Title: A Journey in Antipodean Land
Description: Here is the journey of Filipino-Australian culture, a chapter of Australia’s multicultural history that little is known about. In searching for answers to fill some blank spaces in the Filipino-Australian heritage, this book delves into the wanderlust of its pioneers – the early Manilamen whose ‘diasporic’ trajectories began with the Manila-Acapulco galleon trade.

It traces the beginnings of their presence in the northern coastal region of Australia. It traces that heritage through intricate and sometimes blurry threads of history. The journey explores a people and a many-sided culture that every now and then emerges from the shadows of its benevolent conquistador. It explores the controversial issue of Filipino women’s exodus in the 1980s and reaches out to the fringes of the new millennium.

About the author
Norma Hennessy was born in the Cordilleras of the Philippines' Northern Luzon. She has a Philippine degree of BS Commerce, and has specialised in travel, tourism and freelance journalism. As well, she turned to creative arts in the 1980s , in visual and multi-media. In 1997, she moved with her husband Anthony and two children to Adelaide, Australia.
Subjects: Manila Men, Filipinos in South Australia, Filipino pearl divers, Filipino heritage, Early FiIipinos in Australia, mail brides, curcillo in Australia, Filipinos, Social conditions, History, Emigration and immigration, Immigrants
Places: Broome, Thursday Island, Palmerston, Kalibo Shrine of Freedom, Aklan, Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia, Adelaide, South Australia, Adelaide Fringe Festival 1998, Block Rosary South Australia
People: Amelia Apolinario Mart, Dr. Reynaldo Dante Juanta, OAM, Mike Eguia, Fe Gilbey, Lorenzo Gamboa, Ed Aragon, Merlina Bobis, Edith Dizon Fitzsimmons, Arlene Chai, Joan Evangeline Barredo-Dicka, H. Zarcal, Heriberto Zarcal, Francisco del Castillo
Time periods: late 1800s-1980