When I want to remind myself why, after two decades of wandering, I returned to Australia, and to reaffirm my love for this country, I read D'Arcy Niland'a books. His first, and by far the most iconic, is "The Shiralee".
Published in 1955, the book was made into a movie two years later, starring Peter Finch; however, I prefer the 1987 Bryan Brown version.
Go on, sit down and watch it, and if your childhood memories don't come flooding back and, if you're still living overseas, you don't run to the nearest QANTAS office to buy yourself a ticket home, then there's something wrong with you (unless you're from Sunshine, Victoria and staying up late right now, in which case there's no help for you anyway).
P.S. By contrast, watch the Peter Finch version here.
