James Douglas McNaught has been rock climbing by the Southern Ocean and rodeo riding in the Great North of Australia. He has kayaked in the Southern Alps going down some of the fastest and most treacherous rivers in Australia. Not only has he ridden in rodeos he has chased wild horses all day on horseback and come back to do it again. In company with others he has rounded up brumbies (broncos) so that they could be broken for stock horses. He played first grade hockey and coached sporting teams to six championships in three different sports. As a child James lived in India and spent many years in the mountains of South India as well as on the Malabar Coast. As an adult James lived in the far North West of Queensland and has experienced all the hardships and joys that he writes about. Not only has he had an exciting outdoors life; James has worked as a Systems Engineer for Hewlett Packard and edited a national magazine in Australia for five years.