Table of contents for Issue 151, Jan-Feb 2016 in Wild

“They are a doomed race, and before many years they will be completely wiped out of the land.” - HAROLD FINCH-HATTON (1885) The history of Australia as it is taught in schools is generally considered a highly sanitised version of the events that ultimately culminated in the cultural milieu that forms our nation today. It is also very biased towards the tale of European arrival and subsequent settlement, from the perspective of those same Europeans – a narrative that conveniently glosses over the treatment of Australia’s original inhabitants. Many of us graduate into adult life either rejecting the atrocities enacted by white settlers against Aboriginal people or slowly becoming aware of them, but still unsure of how that information should impact our day-to-day existence. The fact that people had lived…

There is no shortage of shiny trinkets that climbers can hang off our harnesses. You can literally spend hundreds, or even thousands (for those with a professional income) of dollars on gear designed to keep you safe when scaling whichever route has made it onto the latest tick list. Despite all of this expensive gear and highly engineered modern equipment, the one item that you will notice is always carried by professional instructors and guides – as well as many serious climbers – is the humble Prusik. This unassuming loop of cord that can be created for just a few dollars and is barely visible amongst the spring-loaded camming devices (or SLCDs), spectra slings, and latest karabiners that are racked on the lead climber’s harness. The Prusik is still the…

GONE FOR SHORE: A SEA KAYAKING GUIDE TO NORTHERN QUEENSLAND – GUEST BOOK REVIEW BY LEXIE WEBSTER by Tim Trehearn (Self published, $24.95) Author Tim Trehearn and his wife fi rst developed their passion for sea kayaking in 1984 while working for Outward Bound in Scotland. When they returned to Australia, they became pioneers of the sport in North Queensland. The in-depth knowledge of the region Trehearn has developed since then is evident in this well-considered and logically presented guidebook, making a valuable purchase for anyone planning a kayaking trip up north. The fi rst part of the book, which is broken into three sections, addresses matters specifi c to North Queensland, such as advice on how to identify the various jellyfi sh and treat their stings (think box jellyfi…

Issue 150, Nov-Dec 2015 LETTER OF THE ISSUE Jeremy wins a Therm-a-Rest TREO valued at $179.95. This camp chair has a realistic seat height and width so that it’s no hassle to get in or out of, while still packing away into its own tripod base. WILD IN REVIEW The arrival of Wild 150 led me to carefully extract from my bookshelf the ‘First New Issue’ of Australian Wild, which I enthusiastically purchased in 1981 for the grand sum of $1.95. It remains in excellent condition and even contains the small subscription insert that I never got around to completing; I also uncovered the second issue, after which there is a gap in my collection, coinciding with my absence overseas. Reading ‘The Mountain Designs Story’ (Issue 1) again, brought back…

Intermittent explosions punctuated my family’s visit to Mulu World Heritage Area in Sarawak, Malaysian Borneo. Although the rangers suggested these shotgun-like bangs were actually fire-works, their explanations lacked conviction. The empty shotgun cartridge I found in a remote part of the park suggested an alternative explanation for both the disconcerting explosions and the general paucity of large mammals. There are no Orangutan in Mulu, and like almost all of Borneo, rhinoceros have been hunted to extinction. The only non-human primates we encountered in Mulu were two red leaf monkeys, which instantly fled upon seeing us, and two groups of gibbons, heard in the distance during our trek to the Mulu summit. Our guide explained that poachers and local tribes continued to hunt in areas zoned exclusively for conservation. Hunting in…

When Acting Lieutenant Fletcher Christian led the mutiny on The Bounty in 1787, he opted to set Captain William Bligh and 18 others adrift in a lifeboat rather than shoot them. Bligh managed a stunning 6,000 kilometres trip west to Timor. He was subsequently made Governor of New South Wales, but in Sydney Town his abrasive style led to another mutiny: the Rum Rebellion of 1794. After 16 crewmembers decamped in Tahiti, Christian and his Tahitian girlfriend Mauatua, with eight other mutineers and 18 more Tahitians, sailed east and secreted themselves on the remote but forested volcanic outcrop of Pitcairn Island. The mutineers, to help avoid discovery and inevitable hanging, burned The Bounty. After 19 years the Pitcairn colony was found by a passing American ship, but by then all…

Bleached shells, animal bones and stone fragments lay scattered among a windswept coastline. A dynamic, stunning natural landscape whispered the silent wisdom of invisible footprints held by the tide of time. I had to connect in person to the spirit calling of the Tarkiner Tribe, the traditional owners of the Tarkine Coast for at least 4000 years. From the northwest corner of Tasmania down the west coast to Sandy Cape, I harnessed the wind and the waves to journey by kayak, and explore by foot sandy beaches and sculptured rocky headlands. It was the art of humble beachcombing with empty hands and heartfelt appreciation. I journeyed beside my younger brother Charles, who also paddled a Roscoe Artic Raider expedition sea kayak. The sandy-desert landscape of Robbins Passage vanished as a…

It is a perfect place to rest after meandering all day along brooding billabongs. I sit, leaning against a majestic old river red gum on the banks of the Murray River. I look up into the spreading branches of the tree to watch a screeching sulphur-crested cockatoo and inhale that eucalypt scent so typical of the Australian bush. I contemplate how many different people and generations might have sat under this tree, for it is well over 200 years old. I think about the varied landscapes of this country and, above all, I think about the plants that both define them and are defined by them. Eucalypts are perhaps our most recognisable, distinctive and common of Australian trees, dominating an impressive 75 per cent of our native forests. Who can…

The way indigenous people of northern Australia go about harvesting and preparing their bush tucker. For instance, when hunting mud crabs a fire is made in the shade of a tree, then with a stick in hand for defence from the formidable claws, a foray is made through ankle deep mud. After an hour or so a cloth bag full of crabs is returned to the fire, which has receded to a bed of coals ready for cooking. Turtle are found by wandering the floodplains with a knowledgeable eye while probing the soft earth with a stick. When a ‘clunk’ is heard, only a little digging is required – and there is dinner. File snake are sought with bare feet or hands in the shallows of the wetlands and then…

I’ve done it again. Another wrong turn, another day-dreamy mistake has me atop of a granite bluff with no way down to the shore. It’s my third attempt in as many weeks to reach this cryptic corner of Kangaroo Island. The access is wooded and tricky. But my erring is also about being alone and adrift out here. I’m wayward with place, dizzy with the figment called discovery. To try to break the impasse I sidle west along a dusty gully of sheoaks. The surface of fallen branchlets underfoot is soft yet annoyingly loose. Small, bare-domed granite boulders bulge out of this drab mat of needles. Not many signs of life. These sheoak woods so often feel forsaken. The breeze skims through the canopy above with a husky whisper. Inside…

I’m Joe Bonington, owner of Joe’s Basecamp Gym on Sydney’s Northern Beaches – a centre that specialises in training people for adventure sports. My background is that of a strength and conditioning coach, an outdoorsman and a trek leader, having led treks in various parts of Nepal and Bhutan. My intention for this column is to provide a series of articles that deal with the best ways to train and prepare for a variety of adventures, regardless of your prior training, current fitness or age. Allow me to begin, however, by explaining a little more about who I am. For the 16 years that I’ve been a strength and fitness coach, I’ve spent at least as much time in the gym as I have ‘out there’ in the wilderness. Unlike…

1 Skyline 10L pack $179.95 The latest CamelBak pack (also available in a ladies’ specifi c model), is designed to have a low center of gravity and thereby lends itself towards mountainbiking, but will suit as a daypack for some hikers. camelbak.com 2 Helium 300 Sleeping Bag $499.95 Designed for the lightweight walker in mind, the Helium 300 is the lightest of 3 weights available in the range. Constructed with an ultralight shell and 800+ loft down, this bag weighs just 700g. mont.com.au 3 Storm and Stow Jacket $300 Emergency weather protection on long runs, this seam-sealed, fully waterproof jacket is designed for minimum weight and maximum protection against the elements. thenorthface.com.au 4 Base Camp Citer $200 Modeled on The North Face’s Cinder climbing pack, this one has been designed…