Gerry Virtue

Gerry Virtue lives with his wife, Pamela, in the Blue Mountains,

west of Sydney, a region of superb escarpments, mountain streams

and alpine bushland. Although born in New Zealand, he has

lived in Australia for many years. As a pharmacist he established

a pharmacy on the NSW South Coast, before changing occupations.

Later, with a business partner, he set up a Sydney-based outdoor

adventure company and operated tours and expeditions to the

Himalayas, where he led treks throughout Nepal and in the Karakoram

Mountains. In Australia his company pioneered commercial

hot-air ballooning, rafted the Franklin River in Tasmania, ran

camel safaris in Central Australia, ballooning safaris in Victoria

and cycle tours in China.

The company mounted an expedition to make the first successful

hot-air balloon flight over Mount Everest and produced a documentary

of the event. When he hung up his trekking boots he

began to write again, completing the two ‘Kathmandu’ novels and

two books on travel in the high Karakorams. He also resurrected

and published an early book, ‘Blazing the Hippie Trail’ in 1959.

In the Blue Mountains he is now content to gaze out across a

deep valley, framed by spectacular sandstone escarpments, to distant

hills and grasslands. Most days he finds the time to hike along

bush trails and enjoy the superb bird life.

His website is www.gerryvirtue.com