Which Way Did He Go? Trivia Quiz

Answer: Tasmania

Marcus Clarke's 'For the Term of His Natural Life' was first serialized in the 'Australian Journal' before appearing as a novel a few years later in 1874. Rufus Dawes, originally a young aristocrat, Richard Devines, is sent to harsh prison settlements at Macquarie Harbour and then Port Arthur.

The story recounts his travails and the wrought love he shares with Sylvie. The novel describes the harsh and cruel conditions suffered by Dawes and his fellow convicts and the eventual resolution of the murder charge.

Answer: Thai-Burma Railway

Flanagan's outstanding novel examines the effects of war and an illicit love affair on Australian doctor, Dorrigo Evans. As a prisoner-of-war during World War II, Evans was forced to work on the Thai-Burma Railway and provide very rudimentary medical assistance for his fellow POWs.

The railroad was need by the Japanese forces to provide for their war efforts in Burma. Harrowing sections of the book portray the brutal conditions and treatment of the prisoners. The title 'Narrow Road' refers to the actual railway line, but also the journey of Dorrigo when his life was equally constrained and focused on a single destination, survival.

The title comes from a 17th century haiku by Japanese poet, Matsuo Bashō.

Answer: Gold

Arguably the most famous mystery associated with gold in Australia, many prospectors have unsuccessfully sought Lasseter's rich reef of gold. Lasseter spent time with the Aboriginals in the region but this relationship turned sour. As Ion Idriess recounts in 'Lasseter's Last Ride' (1931), their Kurdaitcha man (similar to a witch doctor/traditional medicine man) "pointed the bone at him" and he was then shunned and condemned to be ignored. Lasseter left no maps showing the location of the reef but it is believed to be somewhere close to the border of Northern Territory and Western Australia.

Answer: The Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith

This harrowing story examines the disconnection of half-caste Jimmie Blacksmith from both his Aboriginal heritage and the white culture in which he has been raised. Throughout his life people take advantage of him. Greatly upset at the mistreatment of his family, Jimmie wants to scare some of the women who have contributed to his persecution. Events quickly spiral out of control and the women and infants are murdered.

A rampage then ensues as Jimmie takes revenge on those who have badly wronged him.

He is finally caught and hanged. A film of the same name, directed by Fred Schepisi, was released in 1978, starring Tom E. Lewis (Tommy Lewis) as Jimmie.

Answer: Douglas Mawson

Born in Yorkshire in 1882, the infant Mawson moved with his family to Sydney in 1884. After undertaking a mining engineering course, he joined a geological exploration of the New Hebrides. Under the tutelage of Professor Edgeworth David, he became an expert in the chemical aspects of geology.

This skill set led him to joining Shackleton's 1907 expedition to Antarctica. He was in the party who first climbed Mount Erebus and also got close to the South Pole. Perhaps wisely refusing a subsequent invitation to join Scott's ill-fated attempt to sled to the Pole, Mawson conducted further scientific measurements on the Antarctic continent over a long period.

The 22 volumes of scientific records collected by the Australasian Antarctic Expedition were edited by Mawson and published in 1947. An Australian Base in Antarctica is named in recognition of his major contributions. Mawson's book, 'The Home of the Blizzard', written during 1915, includes an account of his astounding survival when he was stranded nearly 500 km (320 miles) from base.

Another telling indication of the esteem in which Mawson was held was the instruction from Shackleton that if his (Shackleton's) expedition went missing, Mawson was to be in charge of the rescue.

Answer: Burke and Wills

Murgatroyd's book is a remarkable, highly readable account of the circumstances and events leading up to the demise of the Burke and Wills expedition. The very large expedition set off from Melbourne in 1860 with sufficient food for two years, horses and camels. Throughout, the expedition was plagued by poor weather including monsoonal rains in northern Australia, then drought.

The single expedition had split into many smaller teams with various tasks and destinations. One group under William Brahe was to wait at Coopers Creek for 13 weeks for the team heading north to return.

The Burke and Wills team reached the Gulf of Carpentaria in February 1861. Problems intensified on the return trip south. Brahe waited 18 weeks for them to return to Coopers Creek and then departed leaving supplies for them if they eventually turned up, buried under a sign at 'The Dig Tree'. Terrible luck meant that Burke and Wills missed Brahe and his group by only nine hours.

Despite living off the food drop, they succumbed in June 1861.

Answer: Picnic at Hanging Rock

There is still uncertainty whether this story was based on true events or is completely fictional. It was deliberately kept unclear by Lindsay, who wrote a final chapter which was then removed prior to publication. This chapter was published posthumously as 'The Secret of Hanging Rock' in 1987 where surreal happenings hint at an other-worldly cause for the girls' disappearance.

Much of the attraction of this book and the film results from the mystery never being revealed.

Answer: Napoleon Bonaparte

Moving to Australia from England as a young man in 1911, Upfield fought in World War I. Upon his return, he travelled throughout Australia gaining great insight into Aboriginal culture. Upfield's novels featuring Napoleon Bonaparte were extremely popular, based on strong characterisation, interesting and often unconventional plotlines and a depiction of the Australian outback in the 1930s to 1950s. 'Bony' was originally employed as a tracker to find missing fugitives but moved through the ranks of the Queensland police as he demonstrated his great detective skills, a deep insight into human nature and a very astute mind. Upfield published the first of his 'Bony' novels in 1929 ('The Barrakee Mystery') and the 29th and final book ('The Lake Frome Monster') in 1966.

The novels also spawned a successful TV series. Upfield also had a great interest in science, leading a major expedition to north-west Australia in 1948. Upfield claimed the name of his detective hero came from a real life, university-educated tracker he met who had also read a biography of the French Emperor.

Answer: Tomorrow, When the War Began

'Tomorrow, When the War Began' features a group of teenagers who return from a camping trip to find their coastal Australian home town over-run by enemy soldiers and the townsfolk missing. The origin of the invasion force is never revealed. Targeted at young adults, this is the first in a series of seven novels told through the eyes of Elie Linton. Elie and her small band attempt to disrupt the plans and activities of the foreign power.

They destroy a bridge, attack the airfield, disrupt convoys and rescue friends. Finally the war finishes and life begins to return to a semblance of normality.

The series was both tremendously successful with the reading public and gained high critical acclaim and a large number of literary awards in the young adults genre.

Answer: Ludwig Leichhardt

Born in 1813 in Trebatsch in Brandenburg, Leichhardt studied natural sciences in several European cities and then moved to Sydney in 1842 with the express intention of exploring inland Australia. He completed an epic expedition from Brisbane to Port Essington (near Darwin), a distance of over 4800 km (3000 miles), having been given up for dead. Further expeditions followed and he received several awards for his work including the 1847 Patron's Medal from the Royal Geographical Society.

In 1848 he set out with six other men (four Europeans and two Aboriginal guides) from the Condamine River in southern Queensland to cross the Australian interior to reach the Swan River near Perth - a journey estimated to take two to three years.

The party was last seen not far away on the Darling Downs. No evidence of the party's demise has been found although it is surmised they perished in the Great Sandy Desert. Search parties were sent out and found possible signs - trees blazed with 'L' - much further north near the Gulf of Carpentaria.

A small nameplate was found in 1900 near Sturt Creek. Patrick White based his fictional novel 'Voss' on Leichhardt's story. In the novel, Voss and his party attempt to cross Australia suffering a series of misfortunes that lead to the death of all but one member. The novel also explores the spiritual connection of the Aboriginal people with their land and the metaphysical connection of the profound character Voss and the young woman, Laura.