 |
 MESH VENTED KHAKI TAN Bucket Golf Safari Bush Fishing Wide Brim Aussie Outback $8.50 Time Remaining: 29d 20h 36m Buy It Now for only: $8.50 |
 NEW BUSH OUTBACK FISHING SAFARI FOREIGN LEGION BOAT HUNT SUN FLAP HAT WELL MADE $4.99 Time Remaining: 2d 18h 31m |
 Mesh Vented Red Bucket Golf Safari Bush Fishing Wide Aussie Outback Party Hat $7.50 Time Remaining: 28d 13h 5m Buy It Now for only: $7.50 |
 Adult Khaki Cotton Australian BUSH HAT outback aussie outdoors chin cord 59cm L $15.99 Time Remaining: 15d 3h 18m Buy It Now for only: $15.99 |
 Adult Khaki Cotton Australian BUSH HAT outback aussie outdoors chin cord 58cm M $15.99 Time Remaining: 15d 3h 2m Buy It Now for only: $15.99 |
 Outback Bush Hat by OLNEY 100 Wool Felt $3.47 (2 Bids) Time Remaining: 4d 14h 8m |
 BROWN BIG BRIM OUTBACK HAT XXL SOAKER BUSH MESH CROWN BREEZER HIKING FISHING $29.99 Time Remaining: 6d 4h 8m Buy It Now for only: $29.99 |
 WHITE AUSSIE OUTBACK SOAKER HAT NEW BUSH MESH CROWN CRUSHABLE BREEZER $26.99 Time Remaining: 3d 6m Buy It Now for only: $26.99 |
 NWT OUTBACK SOAKER BIG BRIM HAT CRUSHABLE BUSH COOL MESH CROWN BREEZER L XL $26.99 Time Remaining: 3d 5m Buy It Now for only: $26.99 |
 Mesh Vented Military Bucket Golf Safari Bush Fishing Aussie Outback NEW HAT $0.99 Time Remaining: 6d 18h 41m |
 NEW Kangaroo Australian Croc Leather Outback Bush Hat M $41.55 Time Remaining: 4d 8h 55m Buy It Now for only: $41.55 |
 Adult Khaki Cotton Australian BUSH HAT outback aussie outdoors chin cord 57cm S $15.99 Time Remaining: 15d 3h 1m Buy It Now for only: $15.99 |
 Aussie Australia Outback Bush Western Size M Medium Cap Hat NWOT USA $15.96 Time Remaining: 7d 22h 10m Buy It Now for only: $15.96 |
 HAIWAII WESTERN BUSH SAFARI AUSSIE OUTBACK SUN HAT L XL $8.95 Time Remaining: 6d 21h 31m Buy It Now for only: $9.95 |
 BLUE HAWAII WESTERN BUSH SAFARI AUSSIE OUTBACK SUN HAT $9.45 Time Remaining: 3d 18h 45m Buy It Now for only: $9.45 |
 VINTAGE AUSTRALIAN LEATHER OUTBACK HAT BROWN MEDIUM BOONIE BUSH $65.99 Time Remaining: 18d 2h 7m Buy It Now for only: $65.99 |
 HAIWAII WESTERN BUSH SAFARI AUSSIE OUTBACK SUN HAT S M $16.06 Time Remaining: 3d 3h 29m Buy It Now for only: $16.06 |
 Authentic vintage MINNETONKA heavy brown suede western outback bush hat $8.27 (5 Bids) Time Remaining: 4d 10h 49m |
 HAIWAII WESTERN BUSH SAFARI AUSSIE OUTBACK SUN HAT L XL $16.06 Time Remaining: 2d 2h 8m Buy It Now for only: $16.06 |
 NEW Kangaroo Australian Leather Outback Bush Hat XL 60 $41.55 Time Remaining: 27d 14h 5m Buy It Now for only: $41.55 |
 NEW Kangaroo Australian Croc Hunter Outback Bush Hat L $41.24 Time Remaining: 6d 18h 14m Buy It Now for only: $41.24 |
Touring in Australia ... bushmen and other outback characters
If you visit the Australian outback, you will encounter people with a highly individual attitude towards life. They are definitely not the sort of people you meet in leafy suburbia and their bush upbringing has a lot to do with it. Characters like Mick Dundee in Crocodile Dundee really do exist.
In another story, I talked about by friend Luke who used to go out catching bulls with his ten-year-old son, Angus (not their real names). The kid drove a jeep with blocks on the pedals so that his short legs could reach them. As you can probably imagine, Angus didn't grow into the sort of adult who wears a business suit and sits behind a desk. Angus grew into the tough, leathery sort of bushman that I describe in my novels. Some people accuse me of exaggerating. Let me assure you I do not.
In so far as Angus received an early childhood education, he got it from the School of the Air and private tuition from his mother. His younger brothers were scholastically inclined. Angus was not. So, when his maternal grandfather put up money for him to attend an expensive boarding school, Angus was not enthusiastic.
It was the prestigious sort of school that his mother had attended in England. She came from an upper-crust family and had taken off for Australia as a pioneer backpacker. Her parents were impressed when she told them that she had met a yachtsman called Luke who owned a colossal grazing property in the Gulf of Carpentaria.
She recalls their shocked expressions when they met her future husband. With his sun-beaten features Luke looked more like a labourer than a gentleman and he spoke with a heavy Australian accent they could hardly understand. In short, Luke wasn't the sort of chap they wanted as a son-in-law.
Grandfather was keen to claim Angus for the upper classes and the young fellow, now twelve, arrived at his new school suitably attired. Things went badly from the start. Angus regarded his new mates as toffy nosed. At least, that was the expression his mother used when describing her son's disdain for his peers. I suspect Angus used stronger language.
He was particularly miffed because the toffy-nosed kids wouldn't believe the stories he told about life back on the farm. They accused him of lying. Fists flew and the staff had to intervene. Angus didn't fight by the rules and invariably won.
He lasted a few years in his new environment before returning to the bush. By then he'd got all he wanted from school. His marks in English literature were abysmal but he excelled in a certain sort of mathematics. Put a dollar sign in front of the numbers and Angus would talk about interest rates, inflation, leverage, earnings and the other financial tools needed to run a business.
He's now in his early forties but looks older. The dry air and harsh rays of the tropical sun have aged his skin. His cattle ranch is near Luke's and he runs it in conjunction with a tourist venture that he set up for fishermen visiting the region to catch barramundi.
For more: http://shadymike.wordpress.com
About the Author
I either started off on the wrong foot or I'm the legendry rolling stone. Normally, a degree in astrophysics does not lead to a stint in Parliament House, public relations, backpacker resorts and the diving industry. But that's what happened to me. I'm now retired in the sense that I no longer need to work for a living and that gives me a lot of time for travelling and writing.
My web pages:
http://shadymike.wordpress.com
http://mikestales.wordpress.com
01/23/08 S&P, Emini and Futures Recommendations - Outback Bush