BUSH NEAR WARBURTON

"The bush" is a term used for rural, undeveloped land or country areas in Australia. The term is iconic in Australia. In reference to the landscape, "bush" refers to any sparsely inhabited region regardless of vegetation. The bush in this sense was something that was uniquely Australian and very different from the green European landscapes familiar to many new immigrants.

"The Bush" also refers to any populated region outside of the major metropolitan areas, including mining and agricultural areas. Consequently it is not unusual to have a mining town in the desert such as Port Hedland (Pop. 14,000) referred to as "The bush" within the media.

The bush was revered as a source of national ideals by the likes of poets Henry Lawson and Banjo Paterson, and contemporaneous painters in the Heidelberg School, namely Tom Roberts, Arthur Streeton and Frederick McCubbin. Romanticising the bush in this way was a big step forward for Australians in their steps towards self-identity. The legacy is a folklore rich in the spirit of the bush. The term bush is also affixed to any number of other entities or activities to describe their rural, country or folk nature, e.g. "Bush Cricket", "Bush Music", etc.

The last image is an iconic portrayal of the bush by 19th century Australian artist Frederick McCubbin (1855 – 1917). It is the triptych "The Pioneer" (1904). The painting is part of the National Gallery of Victoria's Australian art collection and exhibited in the Ian Potter Centre in Federation Square in Melbourne.

HAPPY AUSTRALIA DAY!

This post is part of the Scenic Weekends meme,

and also part of the Friday Greens meme.