Cyril Ayris established a prize-winning reputation as a painstaking, hard-working journalist who guarded his sources and covered any story, big or small with the same meticulous detail. In his book, Chameleon, reporter at large, Ayris tells his life story with typical good humour; a boy growing up in England and his trek across the world with his family to settle in Australia. His story begins in tough post war England and the grim winter of 1947 which made the Ayris family decide to emigrate to Tasmania.