Ever since I was a young child, bushwalking has been a part of my life. Whether it was a local walk close to home or a more adventures one in the school holidays, I’ve always associated it with learning, relaxing and of course the achievement of climbing a mountain, finding an out of reach location or just simply peace and quiet.
The ways of the bush walker by Melissa Harper has truly opened my eyes up to where and when bush walking started and the many reasons why so many Australians have taken up this pastime.
The term bushwalking was only coined in the 1920s when people started to have a little more time for leisure and were keen to see the surviving bush land of the Australian east coast. Trouble began when Sunday was seen as the day to go bushwalking and this caused many issues in a society which held the Sunday in high regard as a restful day!
Adventures were had by men & women of all ages and this began an ongoing love of nature by Australian society. I love bushwalking and now am so much more grateful for the bushwalking pioneers of Australia. If it wasn’t for this movement many more reaches of bush land would have been destroyed but with bushwalking came awareness and the knowledge of how important nature is not only to humans for peace and connection but also for the natural world and the flora and fauna within!
An excellent summer read to inspire!
