Dear Reader,

DOCTORS IN THE OUTBACK, this series of four books set in the Australian Outback, of which Outback Encounter is the third, was prompted by a big change in my own life. My husband and I shifted from a house on the very edge of Australia, overlooking a broad stretch of water that feeds in from the Pacific Ocean, to a small cottage in a small Outback town (population about 2,500) in Central Queensland. From the beach to the bush—that’s an Aussie word for anywhere that isn’t in a city.

After the rush and bustle of the tourist-oriented city where we lived before, the relaxed pace of the Outback really suits us. Where before we had Jet Skis roaring past as we ate breakfast on the front deck, now we have a large and very quiet kangaroo occasionally popping in to feed on our well-watered back lawn, and the most dominant noise is birdsong.

I am really enjoying my new life in the Outback, and I hope these books will bring you a taste of it—a taste of the variety of life in the bush, the highs and lows, the tears and laughter and, of course, the love those that live out here seek and find.

With best wishes,

Meredith Webber