Review of Bluewater Walkabout

[Ayomikun Babalola]

[Following is a volunteer review of "Bluewater Walkabout" by Tina Dreffin.]

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4 out of 4 stars

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This is a book about adventures and memories. Bluewater Walkabout is a story about the author, Tina, and her family's expedition to the South Pacific. Tina and her family live a peaceful life on a boat in the tropics. Moved by the attack on the Twin Towers on 9/11, she and her husband finally decide to take a trip to the South Pacific, as this may be their last chance to do so as a family. They first head to Johannesburg, South Africa, to collect their new boat. While waiting for its completion, they decide to go on a safari expedition with her mother and niece. Here, they race with giraffes, witness hippos battle over territory, have an encounter with a bull buffalo, are assaulted by baboons, and so on. After the safari expedition, they collect their new boat and head out to the South Pacific on their adventure. They are soon joined by Gary and Sam, her son's friends. Tina takes on the daunting task of controlling four teenage boys. They experience the sea's strength and beauty as they sail beside an array of sea life, surf the restless waters of South Africa, dive off a cliff in Grenada, and are almost cast overboard by a rogue wave.

Tina credits her love for international travel to her mother. She regularly took her to the public library, where she challenged her to contests on reading travel essays, historical fiction, and autobiographies. Here, she fell in love with the outside world. But this book isn't just filled with adventure, but also memories. The author writes about how she met her husband, her experience as a commercial real estate broker, her assault, shark fishing with her children, her stand-off with a barracuda, and so much more

This book fills you with a thirst for adventure. As the author describes her journey, it moves you to dream of going on your own adventure, of the places you wish to visit, and the adventures you wish to go on. I loved that the author also wrote on the reality of adventuring. Not just the romantic side of it, but the dangers involved as well. She wrote about the difficulty of accessing immediate medical help while out at sea or docked in a small remote town, the crime rates, the importance of having a skilled team to help man the boat. Tina Dreffin wrote on serious issues such as sexual assault, breast cancer, and losing a child. She thoughtfully added helplines for each of these situations at the back of the book, encouraging those who were suffering to reach out. I admire her for doing so. As a lover of philosophy, she added famous quotes at the beginning of each chapter. I loved reading each one. There was absolutely nothing I hated about the book.

I give this book a rating of 4 out of 4 stars. The author's decision to write about her sexual assault, the inclusion of the helplines, the quotes that were added, and writing about the dangers of such an adventure all contributed to the final rating of the book. This was an exceptionally well-edited book, as I found no errors while I read.

I would recommend this book to anyone looking for an adventure, whether on a page or dreaming of one in the real world. Adventure seekers would love this book. Sensitive readers should note that this book contains some profanity, the first instance of which is on page fifty-four. This book also contains some light sexual content.

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Bluewater Walkabout
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[markodim721]

I like how the author authentically conveyed the adventurous spirit to the pages of the book. Thanks for the detailed review.

[Muna Chizzy]

The story seems intriguing. I love adventure books and Tina's story made me want to try out an adventure with my family. Thanks for the beautiful review.

[Umesh Bhatt]

Seems to be a well written book for the lovers of adventure books. Nice review, thanks.