Not a Bush Flaneur? The Convergent Topographies of Recreational Bushwalking, Floristic Appreciation and Human Embodiment in the Southwest of Western Australia

Abstract

Since the Romantic era in Europe, walking has shifted from an obligatory activity tied to livelihood, through mobility, to a recreational pursuit of life quality, engaging the landscape on foot. In the above quotation from the FABC, one of the earliest confederations of independent bushwalking organisations in Australia, three elements make it germane: the bushwalker, the bush itself and the appreciation of the bush. As a therapeutic get-away from the city, bushwalking is amenable to "the mind and the body" and remedies the effects of urban stressors like "hustle and bustle."