What got you started going bush?

Hmmm, A couple of good mates thought it would be a great idea to spend a few nights one weekend camped at Cangai, on the Mann River. We had been given a tent earlier in the year as a present and thought, hey we'll be in that.
We had a ball camped by the river, It is beautiful country, The Ewingar, Billimbra & Washpool state Forrests
Now I have just finished reading a book called the 'Forgotten Country' It's about the gold fields of the upper Clarence, around Malara & Drake in the 1840's till the turn of last century.
It's only made me eager to get out amongst it more.
I've been bitten.

We came via another hobby - I was heavily into short range VHF amateur radio and we used to have competitions to see how far you could transmit.

You used to get 1 point for every km (maybe that was miles) per person you could talk to.

VHF/UHF radio is more or less line of sight so the further out of Melbourne and the higher the mountain the more points you would get.

So we began with a plan, largely achieved, to get a vehicle to the top of every Victorian mountain and set up a radio base on it.

Dragging cars and equipment to the top of mountains which had no tracks seriously sorted out the cars and equipment needed that would really get you there , and is probably why even today we shy away from soft options.

Long time no see GoneTroppo,
Newly married in 1966 we new of a wonderful camping spot on the East Coast of Tassie, packed the $25 tent and headed off, beautiful white sand, turquoise coloured water, had the place to ourselves and stayed for several days, go there now and there's vans and people everywhere.
Now that we are retired it's a lot easier to head for the Mainland for a couple of months each year, but it's still the same problem, vans and people everywhere.
Regards to Lynn.
Cheers
Baz

As a twenty-something in the mid 1950's I was employed at the Woomera Range where they generously handed me a vehicle to access the installations down-range. I revelled in the vast space that seemed to be available to me exclusively and began to discover the many interesting but not always obvious details within that space.

Now in retirement the love of the outback is still with me and available, but sadly I no longer get paid whilst exploring it!

I blame it on my Paternal Grandfather.
over 60 years ago I must have been moaning about having nothing to read so he gave me "Flynn of the Inland" by Ion Ioedress (spelling??) to read, so since then have had to go to some of the places mentioned.
In 1964 I was selected in a NZ Shearing and Woolhandling Team 3 of us stayed over and had a look further inland in a VW rental car. All that did was to intesify the itch
Rented vehicles, not a good choice, it is the Insc and restrictions that kills, so when I could afford to, bought my own.
Still places and things yet to see and do!.
Bother will have to go back again.

Watching Ask The Leyland Bros as a kid. There are some stories I remember which included the convict trail. Back then they drove on it. We went there last September and hiked it. Great ocean road. They drove to the edge we had to walk it Dec 09. All the while thinking gee they had it good thirty years ago, everything open. I suppose we need to thank population growth and idiots that wreck things for that.

G'day Gone Troppo,

For me a book given to me by my Dad way back last century (in the 60's when I left home) by Jeff Carter. Seemed then you could go just about anywhere in a old Pug or Holden sedan. I've been wandering in various vehicles / tents and now 4x4 and CT for the odd 40 years now and still cannot believe that Australia has so many secrets waiting to be discovered by me.

Cheers

#1 Leyland Bros film "Wheels across a Wilderness" in 1966
#2 Jeff Carter's "Book of the Great Australian Outdoors" in late 70's
#3 Jack Absalom's "Safe outback travel" early 1980's

Being born in Whyalla and before the age of Playstations, mobile phones, computers etc, our weekend fun as kids was to go out riding our bikes looking for lizzards in the bush around the back of Mount Laura.

As we got older, the lizzards made way for a sneaky cigarette out bush.

Older still we started to go bush bashing in old cars out between Whyalla and Iron Knob.

Then eventually it was B&S balls with the local ladies.

Now... it's wifey and I trying to get the kids away from their Playstations, mobile phones and computers to see what living is all about.

The circle of life.......................

Fab.

Hi GoneTroppo

It was when i was around one year old, and i discovered bush across the road from the little old cottage where we had moved to live with my grandfather while the new house was being built up on the hill. As the river ran through the bush, my parents panicked, but i was happy to spend my early childhood bush walking, looking for wildflowers, observing animals and insects, and climbing trees. I have never lived in a city and would hate it (apart from a few years at boarding school which was in a lovely location, but i still missed the farm and bush too much).

Camping at its best to us is getting out into the bush or desert scrub on our own, and seeing the wonderful geographical features in the outback and around this mighty land.

Motherhen

Hi GoneTroppo

For me it was only ten years ago (aged 50) when a friend invited the hubby and I to go on a paddling/bush camping overnighter starting at the Bendeela Pumping Station near kangaroo Valley and paddling our way down to Tallawa Dam.
I hadnt camped since my teens when I was one of the first girls in Australia to be awarded my Gold Duke of Edinburghs award, back in the 1960's, so it had been 30 plus years! I had never been in a canoe before and am not a swimmer so it was a pretty big adventure. I wasnt too keen on taking a shovel when it came to toileting either but thankfully very quickly overcame that hurdle!

I just loved it so much that on our return we bought a tiny tent and a couple of sleeping bags and at the next opportunity set out on a fortnights camping up north coast NSW. We had very little gear but it wasnt long before we started accumulating it and before long had graduated to a 5 man tent. It was much more comfortable as we could stand up to get dressed and had room to put our gear in under cover.

By now we also had traded the Holden commodore for an XTrail and it was rapidly filling with gear.
Most evenings when we started looking for a place to stay the clouds rolled in and it stormed so we thought...a camper would be great and before long we were the proud owners of a 10 yr old preloved very basic little Jayco Penguin. I was in heaven.....so much room, so many comforts!!!

We met up with my sister and her husband who were living in their van and had a much more luxurious set up but I was happy. We travelled throughout SA winetasting our way around the state and stopped at a number of van dealers 'just to look' and needless to say we traded the Penguin a few months later for a pop top (my husband's decision...I wanted a new Penguin) and a Pajero to tow it.

A couple of years later it was a full caravan with ensuite which is capable of taking us anywhere we want to go, and set up for comfortable unpowered camping which is our favourite sort. We also had to trade tow vehicles to legally pull it so it hasnt been a cheap 10 years but I wouldnt swap any of it.

The past couple of years has seen us away from home more often than we are there.

That first canoeing/camping weekend also started me walking my way to fitness and now most days we do around 6 to 7 kms just on our morning walk. We hiked the Overland track in Tassie around 7 years ago with friends and then a few weekends later the Castle in the Budawangs close to home which is rated difficult. (It was, and I dont think I will be returning!)

I love the serenity of camping where we are the only humans; the birds and animals, the wildflowers, and the landforms and views which require a vigorous walk to lookouts. It makes me feel at peace and restores me.

Regards,

Heather G

Well I can't remember not wanting to be out in the bush. At the age of 5yrs my parents brought the family across the Nullabor to WA and during the 50s & 60s we travelled backwards and forwards across there on a regular basis to visit family, as I grew older and with each Nullabor crossing I enjoyed it more. However, also adding to my desire to 'get out there', when I was about 7 or 8 yrs Dad & Mum became friends with a couple of Drovers who use to tell stories of their droving days up North of WA and the CSR, I use to listen to those stories and from those stories and the experiences of the Nullabor travels the love of the North and outback seemed to get into the veins. Fortunately my hubby also has been bitten by the outback bug and our first trip together was up to Onslow in a HR Holden sedan, we had no tent, slept in the car, had a 'tucker' box in the boot with a camping stove (which we still have), we hit a roo up near Kalbarri and put the fan through the radiator, a nice gentleman from Vic came along and towed us all the way back to Geraldton, we got it fixed and headed back up there, we made it to Onslow. The start of our travels together.
Nothing like getting out in the bush. I guess having grown up on the farm where I stayed until I was 21yrs is another aspect that can be thrown into the equation for me.

Cheers

D

I found this a bit of a strange question really. But I guess a lot of people don't live in the bush or relate to it, so have to go out looking 'on purpose'.

I grew up in a regional town and spent lots of time on my family's farm... school hols etc.

We then moved to the Housing Commission flats in Melb when I was 10. For the next 12 years I lived for my breaks on my Uncle's farm. Up to my waste in the sheep dip sump cleaning it out [yep dieldren, arsenic but my kids are ok], roustabouting whatever.

As soon as I had my own car I was out bush whenever I could get there. My 'townie' girlfriend was horse mad and as soon as we got married, we were off to the bush to live.

My sister moved to Derby WA..... there is a lot of out back between Gippsland and the Kimberley.

So... the answer to What got me started? Try to stop me!

Scouts. By far the best way to learn about going bush.
Cheers Craig.............

What single thing was the catalyst for getting me started?

Without doubt Mr Len Beadell, his books and his tracks.

I was born and bred a city boy. My first experience was in the 1950s at Stanweel Park near Wollongong. Most people used to have permanent tents erected with plywood half sides. These were the fore runners of onsite vans and we visited family camping down there. Dad hired a cabin for a couple of nights and we thought it was brilliant. Camping holidays to Foster when I was 12 where I caught my first fish. Unfortunately I was sick that night and could not eat it. Damm, still cheesed off about that!

When I think of the first time I went camping on my own so to speak I recall a couple of weekends spent with mates at a lagoon near Engadine in Sydney. We camped in a cave and used pine needles for a mattress and a couple of blankets. Sleeping bags were a bit exotic then.

Next it was shooting trips to Glen Davis on every weekend we could get away. Rough camping with a sheet of canvas and a sleeping bag and tinned food supplemented with the odd kitten rabbit of course. Then we found another place to go which was the Bridle track between Hill End and Bathurst. We used to camp by the Macquarrie River just inside Bruinbun. For a while I had one leg longer than the other from walking around those hills all day chasing rabbits. This was the 60s

Married in 67 and 2 more years spent in Sydney before moving to Glen Davis 69 to live and work. Lived in and around Glen Davis for 2 years before returning to Sydney in 71 as that was where the real work and money was. I was a plumber.

In early 72 we bought our first caravan.and spent the next 14 years in Sydney getting away as often as we could then in 86 bought a farm on the Mid North Coast. All the camping and shooting one could want right at the back door.

Brother used to say why don’t you go travelling and I would say “why, we live in a national park (our property is a bit like that) so where would I go for a holiday?

Well we rediscovered touring a couple of years ago and are back into it especially as we have just retired so we are looking to do more of it.

You cannot stand out in the middle of the plains country and not be awestruck by it!
This whole country is a big cathedral. You cannot help feeling the spirituality of the place. As everything we are or ever will be is due to the top 4 inches of soil in this country, it truly is our mother.

Cheers and best wishes to all.
Bruce.

PS. I only really discovered Len Beadell in 2008 after buying his complete set in Bendigo while on hols there.
I take my hat off to that bloke.

Both of us grew up on small farms where you get a sense of space and freedom. We have written about our early trips an a blog here.

Since having our Troopy we have travelled more widely and into some remote areas. For us "the bush" which includes uncrowded beaches, is the place to be, to think, and to dream. The ever changing landscapes, the plants and animals and rocks are all full of interest and enjoyment. As are the great folk that you might meet around a campfire.

I guess we are really lucky as we still live on a small "farm" with trees and space, but close to the facilities of a modern city.

Cheers,

Val

Gone Troppo,

Probably slowed my down my love for the bush but I remember the army cadets in about 1965 and at about 14 years of age with a backpack and carrying a 303 rifle being dumped at the bottom of a cliff in Kuringai NP at night and having to scale a cliff and set camp under a poncho with the rain pelting down.

Did a bit of camping with the kids from a 2WD when they were in their early teens and loved it.

More recently did the Plenty on the Bourke Outback Trek in 1997 in a Tarago which I just about destroyed which led me to purchase my first 4WD.

At that time fell in love with Outback Australia and have been travelling ever since.