Camping By A Billabong

Biography & Memoir History Australiana

Camping by a Billabong is Robert French’s warmly illustrated 1993 memoir of growing up gay in rural Australia, told through the simple joy of pitching camp beside a favourite waterhole. Blackwattle Press released this vintage paperback for adult and young-adult readers curious about local history and queer life beyond the cities.

French’s personal anecdotes, peppered with sketches of bush gear and billabong wildlife, give the book the feel of a well-thumbed field diary rather than a formal biography. The pages are clean and unmarked, the binding tight, and the only previous-owner trace is a discreetly whited-out stamp on the cover page.

Collectors of Australian gay history, camping narratives or regional true stories will appreciate this scarce first edition (ISBN 9781875243143). Slip it into a backpack or bookshelf and let its quiet campfire voice transport you back to 1990s country nights under the stars.