I read this book in conjunction with watching the DVD of By Any Means. I was very glad that I did because sometimes the DVD episode was a bit rushed and I was wondering, 'How did they get there? Where's Russ? Who's Anne?'. The book solves all these problems.

Not high literature, but a fantastic Boys' Own adventure travelling from Ireland to Australia- by any means except a commercial flight. Charley, Russ (both familiar faces from Long Way Down/Round and Race to Dakar) and Mungo the cameraman cross countries on tuk tuks, elephants, dolmus and everything in between. A great adventure that has inspired me to visit countries that weren't on my list, such as Nepal and Cambodia. Although non fiction, the boys certainly had their share of calamities- from boats to knees to multiple broken cameras. Charley also talks about home sickness, travel sickness and lack of sleep, which I didn't think came through on the DVD (very professional).

Being an Aussie, I have to make mention of the trip from Darwin to Sydney. It was very well done- not too stereotypical (except for the English boys running out of fuel in the NT) and a good representation of just how diverse Australia really is. Nice to see that the BMWs were rejected in favour of a Nissan (X5 is certainly not an off road car). It made me happy to see that someone else could enjoy my own country.

I'd love to see an extended version of the TV series, that would be great. All the boys were very likeable, good presenters and fairly easy on the eye ;) There's some lovely pictures in the book too. ( )