Our Price: AUD$24.95 (USD$)* ISBN: 978-1-920764-79-1 Subject: Autobiography Publication Date: July 2006

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Synopsis
Being stranded on a small island or stuck fast on a partially submerged coral reef in the middle of a cold dark night is not just 'story book' adventure. In the author's experience, these were real life scenarios!

The unrelenting fury of the ocean during cyclonic conditions was only one of the extremely dangerous situations that the author had to contend with on several occasions.

Graeme was once again confronted with a few more, rather difficult challenges. This time it was the charge of helping to refurbish an airport in Samoa to the challenge of establishing power stations on four remote islands of the Ha'apai archipelago in the Kingdom of Tonga.

Having to rely on unreliable World War Two landing barges and the most unseaworthy, locally-made wooden boats caused many headaches and frustrations.

These adventures and tales will have you, the reader, shaking your head in total disbelief.

About The Author
Born in Whangarei New Zealand on April 26 1943, Graeme Clarke grew up on a small dairy farm. After qualifying as an electrician in 1963, he worked his way up through the electrical industry in New Zealand and Australia until 1985. It was at this time that Graeme decided to pursue a different career and have a break away from the pressures of the construction and contracting industry.

After three years of touring Australia as an itinerant entertainer and releasing two records, the top-ten song Tender Trap and the CD Footprints in the Sand at Wallaroo, Graeme decided to return to the electrical industry, this time specialising in project management.

In 1995 Graeme accepted a managerial position in Papua New Guinea. Based in Port Moresby, he was charged with the task of managing the multi-million dollar electrical refurbishment of Jacksons International Airport, travelling to Asia and India in the course of his employment. After his sojourn in Papua New Guinea and India, he travelled throughout the Pacific region and managed several large projects in Samoa, New Zealand and the Kingdom of Tonga.

Some years later, Graeme sat down in the quite and beautiful surroundings of his North Beach home and wrote a trilogy of books entitled Pacifica and Beyond, documenting his many travels and colourful experiences.

Visit the author's web site.

From The Book
...The captain was not saying a word. He battled the helm and was forced to back the engines off at the crest of each wave, stopping them from revving their guts out as the propellers lifted clear of the water before we crashed down sideways on the other side of the mighty swells, which I estimated to be around six to eight metres high. This was far beyond anything I had ever experienced.

My poor Tongan friends were now as white as us parlangis and my arthritic shoulders and knees were giving me hell. At one point I let my grip on the back of the seat go and I was immediately smashed against the bulkhead. A couple of the boys helped me back up to the seat where I continued to hold on for grim death. In fact, the thought of death was never far from my mind.

I just could not see how the hell we were ever going to prevent this boat from capsizing. Every time we crashed down a wave I said to myself, this is it. I am not kidding; I was scared out of my wits...