Vale Bindon the Bushie

By Nick Underwood

We have lost a wonderful storyteller.

Peter Bindon, aka Bindon the Bushie passed away in early April at his home in Yass, NSW with his wife Nola and son Patrick by his side.

Peter was 78 and for the last 30 years had written his column, 'Bindon's Lore' in Western 4W Driver where he waxed eloquent on his favourite topics of time spent in the bush, the flora and fauna and their relationship to Aboriginal life he studied for the greater part of his. Much more than that, Peter was an academic with a towering intellect among his peers. Kicking off his career as a teacher, he soon progressed into the earthly sciences of archaeology, geology, anthropology, (spending 14 years as head of this department at the WA museum) ethnography and even Egyptology. So in demand was his knowledge and insight that Peter often lectured in Europe on that region's earliest beginnings. But his heart was in the western deserts of Western Australia where he studied the Aboriginal lifeways in the region between Wiluna and Halls Creek. Immersing himself completely in this study he learnt the language and walked the walk, resulting in books on the Nyoongar language and others on useful bush plants - the latter he put to practical use in creating his own 'survival' bush garden later in life at Yass. Survival in the bush was a skillset he also shared with the Australian Defence Forces. What we saw and loved from his writing in Western 4W Driver was his inherent love for the bush and the bushcraft imparted from his immense store of knowledge - delivered with a larrikin wit. Peter was way more than just the sum of his anecdotes but his stories told in his inimitable style will live on in our memories. Rest in peace Peter.

* In his memory we've reprinted a favourite column which we think epitomises Peter's approach to life.