❝ When a city kid goes bush, the city, country divide is broken.
I went to visit a mate last month. [0] I've known him for years. He lives in the bush, down near the ocean, he only follows me on Facebook. We were sitting in a cafe, drinking a coffee and talking shite. He knows it's me, and commented on the number of country shots I take, but probably doesn't realise why?
It's Christmas eve, and I'm at a family gathering with my cousins. My cousin has brought along some old photos he's had blown up from negatives. They tell the story Dad used to tell me as a kid how his oldest brother after a spat with his Dad went bush. In the photo above is my Uncle. He''d decided he'd had enough working with his Dad, my grandfather and went bush.
The Renshaws are descendent from the north-east of the UK starting out as farmers then becoming soldiers and engineers. Renshaws have lived in Brunswick since the 1860's and there is this movement from the country to the city and back again that plays out a lot in our family. In the photo above is my Uncle. He's on the right with his best mate holding a snake. Bruce grew up in the city. He'd decided he'd had enough working with his Dad, my grandfather and went bush.
Bruce lived in Brunswick. Like his father. Despite this, he packed his kit and went north and worked on his mates sheep farm as a roustabout, then a shearer. I'm not sure where the property is but from the photo's you get a real sense of what the life was like.
This is where Bruce lived and worked in his youth. A place called, "The Gum".
Reference
[0] I wrote this in December 2016 so I'm talking about November 2016.
