Stories from the Road and the Community
Digital Swaggie explores the relationship between landscape, material and movement.
Across regional towns, workshops and unhurried roads, this work documents the people who build, repair and preserve — artisans, mechanics, makers and quiet custodians of skill. Timber, steel, cloth and clay carry the imprint of climate and history. Place shapes craft, and craft reveals place.
Travel here is deliberate. By motorcycle, by rail, on foot — movement is a way of seeing. The journey is not escape, but inquiry.
These essays bring communities to life and reflect on the evolving nature of traditional knowledge in a disposable age. Through thoughtful writing and targeted imagery, Digital Swaggie records the enduring relationship between people, materials and the landscapes that form them.
This is not content about consumption.
It is a body of work about continuity.
A Sense of Place
A literary and pictorial journey through small towns and communities
A Sense of Place story is an exploration of a community to understand its beginnings, its purpose and how it breathes. A Sense of Place is not a travel guide but an essay on each small town, capturing its essence in time.
Craft and Making
Artisans, preserving practical knowledge.
There are tradespeople who are dedicated to preserving and passing on skills that are still relevant and resist the mass-produced, disposable products of modern society.
These are stories of skilled artisans, keeping skills and knowledge within their community, providing support and creativity to their communities.
Travel and Adventure
Stories of adventure and exploration
Unhurried travel by any means — seeking freedom through simplicity. Travel through communities where the destination is less important than the journey. Stories of outback tracks, tropical beaches and impossible creek crossings.
Stories from the Road
The latest stories from the provides a continuing long form narrative of travel, place and art.
Books and Guides
Books about travel ignite the soul and provide fuel to the adventurer. This trilogy provides a deep descriptive insight into the place that is Queensland, developing a sense of place. They entertain with travel narratives full of wonder and unique Australian humour. Queensland is one of the best adventure motorcycling destinations on the planet. But it’s not for the faint at heart.
Gun Fights, Ghosts and Goannas
This book is more than a motorcycle travel story, it’s an adventure through the heart of Queensland and the soul of Australia. Along the way, Gary learns the secret of life, loses his money by betting on chickens and solves the murder of the swaggie from the song Waltzing Matilda. His message to the reader is that it’s never too late to set and achieve goals. If he can do it anyone can, and it’s easier than you think. Just twist the throttle and look out for kangaroos.
Red Dust and Rainforests
Continuing his path of self-discovery, Gary faces deep bull dust tracks, mechanical failures, and challenging riding conditions that test his skills and resilience.
Red Dust and Rainforests captures nature’s raw power, the joy of camaraderie, and the spirit of self-discovery in this final chapter of a 20,000-kilometre odyssey through Queensland. For anyone eager to break free from the ordinary and embrace a life-changing journey, suit up—your adventure awaits!”
Sand Dunes and the Serpent
Sand Dunes and the Serpent is a journey into the vast, unforgiving heart of western Queensland — where distances are measured in days, not kilometres, and the land quietly tests those who travel through it.
The final book in the Queensland Adventure Riding Series, Sand Dunes and the Serpent, is more than a travelogue. It’s a reckoning — with solitude, with place, and with the forces that draw people back to the edge of the map. Some journeys reveal landscapes. Others reveal what’s been coiled beneath the surface all along.
Coming in 2027
About Me
Author – Storyteller
I am an award-winning Australian author and speaker whose work explores the connection between people, materials and landscape.
Through travel — by motorcycle, rail and on foot — I document artisans, makers and regional communities, preserving the stories of those who create, repair and sustain culture through skill.
My writing is an inquiry into place, craftsmanship and the enduring value of knowledge.