Bunyeroo Gorge—one of three main gorges that run through the Heyson Range towards Lake Torrens. Walkers can enter the gorge from the Bunyeroo Valley. Various vantage points down the valley give spectacular views south to the Pound Range. Located in Flinders Ranges National Park.

bunyip—a creature of the Aboriginal Dreamtime that is said to haunt billabongs and water-holes of the Blue Mountains. According to at least one legend, the bunyip has the head of a calf and the body of a seal. Most descriptions emphasise its threat to humans and its loud, booming noises at night. European settlers searched in vain for the bunyip, and the legend has remained alive to thrill children with delight or fear. The word comes from the indigenous Wergaia language of western Victoria.

Burarra—an Aboriginal people of Arnhem Land in the Top End of the Northern Territory. The Burarra people are noted for their paintings, utilising the bark from stringybark trees. The prepared bark is painted with red and yellow paints made from ochre, white paint made from gypsum or pipeclay, and black paint made from manganese ore or charcoal. Brushes made from sticks and bark are used to apply the paint.

Burdekin—an agricultural region located approximately 100km south of the city of Townsville, Burdekin is the largest sugar-producing region in Australia. As well as being one of the largest sugar-producing areas, the Burdekin is also the mango and melon capital of Queensland. A district “Built on Liquid Gold ”—so called because the region is situated on a vast natural underground aquifer, which is artificially replenished with water from the mighty Burdekin Falls Dam. The Shire also boasts a multi-million-dollar horticultural industry, grazing and prawn farming. With more than 300 glorious, sunny days each year, miles of sandy beaches, unspoiled mangrove estuaries, unique wetlands, abundant birdlife, walking tracks and friendly country towns, the Burdekin is a wonderful place to visit. Burdekin Falls Dam is the largest dam in Queensland. Holding four times the water in Sydney Harbour, the dam is popular for fishing and sailing. The Australian College of Tropical Agriculture is located in Clare, in the heart of the Burdekin Valley.

Burdekin Dam— in the late 1980s, with the completion of the Burdekin Dam, the Burdekin River Irrigation Area was established and a large area of additional land was brought into production, with sugar cane being the dominant crop. The major secondary industry in the Burdekin is the milling of sugar cane and the manufacture of raw sugar for export. The water supply to the Burdekin River Irrigation Area is managed by Sunwater, a Queensland government-owned corporation. The North and South Burdekin Water Boards manage the water supply to the lower delta areas.

Burdekin duck—Tadorna radjah, a duck that lives in brackish waters, mudflats and mangrove swamps. Seldom seen on the water, these birds prefer the mudlands where they feed on worms, snails and insect larvae. Endemic to coastal areas of the Top End, southward to Rockhampton in northern Queensland.

Burdekin plum—Pleiogynium timorense, a native tropical rainforest tree and bush tucker fruit. The deep purple fruits must be picked several days prior to eating. Early settlers were known to bury them in the ground, which had the effect of softening them and increasing palatability, a practice that was probably acquired from Aboriginals. This close relative of the mango can be found in vine thickets, gallery rainforest and along creek beds in tropical Queensland and Papua New Guinea. Fruiting occurs in the winter months and seeds are dispersed by flying foxes and wallabies. The wood is yellow-brown, greasy, hard interlocked grain and strong. One of the most durable and valuable of the Australian timbers sought after for dance floors. Suitable for ship building, sleepers, decking, carriage and coach building.

burial poles—following the instructions of their great ancestor, Purukaparli, the Tiwi people of Bathurst and Melville Islands (off the north coast of Arnhem Land) honour the dead through the Pukumani ceremony carried out around carved and painted grave posts. Pukumani means 'tabo' and applies to the funeral ceremonies, the possessions of the deceased, the close relatives of the deceased and the gravesite. The performance of the Pukumani ceremony ensures that the spirit will find its way to the spirit world where it will dwell forever. The burial ceremony is organised by the head mourner who, along with all the other mourners, is adorned with white paint. Some of the belongings of the deceased are placed on the grave. Carvers are commissioned to carve and paint the elaborate tutini (grave posts) that are erected around the mounded grave. As many as 12 tutini are made and displayed in an area being used for the Pukumani ceremony. The Pukumani ceremony takes place two to six months after the burial and can last for a few days. Dancers circle around and through the formation of the tutini, and to mark the end of the ceremony, tunga, or painted bark baskets, are placed on top of the posts. The burial poles are gifts to please the spirits of the dead. They are placed around the grave and left to decay.

Burke, Robert O'Hara—born St Clerans, County Galway, Ireland, 1821. Died Coopers Creek, Australia, 1861. Educated at Woolwich Academy. Lieutenant in a cavalry regiment, Austrian army till 1848; Irish Mounted Constabulary 1848-53; migrated to Australia 1853; Acting Iinspector at Carlsruhe, Victoria police 1853; senior inspector, Beechworth 1854-58; superintendent of police, Castlemaine district 1858-60; led expedition to cross the continent from south to north organised by the Royal Society of Victoria and supported by the government; reached the Gulf of Carpentaria but died of starvation at Coopers Creek on the way back.

Burke and Wills expedition—funded by the Victorian government, the official reason for the journey was to find a practical route to the Gulf of Carpentaria. In fact, it was a hastily planned (though well-funded) effort to beat another expedition, sent by the rival of colony of South Australia, to look for a gold. The expedition set out from Melbourne in 1860 under the impatient leadership of Robert O’ Hara Burke together with W.J. Wills. Burke was brash, inexperienced, supremely confident and a glory-seeker. Their tale of misadventure is now deeply ingrained in Australian fokelore. Their intention was to cross the continent from coast to coast. The expedition did reach the mangrove swamps of the Gulf of Carpentaria, but when the three emanciated survivors (Burke, Wills and King) returned to base camp at Cooper Creek, they found that their companion, who had waited 4 months for them, had abandoned the camp only seven hours earlier. After rejecting the proferred assistance of local Aborigines, Burke and Wills died soon after. Only John King, cared for by the Aborigines, survived to return and tell the tale. But for 10 months after Burke and Wills set out across the continent, there had been no definite news of them. Then, late on Saturday, 2 November 1861, word finally reached Melbourne. At the time, respect for the Sabbath was such that no newspapers were published on Sundays. But recognising the importance of the story, the local Argus printed what was known as a special one-page press sheet.

Burketown—an outback township on the edge of the Gulf of Carpentaria in Far North Queensland. This small town on the flat plains of the Gulf near the Albert River is really nothing more than a school, a pub, a couple of service stations, a council office and three general stores. There seems to have been no real boom period in the town's history; it currently has a population of 235, which is about as high as it has ever been. The first Europeans into the area were Burke, who is the source of the town's name, and Wills. They reached the coast near Normanton in 1861. Burketown was established in 1865, laying the foundation for war with the indigenous Kalkadoon tribe. Located 418km north of Mount Isa.

burny burny—Diuris pardina, the tuberous root of the Leopold orchid, used as bush tucker. Also known to the Western District clans as the 'bat-faced' orchid.

burr up—become angry.

Burra—it was the two significant discoveries of ore in 1845 by shepherd William Streair and later Thomas Pickett which quickly turned this sheep grazing area into such a significant copper mining area. Collectively known as 'The Burra' the area consisted of several townships, including the South Australian Mining Association company town Kooringa. The lode, though initially rich in ore lasted only some 32 years. In its lifetime the mine produced ore then worth £5 million. In the 1850s much of the mining labour scrambled to the lure of gold at the new fields in Victoria. In 1877 through diminishing production and a rising water table, the mining interests were abandoned and the mine closed. Burra was declared a State Heritage area in 1993.

Burraba Burraba—an Aboriginal people from the State of Victoria, and their language group.

Burragorang Valley—from the Aboriginal words burru, meaning 'kangaroo' (or booroon, 'small animal') and gang, meaning 'hunting'. First discovered in 1798 by the explorers Wilson, Bass and Knight. But it was not until the time of Governor Macquarie, when the inland was opened up for settlement, that Burragorang became renowned as an idyllic valley. A township grew up in the valley (Burragorang) in 1833. Later in the century Burragorang was a major coal mining area. In 1878 the Nattai Mining Company was established, which took 1000 tons of coal out of mines in the face of the valley wall up to 1896. When the seam ran out a small but rich deposit of silver and lead was mined up until 1927. In the 1960s the valley was dammed and Lake Burragorang created. The villagers and farmers were evacuated and the once fertile valley, its dwellings and town, now lie beneath the waters of the lake. The entire area is now a national park.

burrawang—any of several plants of the genera Macrozamia, especially Macrozamia communis, which bears pineapple-like cones yielding nuts. Sometimes called the burranwang palm because of its palm-like fronds, this is a more ancient form of plant known as a cycad. Once an important food source for Aborigines.

Burrowa-Pine National Park—a rocky, remote and highly scenic area that consists of two blocks containing very different types of vegetation. Pine Mountain, one of Australia's largest monoliths, has rugged terrain and a dry climate that supports many rare plants. Mount Burrowa is a 1300 metre-high, heavily timbered plateau with steep spurs. There are 180 bird species, including lyrebirds, as well as wombats, kangaroos and wallabies. The walk to Bluff Falls follows Bluff Creek as it winds past magnificent blue gums, peppermints, alpine ash and colourful wattles. As the track emerges from the deep and sheltered valley, a dramatic view of the falls comes suddenly in to view. This 18 095ha park is located in the Snowy Mountains region of Victoria, between the Murray Valley Highway and the Murray River.

burrowing bettong—Bettongia lesueur, the only macropod to make and live in a warren. It regularly uses a burrow, which can have up to 120 entrances. Found in rocky grasslands and shrublands, it was once widespread on mainland Australia, where it is now extinct in the wild. Survives on islands off the western coast. Having had one of the largest ranges of any Australian mammal, covering all states except Queensland, it has suffered one of the most dramatic declines. It now only occurs on four islands off Shark Bay and the Pilbara coast of WA, particularly Barrow Island. Also known as boodie or boodie rat.

burrowing freshwater crayfish—(see: freshwater yabby).

burrowing frogs—frogs of the savannah lands that survive dry periods by burrowing into moist mud. Using hard, shovel-shaped structures on their feet, they burrow backwards, then shed the outer layers of dead skin to form a cocoon around themselves. This hardens, functioning like a plastic bag to reduce evaporation. These frogs may be entombed half a metre or more beneath mud which has hardened to the consistency of a brick. Only very heavy rainfall – producing suitable conditions for breeding as well as burrowing out – will rouse the somnolent frog.

Burrup Peninsula—the largest indigenous collection of Aboriginal art in Australia. There are more than 10 000 petroglyphs (rock paintings). Located a few kilometres from the town of Dampier in Western Australia.

bursaria—a common plant of several species with an abundance of common names. These include Christmas bush and sweet bursaria, blackthorn and prickly box. The latter two names were initially used by the early graziers, who were frustrated by its persistence in snagging the wool of passing sheep or bloodying browsing cattle with its sharp spines. The name "native box" relates to colonial pastoralists using it as a hedging plant. And "boxwood" was applied to small tree specimens with an attractive box-like bark. Endemic to southern Australia.

Burt Plain—plains and low rocky ranges of Pre-Cambrian granites with mulga and other acacia woodlands on red earths.

Burton, Edmund—(1849-1920) federationist, Australia's first Prime Minister, and High Court judge. Attended the Constitutional Convention (1891), becoming one of four men chosen to draft the Constitution Bill. Became both the leader and chairman of the Constitutional Committee at the Second Federation Convention, 1897. Led a delegation to Britain to witness the passing of the Australian Constitution at Westminster, 1899. Commissioned by Lord Hopetoun to become Australia’s first Prime Minister on December 24th 1900. In 1903, he resigned from Parliament and was appointed to the High Court.

Burton's legless lizard—Lialis burtonis is easily distinguished from snakes and other legless lizards by its remarkably elongate snout. It feeds largely on skinks, and can be active by day or night.

Burtonia scabra—Gompholobium scabrum, aka painted lady—a native legume and wildflower of Western Australia. truly delightful compact shrub that grows up to 1m tall with heath-like foliage. At flowering time plants are covered with beautiful, lilac, pea-like flowers.

bush—1. rural as opposed to urban life; the country as opposed to the town. 2. (in Aboriginal English) traditional or Aboriginal as opposed to European.

bush ballad—a folk-song of the bush.

bush balladeer—one who composes bush ballads; Banjo Patterson is arguably Australia's most popular bush balladeer, rivalled by Henry Lawson and Breaker Morant.

bush band—Australian folk music group, characterised by instruments such as a tea-chest bass, violin, accordion and lagerphone.

bush bash—1. originally, to flatten the bush so as to clear the way for a path, farming land, etc. 2. to drive a vehicle through virgin bush (aka, scrub-bash). 3. an outback car rally.

bush bashing—the practice of taking a (usually stolen) vehicle into the bush and smashing into rocks, etc until it is destroyed.

bush block—a block of land in bushland.

bush bread—damper.

Bush Brother—an Anglican missionary providing a peripatetic ministry in the bush.

bush capital—Canberra.

bush carpenter—unqualified, amateur carpenter whose work is rough.

bush cattle—cattle which have escaped and "gone bush"; wild cattle, descended from escaped cattle.

bush cure—a household remedy.

bush fire—Australia is known to have some of the worst bush fires (wildfires) in the world. Bush fires in Australia spread as a thin front of flame, with flames usually about as thick as they are high. By world standards, Australia has a fairly low and very unreliable rainfall, and droughts are a significant feature of the Australian climate. Because Australia spans a large range of latitudes, from tropical to temperate, these weather systems work differently in different regions of the country. Each part of Australia has its own special combination of weather systems that produces severe bushfire conditions, but in all cases these conditions result from hot, dry winds blowing from Australia's central arid region. Most bush fires occur during the Bush Fire Danger Period from October 1 to March 31 each year.

bush fly—Musca vetustissima, the most common fly of the outback region, introduced from Timor in the 1890s.bush food—traditional Aboriginal food, especially if caught or collected in traditional fashion.bush hay—hay from native grasses.bush house—a garden shelter, similar to the glasshouse in design but shrouded in cooling shadecloth rather than enclosed with heat-trapping glass.bush lawyer—1.originally, an unqualified person who dispensed legal advice. 2. a person who gives opinions, but is not qualified to do so. 3. any of several prickly, trailing plants of the genus Rubus cissoides.bush medicine—traditional Aboriginal medicine or methods of healing.bush mile—a roughly estimated mile, considered to take into account the bends and hills encountered—usually arduous and underestimated.bush name—an Aboriginal language name.bush oak—(see: forest oak).bush oyster—a boiled bull's testicle; these were eaten following the cutting (castration) of a bull, by men in remote areas.bush poetry—defined by the Australian Bush Poets Association as "poetry having good rhyme and meter, written about Australia, Australians and the Australian way of life." Australian Bush Verse has been written since settlement of Australia. Whilst there are many well known purveyors of the art, such as "Banjo" Paterson, Henry Lawson etc, the numbers of their poems pale into insignificance compared with what has been written by ordinary, everyday people in stock camps, on droving trips, in pubs and, no doubt, the ubiquitous dunny. The language is often colourful, reflecting the vernacular of the bush.bush verse—(see: bush poetry).bush ranger—(see: bushranger).bush rat—Rattus fuscipe, the Australian native rat, has the typical yellow rodent incisors in both upper and lower jaws. However, it is smaller and more shy than the European rat, and it lacks both the elongate muzzle and the typical rat-like tail. Mouse-like in appearance as well as behaviour, it has a long, soft fur coat, brownish above and often with a russet tinge across the back of its neck. The belly is a soft grey colour. They live in a wide range of habitats, from coastal scrub to woodland and rainforest, where they may burrow in soft soil or use rock crevices and fallen timber for shelter. Their food varies seasonally and includes fruit, seeds, other plant tissues and some invertebrates such as arthropods. Found along Australia 's east coast in rainforest, dense vegetation and along the edges of creeks and building footings. They are especially common in south-east Queensland's D'Aguilar Range, coastal areas of South Australia and southern parts of Western Australia and Tasmania.bush sickness—a disease of animals due to a lack of cobalt in the soil.bush stone-curlew—during the day they sit quietly among the bushes, ducking as you come closer, pretending to be a bit of wood. At night they come alive, and their chorus of wails and whistles becomes loud, and goes on all night. Characteristic running gait with knees bent and head low. Call is a plaintive kerloo heard in the evening. Length: 53cm. Burhinus grallarius once lived in a large area of the Australian mainland, only being absent from the arid interior, the far south-east and the south coast. Now an endangered species, and thought to be nearing extinction.bush telegraph—1. the town gossip 2. the informal but rapid dissemination of ibushman—1. one skilled and experience in travelling through bush country. 2. one who lives in the country. 3. an unskilled rural labourer.bushman's clock—kookaburra.

bushranger—one who engages in armed robbery, escaping into, or living in, the bush in the manner of an outlaw. The convict system spawned the earliest bushrangers. They were mainly prisoners in Van Diemens Land who had been provided with guns to hunt kangaroos and who decided to escape, form gangs and take their chances in the bush. The bushrangers of the 'gold rush' era were active around the goldfields areas of the Great Dividing Range—between Stawell and Ballarat in the south, and to near Albury and Wangaratta in the north of Victoria. Some came from Tasmania and were ex-convicts transported to Port Arthur, but many were just unfortunate victims of hard economic times who took to the roads as an easy way to exist. Many were born in the bush and had an expert knowledge of horses and firearms, and the plains and mountain ranges they roamed in search of fortune and adventure. They had little regard for authority and no sympathy for weakness. They next turned to the easier business of stealing gold as it was transported from the diggings to the major cities of Sydney and Melbourne. It became dangerous to travel the roads around the diggings and even well-armed parties were under threat if it was known they were carrying bullion. While few of the bushrangers ever achieved the riches to enable them to escape their circumstances, many gained notoriety, and some even achieved the status of folk heroes. Sections of the poorer classes in Australia identified with the bushrangers's contempt for authority. Many of the bushrangers curried favour with these battlers to enhance their own perceived prestige and give credence to their lawlessness. The names of Ben Hall, Ned Kelly, Frank Gardiner, 'Mad Dan' Morgan, Johnny Dunn, Johnny Vane, Martin Cash, and the Gilbert brothers are names indelibly linked with the rich, colourful and dangerous history of the gold rush.

bushranging—defined somewhat loosely as “the artful dodge of relieving travellers of their jewels, cash and other encumbrances”. Many an old lag, as well as poor settlers, came to the “conclusion” that gold need not necessarily be dug from the ground. It was easier to get the gold after it had been mined, i.e. rob them. The proceeds from bailing up a stagecoach or gold wagon could be good and the work was a lot cleaner than digging in the mud. From the time bushrangers first appeared on the scene, they were often sheltered by the rural poor, many of whom were Irish immigrants or the descendants of political transportees. They harboured strong republican sentiments, and regarded some of the outlaws as rebels against the same enemy, i.e. the Protestant English landlords and authorities. These colonial highwaymen often had names as colourful as their reputations, e.g. “Black Caesar”, “Captain Thunderbolt”, “the Jewboy Gang” etc. One of them was “Gentleman Matt” Cash – an ancestor of Aussie tennis champion Pat Cash. There was even one Chinese bushranger named San Poo. In the 1860s, the most famous of the bushrangers (before the coming of Ned Kelly) were Ben Hall, Frank Gardiner and John Gilbert. Well-armed and superbly mounted on great horses (often on stolen race horses), they pulled off audacious raids. In 1864, Hall’s “Gang of Three”, working the Sydney-Melbourne road, rounded 60 travellers at once.

bushwalk—a walk in the bush; hiking.

bushwhack—1. clear woods and bush country. 2. live or travel in bush country.

bushwhacker—1. a person who clears woods and bush country. 2. a person who lives or travels in bush country.

business ground—an Aboriginal ceremonial site.

busk—perform (esp. music) for voluntary donations, usually in the street or in subways.

busker—one who busks.

busman's holiday—leisure time spent doing the same thing as one does during working hours.

buster—a strong wind.

but and ben—(Scot.) a two-roomed cottage consisting of an outer room or kitchen (but) and an inner room (ben); now used chiefly as a quaint term for basic holiday accommodations.

but me no buts—do not raise objections.

butcherbird—although the distributions of pied butcherbirds and grey butcherbirds overlap, the territories of groups of the two species do not; pied/grey territory boundaries are aggressively defended by the grey butcherbirds; otherwise pied butcherbirds nest in the same area and sometimes in the same trees as torresian crows, Australian magpies, noisy miners, and a shrike of the genus Lanius. 2. any of several Australian magpies of the genus Cracticus that impale their prey on thorns.

butchers (hook)—1. (rhyming slang) look. 2. (rhyming slang) crook.

butterfish—1. a good food fish which must be handled carefully as the dorsal spines can inflict a venomous sting that is very painful, though not fatal; endemic to the waters around Queensland and the Northern Territory. 2. any of several Australian fish, especially mulloway. 3. Gunnel.

butterfly bush—Petalostylis cassioides, a small shrub native to Alice Springs, NT. Feathery-leaved with attractive large yellow flowers over most of the year—the common name refers to these flowers. It is used as a traditional Aboriginal medicine.

button quail—Excalfactoria chinensis, a diminutive bird, the male averaging about 4½ inches and the female slightly larger at about 5 inches. The male is more colourful than the female and has a black and white bib that runs under its chin. It is entirely terrestrial and spends much of its time uncovering food items from leaf litter by scratching in typically circular patterns. Some individuals (particularly the young) are nomadic whereas others are sedentary. It is invariably secretive, shunning any open areas.

buttongrass—Gymnoschoenus sphaerocephalus, the dominant component of Tasmanian moorlands. The spherical hummocks of heathy sedge form the most fire tolerant of Tasmania's plant communities, as fire is essential for their continued existence. This vegetation occurs on very acid peat soils, which are among the most nutrient-poor in the world. Nutrients are slow to accumulate due to the high frequency of fires within buttongrass moorlands. Over 150 vascular plant species fom a diverse range of families that are found in buttongrass moorlands, and one-third of these are endemic to Tasmania. Buttongrass moorlands are extensive throughout the Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area.

butty—(hist.) 1. a middleman negotiating between a mine-owner and the miners. 2. a barge or other craft towed by another.

butty-gang—a gang of men contracted to work on a large job and sharing the profits equally.

buy back the farm—a slogan referring to the redemption of Australian lands and companies from overseas investors.

buzz around like a blue-arsed fly—behave in a frenzied, hurried, erratic, harassed manner.

by half—1. short form for 'by half as much again', i.e., one and one-half times as much; 2. too much: e.g., He's too cheeky by half.

by-election—an election held between general elections to fill a seat left vacant because a Member has resigned, been expelled, or died during a government's term of office.

by-law—a regulation made by a local government body (or, in strata title, by a body corporate) governing conduct in their area.

by-yu nut—the seed of Macrozamia riedlei, a cycad of Western Australia, a once-popular kind of bush tucker.

bye—(cricket) a run scored from a ball that passes the batsman without being hit.

BYO—a restaurant which is licensed to allow patrons to drink their own alcohol on the premises: short for 'bring your own'.BYOG—bring your own grog; often appended to invitations to parties and celebrations (equivalent to the American BYOB).

Byron Bay—Aboriginals came to the meeting place—cavvanbah. Captain Cook sailed past in May 1770 and named it Cape Byron (New South Wales) as a tribute to Admiral Byron. Master of HMAS Rainbow, William Johns, mapped the bay and its three rocks in 1828. Cedar cutters made occasional camps at the bay and logs were shipped from Tallow Beach. At Palm Valley under the Cape, David Jarman had a half-way house for those travelling the beaches from Ballina to Brunswick. The village of Cavvanbah was surveyed in 1884 and in December 1885, 200 lots were sold in the first speculative land sale. The land sales, building of the jetty in 1886, and opening of the railway in 1894 (when the village of Cavvanbah became Byron Bay), set the scene for growth. The whaling industry in Byron Bay had a short life. In July 1954, the first whale was taken for Mr Anderson's Byron Bay Whaling Co. By 1962 another of the Bay's industries had gone. For most of its history Byron Bay has been a working man's town. It's only since the factories have closed, and the many social and economic changes of our nation have created the time and the money to spare, that Byron Bay has become a playground.

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