Travel is life for this family
A NEW BOOK FROM AN INTREPID FAR NORTH FAMILY – WRITER CATHERINE LAWSON, PHOTOGRAPHER DAVID BRISTOW AND DAUGHTER MAYA – IS A TELL-ALL GUIDE FOR VISITORS TO THE REGION,
WITHIN four weeks of Catherine Lawson and David Bristow’s daughter Maya being born at Cairns Hospital, wanderlust came calling.
The Cairns-based writer and photographer couple hit the road with their baby girl in 2012, travelling across Australia.
They camped every night and interviewed about 300 people along the way.
Their epic 15,000km journey took about six months, and they wrote a book about their adventures, Highway One: The Ultimate Road Trip, for
Australian Geographic. Eight years later, the family-of-three live on their catamaran, the aptly named Storyteller, their feet as itchy as ever.
Maya has travelled with her parents across the globe, even to Everest Base Camp, making her the youngest girl in the world to trek halfway up the world’s highest mountain.
The trio are spending this week cruising the West Papuan coast and the Forgotten (Kai) Islands, for their successful website, wildtravelstory. com.
With another book, 100 Things To See In Tropical
THE CAIRNS-BASED WRITER AND PHOTOGRAPHER COUPLE HIT THE ROAD WITH THEIR BABY GIRL IN 2012, TRAVELLING ACROSS AUSTRALIA.
North Queensland, recently published, it seems the family is living the idyllic life as travel writers.
But Ms Lawson said it had been a challenging journey over the past two decades, that
started with a humble travel column in the pages of the
Cairns Post.
“I won’t deny that we’ve got a pretty sweet life, but it’s still hectic in all the ways that family life is,” she said.
“We juggle work and homeschooling in the midst of our adventures – and misadventures at times – but we have a very outdoorsy child who happily goes along for the ride, which makes things easy.”
Ms Lawson and Mr Bristow developed over the decades a “never say die” attitude to all of their work, particularly when faced with multiple rejections from editors and publishers.
“I get knockbacks all the time,” Ms Lawson said.
“I am constantly pitching editors with story and assignment ideas for all the wild trips we’d like to take.
“Some they love, others they pass on. That’s freelancing.
“Book writing is different because it’s a long-term project and the publisher on this book – Brendan Batty – is a lovely person. He was the kindest editor I ever worked for, and I still write for one of his magazines,
Roam, so this project was just bliss.”
The new book aims to provide a tell-all guide for locals and visitors to FNQ, revealing insider tips on places Christine and David like to spend their weekends, where they like to go camping and where they spot wildlife.
Unlike a lot of other travel books, there is no blanket “go see the Reef” advice, rather the couple provide a detailed list of the best coral reefs to see, and what to expect to see when you go diving or snorkelling there.
The book even provides that great taboo of travel writing: spots so secret that locals may get upset about it.
“It’s all out there now,” Ms Lawson said. “There was only one spot we didn’t include in the book, and that was the Blue Hole in the Daintree, purely out of respect for the indigenous women whose sacred ground it is, and because it was being trashed by visitors.
“Otherwise, we’ve included all our tips, secrets and recommendations.
“After all, we want travellers to get the very best out of their time in the Far North and not base their adventures on the places that brochures will send them to.”
When the family wraps up its voyage through Micronesia, they are planning another big, cross-country road trip across Australia, then returning to Nepal to trek the Himalayas.
Ms Lawson said there might be another book in the works from their future adventures.
She said in their work, they always wanted to share ways to enhance other people’s travel experiences.
“We can all book a hotel and pick up a brochure, but what everyone wants when they travel is a local expert’s opinion on what is worth our time and money, and what isn’t,” she said.
“We hope we can cut to the chase and change the way people plan their trips – no boring bits.” 100 Things to See in Tropical North Queensland by Catherine Lawson and David Bristow, published by Exploring Eden Media, will be released in April 2020.
I AM CONSTANTLY PITCHING EDITORS WITH STORY AND ASSIGNMENT IDEAS FOR ALL THE WILD TRIPS WE’D LIKE TO TAKE CATHERINE LAWSON