the mainland with strength and vigour. What a pity there is only one of them.' In this cheeky and warm rediscovery of Tasmania and its at times dark history, Tim and his wife Ros travel with their robust camper trailer and four-wheel drive to some of the quirkier outposts of island civilisation (stopping at a winery or three along the way) through landscapes of incomparable beauty and devastating desolation. With a cast of characters as memorable as they are eccentric, The Devil in Tim is a generous portrait of the island and its fiercely proud people. A fascinating and humorous account of a rapidly changing Tasmania, told by one of Australia's best travel writers and most infectious raconteurs. THE DEVIL IN TIM belongs in every suitcase and every backpack of every visitor to Tasmania, no matter whether it is for the first time or the tenth.

Tim Bowden is the author of Down Under in the Top End and Penelope Bungles to Broome.