No Beating about the Bush

Description

The dust, the flies, the dingoes are the only company, sometimes for weeks, the occasional crackle of a voice over a wireless radio from far-flung places – this was the world of Val Oldfield for 10 years when living on Australia’s infamous Birdsville Track.

A 500 kilometre stretch of gibbers, dust and sand, the Track traverses the driest part, of the driest state, of the driest continent, on earth. It is land of peril and tragedy, of colourful characters enduring friendships and of triumphs over adversity.

Val Oldfield was flung into this world as a naive newly-wed young woman from an Adelaide seaside suburb in post-war boom years of Australia. No Beating About the Bush traces her life from childhood years, when she wriggled her little toes in the sand at Semaphore beach, to her teenage years as a modern young 1950’s miss about town, to the alien environment of The Track and to Val’s years beyond.

It is the story peppered with uniquely Australian characters, the funniest of true-life tales and insights into the outback lifestyle that many could endure only through romantic notions. No Beating About the Bush is a tribute to the women who lived in the Australian Outback-in a era without modern conveniences and communications. It is the story of an ordinary woman living an extraordinary life.