The Green Genius - saving our planet

The Bundian Way: a discussion with bushman and author John Blay

November 08, 2021 Charles Hunter Season 2 Episode 4
The Green Genius - saving our planet
The Bundian Way: a discussion with bushman and author John Blay
Show Notes

John Blay has been described as a humble Australian bushman but what exactly is an Australian bushman?

The word can conjure many things such as hardiness and doggedness. 

Ned Kelly was described as a fine bushman. Malcom Douglas also springs to mind, the crocodile hunter and film maker. So does the name Robyn Davidson, an author and bush woman who famously trekked the deserts of Western Australia with camels and what about ‘The Bush Tucker Man’ Les Hiddins who inspired my own adventures in Cape York.

Born in Parramatta in 1944, the bushman that we are speaking with today is also a naturalist, a philosopher, a playwright, a poet and a critically acclaimed author of numerous books including Trek Through Back Country; On Track: Searching out the Bundian Way; and Wild Nature: walking Australia’s south east forests.

John’s writing has been described as bringing together human and physical landscape with historical influences. 

In 1981 his journey as a bushman truly began when he spent 12 months in the Deua and Wadbilliga National Parks with a sometimes stubborn mule called Zac and since then has never stopped exploring Australia’s Southern Forests. 

Working closely with the local Aboriginal people, John re-discovered The Bundian Way, an ancient Aboriginal pathway from the sea at Twofold Bay to Mount Kosciuszko, a pathway that is many thousands of years old.

Amongst many accolades John has also discovered a new species of acacia that is aptly called Blay’s Wattle. 

Join us for this enchanting discussion that was recorded at John’s home in Eden NSW overlooking Twofold Bay and hear about John’s fascinating stories of solitude, discovery, indigenous heritage and the wild horses of Kosciuszko National Park.