As an academic, a lover of history, with a strong interest in geography, I have extended my earlier research into the early colony, settlements in the Hunter Valley and resettlement beyond, in my first book 'A Patchwork Quilt.' Now, after researching and visiting the river valleys in northern NSW and Queensland, my next book "Border Pioneers' subtitled 'the Pastoralists, ' investigates the pioneer pastoral industry, on either side of the Border Ranges. From 1840s, inspired by Alan Cunningham's 1827 exploration of the Darling Downs and SE Queensland, an interested group of Upper Hunter men moved up the Tablelands and up the NSW coast, in search of farming land.