- the land of Australia and islands of Fiji Award-winning poet David Stuart Ryan takes you into the very heart of the Australian land and its presences in a vivid journey that includes over 100 original illustrations. Drawing on his Australian roots - his mother, grandmother and great grandmother were all Australian - the poet produces some new insights into the very nature of the land and its history. Illustrations of the native animals as well as its peoples bring this poetic journey alive and challenging in its depictions of the continent. The vast empty spaces, the pure colours, the ever present sun, are all here in surprising combinations hinting at a land altogether different from the common perception. Ghosts and vestiges haunt the landscape from forgotten times. They then find their way into some of the poems in this volume. Here is a land at once very old, peopled by equally ancient peoples, yet also a place where newcomers have poured in, virtually unaware of its history and presence. While they mostly cling to the coastal fringes, there is wonder but also fear to be found in the inner regions of a vast and lucky country that has yet to be fully explored. Join David Stuart Ryan on his own exploration of the southern land, Terra Australis, Australia.