After 70 years living in Australia, the self-educated Mudgee resident published a book - 'My Adventurous Journey Through Life' - full of his stories from love to career to wisdom that would one day be passed down generations.

With "no future" in Hungary under a communist reign, the then teenager moved to Austria to work on a farm, unknowingly stepping into a life that would one day jet him off to a new country 13,876 kilometres away.

"I left Hungary because of communism, I didn't like the communism because I couldn't see any future for myself there," Mr Csuba said.

"I went to Austria and fell in love with the farmer's daughter. I was 16 and never kissed and she was 21 just home from university. I eventually felt that euphoria of being in love for the first time. Then I found out she was engaged but I didn't find out til later.

"That was very painful so I went into town because I wanted to join the French Foreign Legion but I was too young. So I said 'that's it, I'm going to the end of the world'. I looked at the map and the furthest was Australia.

"I'm so glad I came here and not to America, I think they're all bloody crazy there."

The non-English speaking Hungarian landed in Fremantle, Western Australia in the early 1950s and took up a job mixing concrete, after deciding against joining the Army.

"In '53 I did non-commissioned officer courses and I finished as Lance Corporal. Three years before then I couldn't speak English. Out of 40 Australian's, I came third," he said.

"By this time, I was already the foreman at the dry cleaners at 18-years-old. I didn't know whether to take the Army on or not, I thought it might've been too much for me.

"With my adventurous attitude, I'd probably be six foot under Vietnam because I would've volunteered."

After five years in Western Australia, the now 89-year-old relocated to Sydney to continue his work as a production manager at dry cleaners, a job that would one day welcome him to Mudgee.

"One day I thought to myself 'why do I work for other people? why can't I work for myself?'. So, I watched the ads in the paper to see if there were any jobs for a dry cleaning manager. I saw one in Mudgee and I got in touch, he had the money to open one up so I came," Mr Csuba said.

"It was where the book shop is now. I was there for nine years."

Mr Csuba later returned to Sydney in the form of a taxi driver when a fateful passenger inspired him to return to Mudgee before the passing of his mother who was still living in Hungary at the time.

"One day I picked up a person at Mosman, his job was to buy meat and food for a pub. I decided I would go to the pub he worked for and see what they were doing. I thought 'I can do this' so I started the Wineglass Bar and Grill in Mudgee," he said.

"When I came back to Mudgee in 1974, I borrowed money to go back to Hungary because I had a feeling my mother wanted to talk to me. We didn't have phones or computers or television and I hated writing letters. When I went, three days later she died."

During his return to Hungary, Mr Csuba came to realise why he had a deep admiration for Mudgee; it felt like home.

"When I went back to Hungary, I realised why I loved Mudgee so much. It's almost identical to the village that I come from. It's not a village anymore of course but at that time, it was a wine-growing rural town like Mudgee with the same population," he said.

With a lifetime of stories and an adventurous persona, Mr Csuba put pen to paper, scribing his stories in a book with the help of Mudgee's Kevin Pye that was initially meant for his grandchildren.

But after some deliberations, the Mudgee Lions Club now sells copies of Mr Csuba's book for $30 with all funds raised to go back into the club.

"I wrote this for my grandkids as an inspiration that you can do anything if you're prepared to put your mind to it, and to never be afraid of hard work. But I wanted to give something back to the Mudgee Lions Club because they're a wonderful organisation," he said.

"Life is a series of natural spontaneous changes, don't resist them. Let reality be reality, let things flow. If you want something, you've got to go out and get it no matter how difficult."

For more information about Mr Csuba's book, contact the Mudgee Lions Club.

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