The Ways Of The Bushwalker

The first full length history of bush walking in Australia. Offers some marvellous pen portraits of the extraordinary characters that pioneered bushwalking in this country.

On Track tells the story of John Blay’s long-distance search for the Bundian Way, an important Aboriginal pathway between Mt Kosciuszko and Twofold Bay near Eden on the New South Wales far south coast. The 360-kilometre route traverses some of the nation’s most remarkable landscapes, from the highest place on the continent to the ocean. This epic bushwalking story uncovers the history, country and rediscovery of this significant track. Now heritage-listed, and thanks to the work of Blay and local Indigenous communities, the Bundian Way is set to be one of the great Australian walks.

This third edition is a complete revision and rewrite of most of the popular bushwalks in the Budawangs area. Over 40 bushwalks are described with sketch maps and precise map references to aid the adventurous bushwalker. Full colour illustrations show the mountains and their unique formations as they are found, together with a sprinkling of the outdoor people who inhabit them for recreation. With the creeks, cliffs, waterfalls and perfect camping spots that outdoor people love so well, this book will unlock many of the hidden places in the Budawangs that we would all like to visit.

The first European chroniclers of Indigenous Culture in Australia looked for the sensational, often neglecting its more significant features. In his fourth book on Queensland’s early history, J. G. Steele corrects this imbalance with a detailed account of the Indigenous people of the subtropical coast at the time of their earliest contact with white settlers. The region described is centred on Brisbane, extending along the coast to Fraser Island, to Evens Head in New South Wales, and inland to the Great Dividing Range. Drawing on early accounts, photographs, place-names, languages, legends, archeology, and museum collections, Aboriginal Pathways provides a wealth of fascinating and important material, much of it relevant to debates on Indigenous land rights and sacred sites of the 1980s.

A straight-talking, modern approach to map reading and compass navigation, along with clear explanations of how to really navigate in the Aussie bush through deep awareness and observations of the world around. 103 pages of photographs, diagrams, stories and how-to's, told from the perspective of a passionate bushwalker, involved in search and rescue.