Before the Beginning
However, while I can identify the situation that prompted me to start writing something about The North, the result has been shaped by events before that road trip.
Earlier excursions between early 1964, when my father acquired our first family car, and my parents' return South in November 1970 took us through an incarnation of The North that was on the cusp of a major makeover along sections of the Bruce Highway that have disappeared mainly due to subsequent roadwork.
Although my academic career never ascended to the heights it might have attained, elements along the way—particularly James Cook University's early 1970s History Department and the particular incarnation of History IIH (Problems in Australian History) on offer in 1971—shaped the results when I started writing Something About The North.
