Up the Gum Tree

A funny and poignant story of pioneers in the Australian outback, based on true facts.
In 1960, two young tradesmen, a carpenter and butcher, leave the monotony of their German home. They travel to Australia in search of adventure and the reader is taken on a fascinating journey through the continent 'down under' of an earlier epoch.
The adventurers become familiar with the Aborigine culture; the gangs of men known as 'the kangaroo hunters' and the ludicrous characters they meet in the outback. But disillusionment sets in and one of them returns. Will the other find his place in this fascinating country? Little does he realise that he is on the threshold of yet another adventure with this group of crazy Germans he has met in the pub. They work in the outback erecting farm buildings and return to Perth to spend their money on girls and their days on the beach.
When cupid takes his bow, decisions must be made. The years have passed and they have become 'real dinkum Aussies'. Suddenly, they yearn for their homeland and the families they have left behind. Should they return? Where do they belong? Only one of them will know.

Susan Duxbury was born in Shipley, West Yorkshire,
England, and educated at Salt's Grammar School in the famous
model village of Saltaire; then Leeds College of Technology
where she gained a diploma in hotel management. After
emigrating to New Zealand, she travelled to Australia and met
her German-born husband. They lived and worked in the
Australian outback, where she began writing her first book.
She is also a successful short-story writer and actively
engaged in German/British relations; has two sons and lives with
her husband in north Germany.