Eight days in town, Eight days out Bush

When I began to compose this post I happened to listen to a fascinating ‘Conversations’ podcast presented by Richard Fidler (ABC) where he interviewed Miriam Lancewood author of ‘Woman in the Wilderness’ and ‘Wild at Heart’.

Miriam, along with her partner, lived in the wilderness of the South Island of New Zealand for six years. She said that one of the deeper reasons for this ‘experiment’ was to see what effects living in the wilderness had upon the mind and the body. And, would living, for a long time, away from human society transform the mind. Her observations were very interesting!

We love to camp in remote areas albeit for relatively shorter periods of time. Nonetheless Miriam’s experiences of extended time away from towns, cities, internet and people resonated with me.

On a leg of our current trip we spent 8 days at a campsite in Alice Springs in the Northern Territory while we visited friends, caught up on mail, internet business, car repairs, replenishing supplies etc. This was followed by 8 days camping at a remote waterhole on the Finke River 200 km south west of Alice Springs.

I kept a comparison list of some of the ‘happenings’ throughout each of these 8 days.

In Town;

Swimming pool to get out of the heat
Grotty showers (but the water was hot)
Flush toilets
Lots of people/tents/caravans/motor homes
Convenience of a bush kitchen with BBQ’s, toasters, hotplates and fridge/freezer
Internet and phone coverage (Spent a lot of screen timing, hateful habit)
Hearing the news
Lots of noise from roads nearby
Visiting friends
Going shopping
Children pestering to go to the shops
Children pestering to watch movies
Spending lots of money
Children making friends
Children bored
Children played in the playground.
Late nights.
Takeaways
Light pollution
Our car got broken into.

This list is not meant to be all negative. Visiting friends is great, meeting new people is refreshing, convenience is handy, hot showers feel nice, takeaway after a tiring day is a relief and a treat, finding different things for the children to see and do can be fun. The internet can be a source of entertainment and information. And some things are plain necessary like car repairs and shopping. I couldn’t swim in the pool because chlorine causes havoc to my skin.

Yet as Miriam points out in the podcast, life in civilisation is frenetic in its pace and distracting in the sense that there is little time for the boredom which brings with it the opportunity for inward reflection and creative thought. Richard Fidler notes that the smartphone and internet fill in every moment of possible downtime with the opportunity to ‘do something’.

And so we left Alice Springs at the end of 8 days like over tightened bow strings.

Out Bush;

Quiet
Private waterhole for swimming
Few, and sometimes no people
Wide horizons
No shops
No internet, phone or radio
Plenty of firewood
No light pollution
Early nights.

That’s a short list you may say. Well what does the list say?

Miriam Lancewood noted that when they first went bush they made their shelter and made it tidy, cut some wood made a meal. Then they didn’t know what to do. There was nothing else to do! They were bored! It took them 2 weeks until they slowed down to the pace of nature. They likened the process of weaning off the pace of life in civilisation to overcoming an addiction.

Once they had slowed down they became ‘in tune’ with nature and could appreciate and reflect upon the beauty and wonder of it. Miriam said that for a time they were observers of nature around them but it did not take long to change from being an observer of the natural world to actually feeling at one with the plants, animals and landscape around you.

And so it was for us at Running Waters on the Finke River.
Bed when it got dark, the stars and moon wheeling across the sky. Wake to the light and sounds of dawn. Bathe in the waterhole, read, cook over the open fire, collect wood, explore, come to know the surroundings intimately, listen to and watch the birds and swim. Spending time discovering one another.

Out bush time becomes your friend measured by the sun, moon and stars rather than a taskmaster dictating your every move. Daily life becomes a cycle, a rhythm, a heartbeat, a breathing in and a breathing out.

Like us it took the children a little while to adapt but they;

found nature ‘treasures’