Lady Elliot Island on Southern Great Barrier Reef

Lady Elliot Island on Southern Great Barrier Reef 

my new book!

When we visited Lady Elliot Island (LEI as locals call it!) in October 2019 we were amazed to view a tropical island that had been completely rehabilitated from a coral desert to a lush tropical garden. The Island had been almost totally denuded of vegetation by guano (bird droppings) miners from 1863 to 1873. The Island lay desolate until 1969 when entrepreneur Don Adams took a lease on the Island. He brought in equipment and bulldozed an airstrip in one day! His lease specified that he must attempt to revegetate the damaged environment. He did this and began a small resort on the Island. 

Today, the Resort is owned by Peter Gash and his family who have brought the island back to a lush tropical paradise by planting some 10,000 trees and plants. They have introduced solar power for most of the resorts needs, they recycle the waste water for the plants and mulch most other wastes for garden compost. Water is obtained from the ocean and treated in a desalination plant on the island for all their needs. The Island is committed to ecological methods and environmental preservation. LEI has the second highest bird nesting population on the Great Barrier Reef. In season turtles breed on the island and Manta rays and a myriad of fish are found in nearby waters. A magical place.

WE saw the need for a book for tourists to buy to take home as a souvenir of their visit. So in collaboration with Island Management through Amy Gash I have written a book called:-

Lady Elliot Island on the Southern Great Barrier Reef.

The Book is printed in Australia by Five Senses Education and retails for around $19.95.

It is available from Lady Elliot Island, Five Senses or Jill B Bruce

Heron Island on Australia's Great Barrier Reef - new book

After a visit to Heron Island in 2018 I saw that this amazing eco resort did not have a book to showcase the Island as a memento of visitors stay on the Island. Heron Island helped with amazing photographs and their marine biologists checked the info and made sure I had it right. It gives details of the ocean animals, birds and corals on the reef. Also the resort and the Qld University Research station are featured. History of the geological formation of the reef and human habitation history are also explained.

Bilingual books in 11 languages

In the last few years I have written and have had published some 33 small 16 page bilingual books about Australian and Tibetan animals. They are printed in Australia and are available in English with the following 11 languages translated to create bilingual books. A

Available languages are: French, German, Italian, Swedish, Spanish, Turkish, Tibetan, Indonesian, Japanese, Khmer and Arabic. Retail $5.95.

Komodo dragon visit 2019

In April we joined Crystal Symphony in Sydney to travel up Australia's east coast via Cairns, Darwin then to Indonesia's Komodo Island to visit the endangered Komodo Dragons. This is also a UNESCO WORLD HERITAGE SITE. We went ashore in the ship's tender and hiked into the bush. We noticed wild deer and boar nearby which are the dragon's prey. The guides only had long sticks to protect us??? No fences etc. We came upon 5-6 large dragons near a waterhole and we were told to keep our distance as they are dangerous ambush predators. Well, no excitement here, as they lay around and slept or occasionally moved or looked up. Still it was on our bucket list - tick! Stunning coastal scenery in the area.

Easter Island and Komodo Island on Crystal Cruises

This has been an exciting year with our travels on Crystal Cruises. I was giving lectures on both cruises, One from Santiago, Chile to Easter Island, Pitcairn Island and on to 5 French Polynesian Islands in March. The Moai on Easter Island were fascinating and we felt they deserve the UNESCO World heritage listing. A remnant of the culture of the Polynesian Rapa Nui.

Jill's writing in 2018

Well, an interesting year in Politics - ANOTHER NEW PRIME MINISTER! So edition 7 of my book Prime Ministers of Australia. I sent a copy to Scott Morrison and received an interesting reply.

I also had a new bilingual book - Australian Platypus in Japanese

I have written a Book titled Heron Island on Australia's Great Barrier Reef. It is with the publisher to be released in 2019. WATCH THIS SPACE!

Travels in 2018

What a great 2018 we have had. A flight to Mauritius and a cruise back on Crystal with Jill lecturing.

In June-July we visited Cuba, the Galapagos, Ecuador and Mexico. What an amazing world!

On the equator in Ecuador and giant tortoise in Galapagos.

On to Mexico for a Trafalgar tour of the Mayan civilisation and beaches.

Then to Cuba, a fascinating place where it is way behind the times. Old cars, old Spanish buildings in need of renovation and repair. 

Old Spanish building, Che Guevara, and us in old U.S. Car

Home to OZ and appreciative of our freedom and quality of life.