After Matthew Flinders' circumnavigation of Australia, the next great barrier to face our expanding economy was the Blue Mountains. Bill Peach retraces the steps of Wentworth, Blaxland and Lawson on their epic journey to discover the lush pastures west of the mountains.

The most baffling question facing the early explorers was the destination of the inland rivers of NSW. They seemed to flow into the centre of the continent, perhaps to an inland sea. Bill Peach traces the career of the Captain Charles Sturt who solved this great mystery in an epic whaleboat journey to the mouth of the Murray River and back again.