This collection includes diaries of Michael Patrick Durack and John Wallace Durack with attached photographs, notes and letters.

PMM index ref: DHE. Includes accounts and notes by Patrick Michael Durack and John Wallace Durack of early Durack exploration and the overland trek in 1883, Michael Durack's account of the first Kimberley exploration in 1882 and Mary Durack's draft notes on the Kimberley exploration and cattle trek (typescript)

How does a carefree, four-day honeymoon trip from California to New Mexico turn into a trap, resulting in a jail sentence in El Paso and a deportation to Holland? The Illegal from Holland tells how a Dutch citizen and her American husband travel halfway around the world to overturn her deportation. Along the way, they learn about the amazing inefficiency of the U.S. Immigration Department and the ominous danger of the blind hostility and prejudices of many Americans towards illegal immigrants today. Michael Durack is a freelance writer, corporate manager, and part-time actor living in Long Beach, California. He is married to Yolande Wassenberg, who is an art model, artist, and costume designer among other vocations. They spend their time together pursuing a variety of activities, including travel, professional pet sitting, photography, and educating the public about the inherent fallacies of the current U.S. Immigration policies.

Ever wonder what it's like to be to work in a foreign country, experience new foods and cultures and maybe find a way to help other people while you do it? Most people who become foreign teachers imagine going off to some exotic destination to share their knowledge with people who don't have the same advantages as them. Sounds like an exciting and noble adventure, right? But what happens if you take the plunge and go off to another country where you don't even speak the language and EVERYTHING GOES WRONG? How do you deal with getting stuck doing a job you never wanted to do, dealing with deceptive employers, or not getting paid on time, if at all? Conversations With a Deaf Cat explores the true adventures experienced by Michael Durack as a foreign English teacher and/or volunteer in China, Chile and Canada. It also chronicles his experience as an assistant caregiver along with his wife for his mother-in-law's final months in the Netherlands. In short, it provides an insight into the highs and lows of being a foreign teacher/volunteer/caregiver in a foreign environment that is a must-read for anyone contemplating a similar career or simply interested in knowing what it's REALLY like.

Letter giving details of trip to Cambridge Gulf, Western Australia in 1882.