Walkabout to Wisdom

Walkabout to Wisdom by Lachlan Hughson Book

‘An uplifting and inspiring book casting a net of ideas and insights as wide and challenging as its subject – the Australian Outback.’
– James Harker-Mortlock, Australian Rural & Regional News

From the majesty of Uluru and its surrounding deserts to the rugged grandeur of the Kimberley and Pilbara landscapes, the Australian Outback inspires a deep connection with the timeless wisdom of the natural world. It is a place where this wisdom reveals itself in many ways, each day, when the walkabout soul allows themselves to be seduced by the physical and spiritual magnificence of this ancient land.

Walkabout to Wisdom, an evocative story of such a journey, reintroduces us to the essence and importance of this natural wisdom, and its inherent capacity to teach and heal. With reviews from leading Australian environmentalists and authors, and a foreword from one of Australia’s most respected songwriters, this story will leave you enchanted and enthralled so important is its heartfelt message today.

Walkabout to Wisdom by Lachlan Hughson Book

Book Chapters

CHAPTER 1Lorem Ipsum Dolor Sit Amet

This chapter explains to the reader who is undertaking the journey and why, the why being both the catalyst and the personal philosophy for the journey.

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CHAPTER 2Lorem Ipsum Dolor Sit Amet

Describes my return to Australia and to the bush, playing polocrosse and working horses. It is in this chapter the first hint of what Nature will teach becomes known.

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CHAPTERS 3-6Lorem Ipsum Dolor Sit Amet

Describes the initial part of my journey to the Northern Territory and Central Australia. It starts to introduce the mentors and kindred spirits traveling with me and how...

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CHAPTER 7Lorem Ipsum Dolor Sit Amet

Describes my time working on several QLD cattle stations, especially working wild cattle with an old Kimberly and Territory cattleman which was a unique throwback into...

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CHAPTER 8Lorem Ipsum Dolor Sit Amet

Describes my connection to the story of Anzac, from a small town in Central Queensland, and a description of Anzac Cove in the same manner of my description of the Australian bush.

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CHAPTERS 9-13Lorem Ipsum Dolor Sit Amet

Describes the resumption of my journey, after returning home for Christmas, and my travels across QLD, NT, WA and SA under Nature’s tutelage.

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6499 M

ALTITUDE HIKED

299 KM

DISTANCE COVERED

110 KG

CARBON OFFSET

707 DAYS

SPENT TREKKING

Latest News

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The Living Planet Report 2020, a joint report from the World Wildlife Fund and the Zoological Society of London, has just been released. And its results are another frustrating and tragic insight into how destructive humanity has become with respect to the Earth and its other inhabitants per the media release dated September 10, 2020....

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Will Ogilvie Program

Will Ogilvie was as fine a poet as ever graced Australia’s shores. As a Scot, with a keenly developed sense of respect and love for the natural world, he came to tell of Australia’s natural beauty and its resonance with our soul in a manner that awakened Australians to the beauty of their land. Though...

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American Book Fest 2019 “Best Book” Awards Winner and Finalist

I am excited, honoured, and humbled to announce that I have been recognized as an American Book Fest 2019 “Best Book” Awards Winner for my book, Walkabout to Wisdom – Awakening to Nature’s Teaching in the Australian Outback, in the Non-Fiction Narrative and Travel: Guides & Essays categories. Additionally, my book was recognized as a...

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Chapter 1 - Liberation

Chapter 2 - Rolling the Swag

Whether starting the day as a ringer in a stock camp, a drover in a remote part of Australia, or a traveller somewhere in the far-flung reaches of the Outback, the first act of the day is to roll your swag. A swag is not only your bed. It is your castle and wardrobe. It is often your only respite from the harsh toughness of the Australian bush. When looking for a seat to sit around the fire, your swag is that seat.

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Chapter 3 - Waltzing Matilda

There are three songs guaranteed to bring a tear to the eye and a lump to the throat of even the most nonchalant and carefree expatriate Australian: Advance Australia Fair, our national anthem; I Still Call Australia Home, Peter Allen’s call to those far from their native land; and ‘Banjo’ Paterson’s, Waltzing Matilda. To ‘waltz matilda’ is a very iconic form of travel. It means to carry your swag, to be on the road, to travel the Wallaby Track.

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Chapter 4 - Nature's Cathedral

Geology defines the character of the Australian Outback. It was the deserts, ranges, and gorges that most enticed me with their collective grandeur, and where I found my greatest connection with the country. In the ranges, in particular, the history of their creation told a fantastic story. In some places, the rocks had been twisted and buckled, their original form faulted and fractured, folded and uplifted.

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Chapter 5 - Down the Track

The expression ‘down the track’ is one of the more frequently used Australian idioms. It conjures up feelings of remoteness, of going to places where few others venture, of the dry, dusty environment that is so often the heart of Australia. Whether it refers to a time, a place, or a direction, it is as part of the everyday Australian vernacular as ‘g’day’. It is also a throwback to the days of an earlier Australia when to ‘hump the bluey’, to ‘waltz matilda’, or go down ‘the Wallaby Track’ were an accepted part of the itinerant workforce lifestyle and lexicon.

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Chapter 6 - Elixir of Life

From the beginning of time, humanity has sought the fountain of youth – a single, magical elixir for the various ailments of life from which we all suffer. Many in our society continue to look outside themselves for this wonderful, elusive potion. Many of our myths and fears hint it is something found external to our being.

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Chapter 7 - Wild Cattle

Working as a ringer on a large cattle station is a particularly Australian experience. For many overseas visitors, and coast-bound Australians for that matter, the ringer, stockman, or drover is one of the more enduring and iconic images of the Australian Outback along with that of Uluru, majestic ochre-red gorges, and a remote track leading to the spinifex-clad horizon. It may seem a romantic portrayal of a freedom previous generations once enjoyed that we no longer do.

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Chapter 8 - Anzac Day

Travelling the vastness of the Australian continent, there was one defining geological and cultural thread binding the myriad of diverse scenes together. It is to Australian society what basement rock is to the continent’s integrity. That thread is granite, marble, and sandstone; its form the plethora of war memorials lovingly built in every city and town in memory of Australia’s war dead.

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Meet The Guides

WHAT PEOPLE SAY

Walkabout to Wisdom by Lachlan Hughson arrived in a particularly busy part of my year. With my new album completed and awaiting release, and a promotional and performance tour being pieced together, I was…

Graeme Connors

Australian Country Music Songwriter, Recording and Performing Artist

From the debris of the World Trade Center and a young man’s shattered aspirations comes a story of ‘liberation’ and the power of going walkabout. From the sandy deserts, wrinkled plains, and ancient ranges…

Reg Morrison

Author – Australia: Land Beyond Time

Walkabout to Wisdom is a modern-day odyssey. From the destruction of the World Trade Center and the shock to Lachlan’s life path in its aftermath, to his seeking refuge in the Australian Outback, a…

Darrell Lewis

Author – Beyond the Big Run

This is a personal journey, physical and spiritual, searching for what makes Australia and how Australia makes Australians. It explores our most powerful and persistent traditions, the bush and Anzac. A foundation story well…

Bill Gammage

Author – The Broken Years

Lachlan Hughson has a unique way of looking at Australia’s landscape, people, and history. His storytelling draws you in like a campfire on a chilly bush night.