TRAVEL AND GUIDEBOOK WRITING
GREAT OCEAN ROAD BOOK

Richard Everist - biography
Richard Everist started work with Lonely Planet as an editor in 1985
when there were 12 people in the company. He left in 2000 when there were over 500 people.
Over the time he was at Lonely Planet Richard’s roles ranged from Marketing Manager to Author to Global Publisher.
He co-authored guidebooks to Nepal, South Africa, Papua New Guinea, West Asia and Britain.

Since leaving Lonely Planet Richard has been involved with a variety of internet and print publishing projects,
many of them involving travel.
In 2004 Richard, his partner Lucrezia, and their three children – escaped from Melbourne –
and started Torquay-based Best Shot!

Best Shot! has published a variety of books, calendars, cards and postcards celebrating regional Victoria.
In 2006 Best Shot! published a definitive guidebook to the Victorian goldfields – ‘The Traveller’s Guide to the Goldfields’-
covering the background history and the dramatic legacy of the richest and greatest gold rushes the world has ever seen.

In 2009 Best Shot! published a major new guidebook to the Great Ocean Road region.
It has detailed information on 65 beaches, 127 walks (including the Great Ocean Walk), 29 national parks and reserves,
37 activities, 60 heritage sites, and more than 50 cities, towns and villages.

Aside from covering the many iconic sights – Bells Beach, the Cape Otway Lighthouse, and the 12 Apostles to name just a few –
there are also many secrets revealed. Where can you find flooded volcanos, Gondwanaland’s rainforest survivors,
the worlds’ largest living creature, aboriginal stone villages, shipwrecks, squatter’s mansions, waterfalls, deserted coves…?

THE COMPLETE GUIDE TO THE GREAT OCEAN ROAD

The Complete Guide to the Great Ocean Road’ is an important new guidebook that unlocks the secrets of southwest Victoria. 

There’s detailed information on 65 beaches, 127 walks (including the Great Ocean Walk), 29 national parks and reserves, 
37 activities, over 60 heritage sites registered by Heritage Victoria, and more than 50 cities, towns and villages.

Aside from covering the many iconic sights – Bells Beach, the Cape Otway Lighthouse, and the 12 Apostles to name just a few – 
there are also many secrets revealed. Where can you find flooded volcanos, Gondwanaland’s rainforest survivors, the worlds’ 
largest living creature, aboriginal stone villages, shipwrecks, squatter’s mansions, waterfalls, deserted coves…?

‘The Complete Guide to the Great Ocean Road’ covers southwest Victoria from Queenscliff, overlooking Port Phillip Heads, 
to Nelson, near the South Australian border. Detailed background information was contributed by passionate experts, 
and there are hundreds of superb photographs. The book’s principal author and overall editor, Richard Everist, 
was formally the global publisher for Lonely Planet and has written a number of Lonely Planet guidebooks.

Southwest Victoria is recognised by Unesco as home to one of the most significant volcanic provinces in the world. 
The Otway rainforests are home to fascinating remnants of Gondwanaland, and the region offers many opportunities to see weird 
and wonderful wildlife – including glow worms, carnivourous snails, echidnas, playtypuses, koalas, sugar gliders, emus and kangaroos.

One of the world’s richest marine environments lies offshore, created by the fascinating Bonney Upwelling it sustains the planet’s 
largest living creatures, blue whales, and the most-feared predators, great white sharks. 

The coast and plains were home to at least six major Aboriginal language-culture groups, which left behind many signs of their 
culture, including the ruins of stone houses and complex aquaculture systems. The European architectural legacy tells the story 
of whalers, fishermen, timber workers, squatters – and holiday makers.

But it’s the natural environment that, ultimately, takes centre stage. Whether it’s a pair of bright orange king parrots 
flashing through 75-metre-high mountain ash trees, a waterfall tumbling through massive ferns, a koala serenely ignoring 
your presence, or eight-metre waves, smashing into Moonlight Head. 

There are many stories -– from the bitter Eumeralla War fought between Aboriginals and settlers, 
from the shipwrecks that litter the coast, from the notorious introduction of rabbits to the continent, from timber mills and 
fishing fleets that have disappeared, almost without trace, to many more…. 

‘The Complete Guide to the Great Ocean Road’ features sustainable activities, and a range of businesses that are 
developing important sustainable practices.  The book was financed by the Department of Resources, Energy & Tourism, 
Geelong Otway Tourism, Heritage Victoria, Parks Victoria and BestShot! Publications.

It includes:

•	high-quality maps,
•	a foreword by Tony Wheeler, 
•	over 500 superb photographs, 
•	fascinating background information, 
•	a beach goers’ and surfing guide to 65 beaches - including the breaks around Bell’s Beach
•	track notes for 127 walks – including the Great Ocean Walk
•	detailed information on all cities, towns and villages, 
•	and comprehensive coverage of national and state parks. 

There’s detailed coverage of:

•	Geelong, 
•	the Bellarine peninsula, 
•	Queenscliff, 
•	Torquay, 
•	Anglesea, 
•	Lorne, 
•	Apollo Bay, 
•	Warrnambool, 
•	Port Fairy, 
•	Portland 
•	plus 40 more towns, villages and their surrounds.


RRP $49.95. 

AVAILABLE FROM GOOD BOOK RETAILERS NOW, OR CONTACT BESTSHOT! 
(TEL 1300 66 49 43)

For more information contact:
Richard Everist, Best!Shot Publications (mobile 0402 271 391)
Olivia Noonan,