BOOK: Building Paradise

AUTHOR: David Macfarlane

PUBLISHER: Wakefield Press

RRP: $24.95

IT'S not often that I read a book (especially one that is outside my usual areas of interest) in one sitting.

This is the story of one man's dream which turned into a reality.

David Macfarlane, after living in half a dozen places around Australia, worked in a variety of jobs after leaving school.

His first job was with a carnival, then brickie's labourer, fruit picking, fencing and working in a London pub.

After starting a building business he completed a degree in architecture but then moved to a Great Barrier Reef island in the Whitsundays, hoping to build his version of paradise.

Leaping into the unknown, at first everything and everyone conspired against his dream, including estate agents, local government, banks, competition from the big established resorts, world events (the Twin Towers tragedy), cyclones; the list goes on.

But Dave has never been one for taking the easy road; on the contrary he has embraced new challenges, and particularly this one, taking 14 years to build his dream of a sustainable eco-lodge from scratch.

His enthusiasm and love for Paradise Bay are palpable and it's what keeps him going against all the odds, and his desire to keep his island unspoiled.

His story is escapist fantasy spiced with stark reality. Read it and be inspired and entertained in equal measure.