Australia
Sweet ‘White Berry Bush’ fruits
Synonyms White Berry bush, Snowball bush (Eng.); Witbessiesbos (Afrikaans); Chinese waterberry (China), Goowal (Yawuru Australia); Flueggea virosa (Lat.) – Flügge was a German botanist, and virosa means poisonous or having a bad odor. Distribution Figure on the right: © National…
Australian Firesaws
Firesaws are nowadays only known as a traditional fire making method at Pacific Islands. In Australia these methods were replaced by friction fire hand drills and later – under Western influences – by bow drills. Nevertheless, fire sawing is an…
Bow drilling in Australia by Gordon Dedman
At the Global Bushcraft Symposium 2022 in the UK, Gordon Dedman presented the bow drilling technique he is teaching in Australia. It is assumed that readers know the basics of bow drill friction fire lighting and I therefore will only…
Hand drill friction fire lighting in Australia
At the Global Bushcraft Symposium 2022 in the UK, Gordon Dedman presented the hand drill friction fire lighting method he is teaching in Australia. As most readers of this topic will know the basic techniques of hand drill friction fire…
Australian friction-fire woods 1
At the Global Bushcraft Symposium 2022 in the UK, Gordon Dedman presented a variety of types of Australian friction-fire wood, which are well suited for friction-fire lighting methods and for tinder. The signature friction-fire method, which was exclusively used for…
Spear shafts from grass tree stalks
Grass trees (Xanthorrhoea) and grass tree stalks are endemic to Australia and are locally called ‘Black Boys’ due to their appearance after bush fires. They need a certain number of regular fires for their survival and are well protected against…
Spinifex grass – friend and foe
The common name ‘Spinifex grass’ is not fully correct as a botanical term for discussed grasses, as commonly named ‘Spinifex’ grasses belong to the genus ‘Triodia’, whereas the genus ‘Spinifex’ itself contains mainly coastal grasses. Whatever it is, the common…
Spotting a magnificent sand monitor (Goanna)
Description of Goannas The Australian sand monitor (Varanus gouldii) is also called Gould’s monitor or colloquially ‘Goanna’. There are two different subspecies: Varanus gouldii gouldii and Varanus gouldii flavirufus (which is a smaller sized subspecies). V. gouldii gouldii is distributed…
Eating a sand monitor lizard (Goanna)
In the former blog I described seeing a majestic sand monitor lizard very close by on my drive from Menzies to Sandstone on a side road. Driving further on I was surprised to see many more Goannas left and right…
Ant hills for building material
Although they are commonly referred to as “Ant hills,” particularly in Australia, the structures in question are actually “Termite hills.” Despite their physical similarities to ants, termites are actually related to cockroaches rather than ants. However, like ants, they are…