Take a man and his teenage son, setting out from Sydney to walk around Australia in a year, fundraising for the Save the Kangaroo Society. This was in 1973 and in this memoir Howison (the son) looks back on the enterprise with laconic glee, relating how the duo soon discovered that people living in Australia’s inland were not too fussed about ‘saving’ the kangaroo.

Written in a conversational, vernacular style, we soon learn that David Howison was not your regular father. He seemed to spend his life flitting from one unfinished, personal money-raising scheme to another, meaning he and his soon-to-be ex-wife and their five children moved a lot. After the marriage failed, Mark spent a lot of time with his father, and, at 17, learned that the two of them were going to walk around Australia.

A group of sponsors was organised, including Hanimex, who in each town they visited provided showers, food and a bed for the night. David Howison decided that their fundraising should establish an animal sanctuary close to Sydney so people could visit native animals.

They set off, complete with a homemade cart holding their possessions and camping gear. Mark twice had to seek medical help for ingrown toenails. He went through 16 pairs of boots; his father went through 13 pairs.

One of the most interesting sections came when David almost gave up on the walk at Camooweal but with him riding on the cart, and Mark pulling it, he told his life story, starting in Edinburgh, Scotland.

As for the animal sanctuary … well, you’ll just have to read the book to find out how that went.

Reviewed by Jennifer Somerville