Lindsay Brown (2)

It's no oxymoron to say that this book is ideally suited to an experienced first-time visitor. To someone who has never been to Australia before, it offers a good selection of the country's best sights and experiences, with essential information on how to get to them and what they will cost. Also included are lots of color photographs and a selection of reasonably useful maps.

This first-timer had better not, however, be new to foreign travel, for the practical side of the journey is scanted. For example, electricity flummoxes many novices: Can I safely plug in my computer or my cell phone charger? Will I have to have a converter - or a transformer - and what's the difference between them? What sort of plug adapters do I need? Not knowing the answers can be nerve-wracking and, once in a while, disastrous. Here is the totality of this volume's advice: "Electricity: Three pin, 240 V AC, 50Hz".

The section on "Internet Access" is less terse but not much more helpful, particularly as it leaves the reader with the erroneous impression that Australia is a land of dial-up connections.

One of the traditional purposes of guidebooks is to recommend places to sleep and dine. For Discover Australia, that function has been reduced to a vestige: a dozen restaurants each in Sydney and Melbourne, seven in Brisbane, three in Perth. Hotel coverage is very slightly better.

As one expects from Lonely Planet, the text includes left-wing political commentary. Happily, the publisher's opinions are now isolated in a potted history of Australia rather than, as used to be the case, diffused throughout.

Discover Australia thus deserves a bifurcated rating: four or five stars for those who need only sightseeing suggestions, one or two if "Three pin, 240 V AC, 50Hz" means nothing to you.… (plus d'informations)