The Real Dare Diaries
Join Max and Zara as they take on the best cities in the world — one dare at a time.
Sydney Dares
Gold Coast Dares
Melbourne Dares
These aren't made-up adventures. Every dare is real, every location is iconic, and every city has secrets worth discovering.
Read along from anywhere in the world, or dare yourself to do it for real. Pick your dares. Create your ultimate day.
Complete them all and earn your LEGEND status.
Every dare is real. Every location is iconic.
And you choose what happens next. — Max
Each book has 16 real dares across four categories — Wildlife Dares, Thrill Dares, Explore Dares and Discovery Dares. Choose one dare from each category.
Hold a rope while a Tasmanian devil grabs the other end. Come face to face with sharks. Uncover hidden histories. Stand somewhere so incredible you'll remember it forever.
Whether you're reading from the other side of the world or actually standing in the city daring yourself to do it for real — they're along for the ride.
Tick off every dare and finish with the Double Dare Day Trip. Then claim your official LEGEND certificate. 512 possible adventures. Which one is yours?
Every dare is laid out like a diary — hand-written notes in the margins, Max's stealth facts tucked into torn notepad sidebars, Zara's Polaroids taped to the page, and illustrations woven right into the story. It reads like someone actually lived it. Because they did.
↑ Scroll to see more. Click to expand. These spreads are from Sydney Dares — Dare #16: Gary.
Sydney Dares — Book 1
Gold Coast Dares — Book 2
Melbourne Dares — Book 3
The Real Dare Diaries is heading global. After Australia, Max and Zara are taking on the world's greatest cities — one dare at a time.
The city that invented adventure. Red buses, hidden histories, and dares you won't see coming.
The city that never sleeps, dared one iconic moment at a time.
The most extraordinary city on earth. Max has already started the research. It is extensive.
The list is growing. Sign up to be first to know when new cities drop.
Your city. Your dares. Your story.
The companion journal for recording your own adventures — whether you're following the books or making up entirely new dares. Illustrated, prompted, and designed for kids who want to do the thing and remember it forever.
Has a notebook. It has tabs. Colour-coded tabs.
More tabs than any notebook has any right to have.
Has read every safety card at every attraction
and is still not entirely prepared for what happens next.
Also, quietly, the bravest person you will ever meet.
Approximately four thousand photos on her camera roll.
A plan that was never really a plan.
An unshakeable belief that everything is going
to be absolutely fine. She is usually right.
The chaos is part of the plan. Probably.
research. obviously. — Anne
Anne McWilliam is an Australian author, traveller, and adventure enthusiast who once decided the best way to help kids experience the world was to turn it into a dare.
Inspired by a belief that adventure builds confidence, Anne created The Real Dare Diaries to help children discover extraordinary places through story, curiosity, and real-world experiences — whether they're locals, tourists, or reading about these destinations from the other side of the world.
She has travelled to more than 30 countries and has never met a city she didn't want to turn into an adventure. The dares in her books are inspired by places she has explored and adventures she has shared with her daughter.
Sydney Dares is the first book in The Real Dare Diaries series. There are many more adventures waiting.
Published by Best Day Ever Studios Pty Ltd (ACN 688 344 078).
Choose one dare from each category and you've built your ultimate read. Here's what a Sydney Dares adventure might look like.
Hold the rope while a Tasmanian devil grabs the other end. It is exactly as intense as it sounds. Max has read the safety briefing four times.
Morning. Wildlife encounter.
Ride the rollercoaster at Luna Park with the harbour right there. Zara has her arms up. She always has her arms up.
Late morning. Milsons Point.
Go behind the sails. See what most people never see. Max has a list of facts. It is extensive. The building is even more extraordinary from the inside.
Afternoon. Circular Quay.
Get in the water at Bondi Beach and actually catch a wave. Zara is already running. Max is reading the conditions report.
Late afternoon. Bondi Beach.
Max documents everything. Zara photographs everything. Between them, nothing is left undared.
thirty minutes. Sydney's greatest hits. — Max
He's looking at us. He's actually looking at us. — Max
This was not in the research.
Measuring it. For science. — Max
She's already posted this. — Max
Dare 3: No Hands. Never Hands.
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Tourism stores, gift shops, airport retailers, and bookshops.
For stockist enquiries — hello@therealdarediaries.com.au