'MudMaps In The Bush'
December 1995
G'Day . . .
G'Day and welcome again to 'MudMaps In the Bush'. It's now 5 years since we kicked off our business and I'm
pleased to say we've changed little of the fundamental principals we believe are essential to good touring
experiences in Australia. Small groups, great guides, interaction with local Aussies and a focus on the wonderful
'Australian bush'.
We celebrated our birthday recently with a move to new premises, the addition of a new regular guide,
additional 4WD vehicle and a new Sales & Product Manager . Needless to say we're growing strongly and
steadily. I hope you enjoy reading the latest edition of 'MudMaps In the Bush' and I wish you all a great
Christmas. Of course please feel free to drop us a fax if we can be of service.
Mark
Wildlife & the drought
The sudden increase in kangaroo numbers a few months back indicated the ending of the drought along eastern
Australia. (Roos have the ability to adapt their breeding cycles to weather patterns). Today after a
lovely wet Spring many recent MudMaps clients have enjoyed an exceptional display of wildlife. At home in their
natural environments we've had many experiences with Lyre-birds, Emus, Wombats, Wedge-Tailed Eagles and large
numbers of Roos, Wallabies, Black Cockatoos and the beautiful Parrots, Wrens, Robins and Bowerbirds of the High
Country
Overland journey features terrain variety
The east coast of Australia between Sydney and Melbourne is best known for it's wide variety of natural terrain
and landscapes yet located closely together. It is this terrain variety that provides much of the substance for
MudMaps weekly 4 day Overland Journey from Sydney to Melbourne (tour code: SM4)
Travelling south from Sydney along the coast are lovely white sandy beaches interspersed with rocky headlands
and little fishing and holiday villages. Immediately inland from the coast are small national parks and
undisturbed areas of tall, wet, sub-tropical forests before climbing up into the rugged escarpments of the Great
Dividing Range. Crossing the Divide we find the classical sheep and cattle grazing countryside. Heading south we
climb higher up to the continent's rooftop in the Australian Alps.
Here in the Alps we find the remote wilderness of high plains, bush huts, lots of wildlife and rugged 'Man From
Snowy River' mountain scenery. Crossing the Alps we're getting closer to Melbourne are discovering the famous old
19th century goldfields, gold towns and bushranger country.
MudMaps' Sydney to Melbourne 4 Day Overland Tour departs weekly for 2 people minimum with a restricted
group size of 10 people per tour leader.
New wilderness tour nearing completion
Do you have discerning clients interested in getting right away from the tourist traps? People who wish to
travel leisurely, immerse themselves in remote wilderness, experience remote and untouched natural wonders, meet
and stay with locals in quality farm homesteads or tiny out-of-the way Bed & Breakfasts? Perhaps take in some
soft adventure activities like a high country horse ride, or fly-fishing along little trout streams?
If this sounds your sort of thing then you'll really enjoy the new tour that MudMaps are developing presently.
Designed to depart daily from either Sydney or Melbourne for 2-4 people only this new soft adventure tour is
taking in the very best of the Australian Man From Snowy River country from the remote Snowy River to the
magnificent scenery from the rooftop of Australia, and wilderness picnics deep in the national parks.
An announcement of this new tour is coming soon. If you're particularly looking for something like this please
call or fax me straight away for more insights.
Stay tuned for this one in coming months
What's in a name?
There are a lot of aboriginal names used in Australia. Apart from being difficult to pronounce for many
international visitors they usually have interesting stories behind them.
Canberra:
[Kan-bra] Canberra, the name of our national capital is generally accepted as meaning 'meeting place'. Being
the meeting place of wildlife and local tribes for the summer Bogong Moth hunting season.
Uriarra:
[You-re-arra] 'Uriarra, Uriarra, Uriarra!' was the call made by the men hunters to announce to the women and
children that they were back home from their hunting expedition with a harvest of Bogong Moths.
Brindabella:
[Brin-da-bella] Brindabella, the name of a local mountain and valley is believed to stand for 'two
kangaroo-rats', a native marsupial rat in the region.
Murrumbidgee:
[Murr-am-bridge-E] The name of one of Australia's longest rivers means 'wandering water' because of it's
winding route. It's sister river the Goodradigbee [Good-ra-digby] conversely means 'straight
water'.
- Interestingly the Goodradigbee joins the Murrumbidgee at Lake Burrinjuck - which is just an
aboriginalised version of the original Barren Jack title.
Unique trips a specialty
Many of you know that any MudMaps scheduled tour has a large degree of flexibility built into it to allow for
the wide variety of customer preferences. But did you know that specially designed one-off tours are actually
about 50% of MudMaps business? To give you a bit of an idea here's a few examples of tours and proposals we've
done recently:
Alpine Bushwalk:
Day's bushwalk for 30 pax through Alpine Snow Gum forests, Herb & Heathfields, Sphagnum Bogs to a
historical mountain hut.
Farm Machinery Tour:
Day tour for Chinese government officials looking at working farm machinery, fine-wool shearing at a local
property and wildlife spotting. 8 pax.
High Country Horse Trek:
Day tour ex-Canberra taking a horse trek through wilderness mountain countryside. 17 pax.
Snowy River Expedition:
An expedition style 5 & 6 day tour from Sydney and Melbourne (separate groups) to Canberra. Tour groups
later combined for a substantial wilderness experience in the Snowy River and Snowy Mountains region. Included
horse treks and bushwalking. 12 pax.
Heli-Fishing:
Day tour fly fishing for trout in the Snowy Mountains with transport to and from Canberra via Helicopters. 14
pax
Underground Evening Tour:
A sunset tour along the foothills followed by an underground cave tour and 3 course meal in a 100 year old
historical building. 35 pax.
If we're not doing a specially designing trip for you already, then please give us a call.
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