THE BUSH


The Australian bush

'The bush' is a term used for rural, undeveloped land or country areas in many places, such as Australia, New Zealand, Sub-Saharan Africa, Canada, and Alaska.

Contents
Australia
New Zealand
South Africa
Alaska and Canada
Related terms
See also
Notes

Australia


In Australia the term can include agricultural areas and regional settlements, and is more than a simple urban/rural contrast definition.
The term has been used over a hundred years and has had a shifting meaning and context. There are the even more remote areas that are named the outback.
The term has a complex history - an example is the long term political tensions and rivalries between the urbanised coastal settlements and the more sparsely populated hinterland.
The panoramic view from Connors Hill, near Swifts Creek, Victoria, showing Australian bushland on the hills and cleared pasture for cattle grazing.

New Zealand


New Zealand's bush is of a different quality: densely forested land, as exemplified by the area around Lake Gunn in Fiordland

In New Zealand, the term has a more specific connotation — that of isolated, heavily forested countryside, as opposed to the open coastal plains and tussock-covered high country. ''Bush'' always refers to areas of native trees rather than exotic forests.
Areas with this type of land cover are found predominantly in the South Island, especially in the West Coast region stretching from Fiordland to Nelson, with the east coast having been deforested except for parts of Kaikoura and the Catlins. Much of Stewart Island/Rakiura is bush-covered. In the North Island, the largest areas of bush cover the main ranges stretching north-northeast from Wellington towards East Cape, notably including the Urewera Ranges, and the catchment of the Whanganui River. Significant stands remain in Northland and the ranges running south from the Coromandel Peninsula towards Ruapehu, and isolated remnants cap various volcanoes in Taranaki, the Waikato, the Bay of Plenty and the Hauraki Gulf.

South Africa


In South Africa, the term has specific connotations of rural areas which are not open veldt. Generally it refers to areas in the north of the country that would be called savanna. "Going to The Bush555" often refers to going to a game park or game reserve. Areas most commonly referred to as The Bush are the Mpumalanga and Limpopo Lowveld, The Limpopo River Valley, northern Kwa-Zulu Natal or any other similar area of wilderness.

Alaska and Canada


Main articles: The Bush (Alaska)

The Bush in Alaska is generally described as any community not "on the road system", making it accessible only by more elaborate transportation. Usage is similar in Canada; it is called ''La Brousse'' in Canadian French.

Related terms


The term "to go bush" has several similar meanings all connected with the supposed wildness of the bush. It can mean to revert to a feral nature (or to "go native"), and it can also mean to deliberately leave normal surroundings and live rough, with connotations of cutting off communication with the outside world — often as a means of evading capture or questioning by the police. The term ''bushwhacker'' is used in Australia to mean someone who spends his or her time in the bush.
Another related term used in Australia is "Sydney or the bush", which equates with such terms as "Hollywood or bust" to mean staking total success or failure on one high-risk event.[1]
[2]
In addition, some Vietnam War Veterans refer to Vietnam as "The Bush".

See also



★ Bushland

★ Outback

★ Bush tucker

★ Bushranger

★ Bush mechanic

Notes



1. ''Oxford Companion to Australian Literature'', quoted in [1]
2. ''Macquarie Dictionary Book of Australian Slang'', quoted in [2]



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