I don't know the author you have in mind but here are two that wrote about Australia.
Robert Hughes wrote "The Fatal Shore" a bestseller which is a history of the people who were sent to Australia when it was a penal colony. They had a special on Public Broadcasting in the US that he hosted Beyond The Fatal Shore which put some insight into Australians and there customs.
and
Bill Bryson who wrote "In a Sunburned Country". This one I read on the plane ride over to Australia. It was a humorous account of the experiences of one American in Australia. He exagerates the dangers of course but it was very funny watching a bumbling American experience the poisonous snakes, great white sharks, the outback and other perils of Australia.
Joan
