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'Occasionally I go bush with a friend, and as we walk she will—with little apparent effort—take in the lie of the land. When we break to catch our breath, or to check our ankles for leeches, or to fix an undone shoelace, she will have counted how many creeks we’ve crossed, will have noticed how the steep cliffs and undulating valleys correspond to the contours of our map. With a swivel of her head along the ridgeline, she’ll be able to establish roughly where it is we now are. As though thumbing back through the pages of a just-read chapter, she might trace with her finger the passages we’ve covered: ‘that must be that section of blue gums’ or ‘that’s back where that landslide was’ or ‘here’s when we made a turn for the east’. I, meanwhile, might have noticed globules of blood-red resin weeping from the base of a tree, or have been startled by a black cockatoo winging itself across my path and scoured the ground afterwards for its feathers … but I will mostly be oblivious. The overall shape of the land we’re passing through will remain a blur to me.' (Introduction)
Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of
- The Island Seen and Felt : Some Thoughts about Landscape 2014 single work essay
- A Place on Earth : An Anthology of Nature Writing from Australia and North America 2003 anthology essay prose
- Quicksilver 2016 single work prose
- (And So Forth) 1998 selected work short story prose criticism biography
- Travelling Light 1989 single work
- Blue Mountains, Sydney, New South Wales,