City kids and the bush

Unfortunately .... Yes to all of the above.

Yep, agree with Shaker - all of the above.

Never happier as a kid than when out in the "bush", such as it was, and raiding the local orchards etc. Definitely know how foxes feel when chased by someone with a shottie hahahahahahaha ouch

I grew up just outside town on 5 acres (lifestyle block), complete with fruit trees, a a horse and milking goats (laugh about the goats if you will :-)

used to make shanghai's (gings), bows and arrows, spears. Used the air rifle from early primary school age to keep the parrots out of the orchard.

Old peppermint tree was the fav cubby house...and i'd sit up there for hours by myself playing, and shooting at birds with the shangai.

Bike riding and exploring with friends.

Bushwalks, beachwalks, fishing and daytrips were the weekend family mainstay.
No-one in my family had a 4x4 tho until I bought one at 17 (am now 26).

Sadly, these days 'most' city kids have less and less in common with their country counterparts.

Rev

Yes they're all indoors "playing" games on the computer. My grandson reckons going out in our little boat fishing is boring.
Don't know how he'd survive the way we did having to make our own fun with our bikes, bows and arrows, catapults and later air rifles and shot guns. I loved getting out in the woods in the UK and my dad showed me where the pheasents and other birds were nesting.
I got caught poaching once but bluffed it out and walked off from the gamekeeper and then ran like hell and he had no chance. He was like I am now....... getting too old and ugly and can't run anymore!
Thank goodness I had the chance to get out and about, no way could I have stayed indoors.
Kids don't even seem to get out for sports at school these days either, Mum writes a letter saying they can't do it for whatever reason.
Hopeless and must effect them later in life.
Alan.

I dont let my kids go to the local park or reserve because the play equipment is covered in spit, snot and is usually broken and the grass has too much broken glass in it.( Alice Springs)
Although the parks are out of the equation doesnt mean they play video games all day, they are usually helping in the garden, helping fix the car, chopping wood, tieing knots or doing something constructive.
As often as time permits we head out bush and and the kids have a ball as long as they are covered in dirt. They usually have there own fire and cook there own meals. Given a choice between going bush or going to the show they pick bush every time.
Cheers

I don't live in the bush or even near it... I do live near 2 parks and quite frankly, my childrens play time will be reserved for when we go away. Everytime we go to the park, I have to go 30mins before them to pick up syringes and broken glass... I'm just sick of doing the councils job for them. We, as a community, have requested a light in the park to deter kids during the night, request fell on deaf ears even though it was accompanied by pictures of syringes and broken bottles... They mow it once every 6 weeks or so and that's it. This doesn't mean they sit inside and and play computer games, they are just confined to our yard is all...

Its the way life is today Mike. Monday the kids do swimming Tuesday Dean has soccer training , Wednesday Natalie has Gym , Thursday Dean has Karate Natalie does Dancing , Friday Dean does chess club. Saturday Dean does Karate Natalie does dancing , Sunday is Soccer Match . In between they have to do homework.

Is this to much ? In my eyes , way to much , if I don't take them , there upset because they love there sports / activities .

If you didn't do well at school in our days, we ended up with a trade etc. Today its a different ball game. I wish my kids could grow up the way we did , bu we didn't have to make sure marks were above standard , had to know how to use computers etc etc etc .

This is why I bought a 4by and use it with the kids as often as possible.

The answer is obvious Mike. There is a great shortage of childhood coaches, you know, the equivalent of the adults life style coach.------------O.K, O.K I' taking the bleep , but you have to wonder about the state days society when we DON'T see kids running wild as my friends and I did.

Ian

We also back onto council reserve, walk the dogs out there regularly, where they love to chase the kangaroos. The kids come with me, and my eldest (9) has occasionally walked the dogs on a leash out there, but he stays close to the houses. When I was their age we would have been out there all day, catching tadpoles in the creek etc etc. Dunno. I encourage independance in my kids but also need to know where they are at all times. The occasions my eldest has ridden his bike alone, or walked the dogs, he takes his mobile with him so he can check in. Gone are the days when mum stood at the front door and yelled your name for dinner. I guess we are less of a community now, less mums at home, less people watching out for you. Nobody keeps an eye on my kids except me. When we were kids, all the neighbourhood mums would be watching out for you.

I've come across a few dairy farm kids locally that are that way, even though they live on a farm! Most however are right into the outdoors, but this IS the bush.

Apparently urban foxes live under houses and right in the central parts of capital cities. They are just about as adaptable as the cats and rats.

Mike, I must thank you for taking me back to my own childhood when there was nothing we couldn't do with a bit of rope, a tomahawk & a daisy airgun.
get home from school & didnt see mum & dad till tea time & on weekends gone on my pushy before they got up & home at dark with my old red dog
it was the biggest shock of my life when I got to highschool & had to wear bloody shoes.
kids today miss out big time....

If a boy appeared within sight of habitation on a bike with a ging or a Daisy air rifle the local "30 something" year old women would panic to the phones and shortly thereafter a bus load of riot police would appear.

Australia has changed - the sad fact is that the education system has been feminised, the 'PC' police have declared all that is boyish about boys to be dangerous and dirty and we have all been party to it.

People say it is the kids who sit in front of the computer but in truth it is so often the fathers who are hooked to the Net and filling in their time. Most have no time for their boys (or girls).

As a parent I was chairman of two scouting groups over recent years and I can tell you that there are many boys and girls who want outdoor adventure (basic camping, canoeing, hiking and good campfires) and are keen to go bush but many (not some!) parents would not even bother to give their kid a lift to scouts let alone take the child bush themselves.

Probably the men and women who frequent this site get out and about, but Australians are mainly city folk who are afraid of the bush and are wedded to the TV, the internet and cafe latte.

We have 5 acres of mainly bush, with a dam, a creek, a little waterfall (under the roots of a big old gum) and our 2 kids (now 8 and 11) love disappearing down the back and making up their own adventures, finding secret places etc. We travelled around Aust. when the kids were 4 and 7, and we can honestly say that they were never bored with anything we did or anywhere we went. They're the sorts of kids that have more fun playing with the box the new fridge came in for months than playing an Xbox or whatever. We don't have and never will have a DVD in the car; what else are the rear windows for? Our kids have travelled since thay were born and have been taught to appreciate the things in life that matter, and they can make their own entertainment out of nothing, just like we did as kids.

When I was a kid, I lived on the edge of suburbia with a big patch of bush, with rainforest, old mines, ruins etc to explore and we had to make our own entertainment as well. I have a theory that these days, it's too easy to be entertained by electronic gadgets and there isn't the inventiveness that we had to develop as kids. That's why I refuse to have a DVD in the car. Trouble is, when we're busy it's just too convenient to stick them in front of the puter, TV or XBox and get some peace and quiet. But then again, the population is largely urban these days and kids just don't have the access to the bush like we did. I spose thats a part of the lifestyle that we've chosen by living away from the big smoke, and I hope the kids will appreciate it in years to come....

Andrew

Wow, great post Mike and some very interesting replies.Times certainly have changed and not knowing where your kids are while there are so many freaks out there is a real worry. I grew up in Sydney but was always outdoors at the beach, in the park or camping with the family.
I am glad that Jen and I moved to the Nth Coast before the kids came along; smaller communities still retain more of a community feel than the big smoke. Although only renting, we are fortunate enough to live on 200 acres of bush with great views, rainforest, river, causeway and bridge, and loads of wildlife. I spend loads of time playing with Cooper (4yo) doing stuff like throwing twigs into the river then trying to bomb them with rocks and he loves it. He loves bushwalking and alot of it is making our own tracks although I sometimes forget he's only 4 and have to carry him half the way home! I'm pretty happy to have a young boy that can identify half the birds he sees and so far doesn't know what McDonalds is.

Hi Mike,

It does seem the way of the world now, doesn’t make it right though, I grew up in suburbia but we still managed to get into mischief somewhere, we’d leave the house in the morning and be back for lunch and then go off again. There was vacant land at the end of the street and we’d go down there, one boy lost his clothes and we had to go back and find them [we were all about 8 at the time and it was the age of innocence..haha…and a long time ago, imagine if that happened today! .] we used to go tadpoleing in the Merri Creek, do kids still do that? Probably not enough frogs around. My kids luckily live on a couple of acres, and get up to mischief with the dog, making mud pies and the like, even on these cold days, my son has wanted to rug up and go out and run around for a bit with LJ excitedly telling me about the wood ducks that had landed down the back, but as I said, they’re lucky to live on acreage and in a small quiet town, not sure how I’d feel about them disappearing if I lived in suburbia now. It’s sad really.

Cheers

Lyn

ahhh those were the days!!!

Mike,

Can but echo your sentiments, and those others above.

What do you see the next generation doing? Maybe, just maybe we will go the full circle and the children of tomorrow will again be able to enjoy, what I would term, the simpler things in life.

Reading your post, and the others, one memory of years ago stood out and that was getting a clip under the ear from our local Mr Plod. I was committing the deadly sin of giving a mate a lift on the crossbar of my bike, and Mr Plod snuck up behing me on his deadly treadly.......lol

Didn't tell mum either 'cos I would have got another one.

Those indeed were good times. (not the thick ear tho')

Regards
Michael B (SA)

Mike, I compeletly agree with you. Being mid (now late) 20's myself, I have fond memories of spending days in the backyard with the sprinkler and when weather didn't permit coming up with all kinds of games with friends (one of our favourites was covering the billard table with every sheet we could find to make a cubby house). We did not live on a large block (although by today's standards it was huge) and we made the best fun. Our parents used to let the grass grow longish then mow a bike track into it. We used to put our 3man tents up in the backyard over summer holidays and at the end they were taken down to reveal a nice little square yello/brown patch of grass. And the camping trips - they were the best. The opportunity to run around dirty ALL the time with mum happy to know she could just wash us off at the end of the day and send us to bed in time for her to relax near the fire.
I see friends' kids now and have the same sentiments as you. With one exception, we now live on 3 acres mostly bush and the neighbours have 3 kids from 13yrs down. I recently saw them out running all day playing games with the walkietalkies we got them for Christmas and they were having a ball. It made me very sentimental. I thought for a moment, Geez they don't know how lucky they are - but you know what, they shouldn't have to know. That is one of the great joys I think; to look back with those fond memories. Yes the kids next door are very lucky and I only wish more kids that age now could grow up with the memories of a care free childhood spent doing stuff that will make them healthy adults!
Now we are happy to invite as many friends along camping with us as will come and enjoy the sounds of their kids doing stuff their friends at school will never believe.