NEW & UPCOMING TITLES
Rowan McKinnon
Rowan was born in country Victoria, Australia, and lived in Queensland and on the tiny Micronesian island of Nauru in the Pacific as a kid (long before Australia shamefully interned asylum-seekers there). Later the family settled in outer bayside Melbourne.
Growing up in the '70s on the big-city fringe was a mix of fierce housing-estate gangs ('sharpies'), vast rural expanses abutting new housing blocks, souped-up panel vans with shagpile and mirrored interiors, and crusty surf dropouts, all set to a soundtrack of Thin Lizzy, Led Zeppelin and AC/DC. Rowan fled at the age of 17 to inner Melbourne to be part of the punk/New Wave music explosion of the time.
He studied philosophy at university while playing in a bunch of wannabe rock bands, finally garnering some success in the '80s and early '90s with the arty band Not Drowning, Waving. He spent most of his twenties in tour buses, planes, studios and performance spaces - most of Rowan?s early experiences of international travel were as a touring musician.
Various travels have taken him to the UK and Europe, the USA, China, Central America, Japan and the Caribbean, as well as many sorties into the South Pacific, where he seems to have found a home away from home. Despite still living in the temperate southern Australian climate of Melbourne, the heavy humid air in tropical climates suits him. Rowan's never been to Africa or the Indian subcontinent, and has a weird and disconnected urge to visit Reykjavik.
He's authored Lonely Planet titles on Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, the South Pacific and the Caribbean (lovin? that islander lifestyle!). He's contributed to various travel-literature anthologies and has been published in magazines including National Geographic Traveller.
Rowan still dabbles in music, but working in information technology and writing occasional guidebooks pays the mortgage and provides much better for his family. With three months and no obligations, where would he most like to go? Central Asia.
Favourite destination: Possibly Uepi Island in Marovo Lagoon, Western Province, in the Solomon Islands. There's a small resort there on a perfect coral island in the world's finest double-barrier enclosed lagoon with hundreds of islets, coral formations and reef life - perhaps the world's best diving and snorkelling. The lagoon may soon be World Heritage listed.
Top travel tip: 'Be prepared to change your plans with a moment's notice', or 'Always carry a Swiss Army knife (with scissors)', or 'Be good to your feet and wear good footwear - your feet are your friends'.
