Bluegum Bushcraft

13/09/2024

Holy s**tballs. THE PREMIERE BOOK LAUNCH of We Are The Stars is coming up soon. OCTOBER 1st at Bondi. It's going to be pretty special and tix are running out fast, so here's your in-the-know post before we go mainstream announcing it tomorrow.

Bondi Pavilion and Gertrude & Alice Cafe Bookstore are teaming up to co-host. Richard Morecroft, who may of you remember from the ABC news and who is a dear friend, artist, author and all round legend, will be my 'In Conversation' partner as we dive into all the juicy bookish stuff.

Just because why-the-f**k-not, we've wrangled some red carpet, a media wall and a wonderful photographer so EVERYONE can feel like a celeb. I'll be frocking up a bit but barefoot as usual. (I'll post a link to your fabulous red carpet pics later on my website.)

After the offical in person conversation with Richard, I'll do the book-signing thing, many hugs and pics and all the yumminess of that. The bar will stay open until 10pm, while wonderful Mr Mapacho DJs so we can all have a wee boogie (Thank you Adrian). Think groove, funk, bass and a view of the whales.

Once I've finished signing it's my turn to DJ! Woohoo! Get ready for some kickarse old school funk. Betcha a zillion bucks you can't help but have a dance. The balconies overlooking Bondi Beach will be our Spring evening dance floor.

There aren't many tickets left, and there's about to be a big (kinda huge)(wow) bit of book publicity dropping, which will mean this event will book out in a new york minute, so if you feel like being at the first offical We Are The Stars launch event, jump on this ticket link now, and feel free to dress up for fab pics on the mini red carpet! We'll be getting there around 530pm to mill around the bar and balconies upstairs and imbibe, theatre doors open 615pm, night finishes at 10pm.

I can't wait to see you there.
Here's the ticket link.
https://www.bondipavilion.com.au/whats_on/event/gina_chick_we_are_the_stars

PS. If you miss out on this one, next up in Sydney is Oct 11th at St Stephens Church with Better Read Than Dead in Newtown. I'll be in conversation with icon,, journo, author and Aussie media royalty Leigh Sales of Chat 10 Looks 3 Community Chat 10 Looks 3, Chatters, I'm hoping to see a few of you at this one. Can't wait to squeeze you all.

https://www.betterreadevents.com/events/gina-chick-in-conversation-with-leigh-sales-1

4Th October I'll also be in Wyong Words on the Waves Writers Festival at the Arthouse, chatting to Yael Stone who is just so wonderful I can't quite believe it... you might know her as a star of Orange Is The New Black, environmental activist and changemaker, all round incredible human.

https://www.thearthousewyong.com.au/whats-on/book-launch-with-gina-chick

Then, Melbourne peeps, we'll be at the Athenaeum Theatre with The Wheeler Centre for Books, Writing and Ideas, October 8th, and this one's a keynote. Hope to see you soon!

https://www.wheelercentre.com/events-tickets/season-2024/gina-chick-we-are-the-stars

I'll keep posting with the next batch of events as we go along. Or check out the Simon & Schuster Australia event page for dates and tix as I meander my way to wherever you are.
https://www.simonandschuster.com.au/p/Gina-Chick-Author-Tour

I'm sick of seeing my head on these posts, so here are some pics of my feet as I sign a metric f**ktonne of books at Gertrude and Alice.

I love you all. Thank you from my heart for all your incredible support. I can't wait to squeeze you and see you.

G ###x

11/09/2024

Here is the list of events in your state (more to come)
click on this link for details, bookings, etc
See you on the road, loves!
https://www.simonandschuster.com.au/p/Gina-Chick-Author-Tour

11/09/2024

HI loves.

Here are the links and details for my author tour. It's so surreal I can't quite wrap my head around the whole thing. I'll be in all the capital cities except Darwin (but I'll get there, promise), and a bunch of regional centres, with more to come.

I'm taking a huge breath right now as things are about to get completely nutso. Once this tour starts I'll be on the road for about two months, then a little break, then off again.

I'm still pinching myself that I'll be chatting with incredible humans like Yael Stone, Leigh Sales, Richard Morecroft, Clare Bowditch, , Sophie Longden, Dr Kate Grarock (Yes, that is Kate from Alone and I'm super chuffed we'll be chatting!), Sonya Feldhoff Susan Johnson, Steven Lang, Gillian Shaunessy, and Meri Fatin. What a wild and humbling ride!

So if you're in Sydney, Melbourne, Byron, Brissie, south QLD, Tassie, WA, Adelaide, Canberra, south coast NSW and you feel like coming along, I'll be diving into the deep end, talking about life, death, love, silliness, connection, transformation, 5Rhythms, conmen, Oxford St in the 90's, free range childhoods, nature, nurture and everything in between.

I'll also be signing books, giving hugs, hearing stories and loving the absolute heck out of everyone in front of me. I'll probably be in bits and tears of gratitude and overwhelm and joy and amazement. Come say hi and have a squeeze and a giggle and a dance and I'll write something lovely just for you.

Some of these events have already booked out. Others are getting close. There are still a few to come, so keep an eye out.

I really need to give a huge shout out to Anna O'Grady from Simon & Schuster, who is the MOST INCREDIBLE publicist and tour manager ever. The woman is a wizard. Also Jeanne Ryckmans of Key People Literary Management, my chaos wrangler. And Jane Palfreyman, my amazing publisher. And everyone else.

Thank you to everyone who has cheered, laughed and cried with me on this journey. I couldn't have done any of this without you.

See you on the road!

Love

Gi ###

Gina Chick Author Tour

29/08/2024

Oh my goodness. Thank you all for the amazing messages after watching me kick off my presenter training wheels on Great Australian Walks last night. Wow. Melt. Bless yoooou!!

I’m on the runway from NYC about to make the loooong trek back to Sydney, so I’ll be catching up on the show on SBS On Demand. I’m super stoked to have it to look forward to when I’m jetlagged and munted all weekend.

My inbox is overflowing with all of your screenshots and feedback and I’m so glad you loved the Mt Kozi episode! Yay. In a way this is more vulnerable than Alone, cos in Alone I could just bounce around like a frog in a sock and be a fishy-dancing worm-munching moss-toed hippie wierdo but in Walks I have to be a grown up presenter with makeup and s**t.

Anyway. From my heart. Thank you!!!

Oh yeah. This Thursday Susie Youssef (the mayor from Deadloch among other things) (absolutely genius Aussie actor and comedienne) is taking us on a walk and she’s quirky and funny and huge hearted and you’re gonna love her and possibly even have a tear or two, but I’m not going to give it away. Then the next week it’s our national bloody treasure JuliaZemiro showing Susie and I how it’s done

Just tune in Thursday SBS Australia 730. And if you havent caught my Mt Kozi episode, it’s waiting there on SBS on demand along with Julia on ep 1. Perfect antidote to doomscrolling and anxietyTV. Just sayin.

See you in the wild places, loves.

G

Ps Mint Pictures you da best.

25/08/2024

POSTCARD. My first episode of Great Australian Walks airs this Thursday at 730pm on SBS Australia. I'm so proud of it! Wheeeeeeee!
Now here's a sneaky postcard from behind the scenes to set the mood.

It's day one shooting at Bruny Island and I finally feel like I may not be a complete fraud with this whole presenting thing. I sailed into this adventure thinking, oh yes, presenting, how hard can it be? HA! How to be humbled in three minutes flat.

Holy s**tballs. There is so much that goes on so we can watch our favourite humans deliver the shows we love to watch.

I have such newfound respect for people like Julia Zemiro and Susie Youssef, who have spent decades in the industry, and make it all look completely effortless. You women are totally badass.

It isn't effortless, people!! It's a high wire juggling act complete with spinning plates whirling swords and fire twirling, and the only real safety net is the attention and care of the tireless crew assembled around the presenter, to guide and shape the project and hopefully catch them (me) if there's a fall.

So here I am, feeling like I have my feet under me. Like I'm a surfer and I'm up on the board, a bit wobbly, but the wave is behind me and I'm flying down the face and the world makes sense and everywhere is beauty. I'm at Bruny Island, which is one of the places my heart feels completely happy, so that's a huge plus. This place is stunning.

I've gotten used to not projecting my (big) voice to Toby behind the camera; instead I'm speaking conversationally to the tiny microphone nestled between my b***s (and yes, cleavage rub is a problem!).

I've managed to not walk directly to the big circular dark eye of the camera, which effectively runs Toby (who's walking backwards while filming) off the path and into god knows what hazard (sorry Toby).

There's a host of information to be imparted, but it only feels natural to me if it's in my words, so my whole journey is as a living real time Babel Fish (Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy fans, IYKYK). The blooper reel is basically a dictionary of creative swear words.

I got up at 4am this morning again to do my makeup (hilarious) and wrestle my hair into some kind of submission (even more hilarious) and iron my shirt (this show is the first time in decades I've had to remember how to use an iron).

And now, with the crew following me while I hug trees and chew bush tucker, I skip through verdant bush, deliciously barefoot, into a symphony of bird calls... until I see a guy with the kindest, most delighted smile I could imagine standing with a huge cone and a microphone, listening to the song of nature. Literally. Recording it. I may have just gone to heaven.

His name is Ramit Singal and my job is to catch his story.

I'm not going to give anything else away, other than to say I had the hugest grin and my heart melted listening to this man, who brims with delight and love of nature, and more particularly, an encyclopedic knowledge of endemic birds. I fell instantly in love with him. I think you will too. And he was just one of the people I spoke to.

Great Australian Walks, if you haven't discovered it, is one of those gorgeous gems of a show that just makes me feel... soothed.

It's deceptively simple. The presenter goes for a walk, and along the way meets locals and catches their stories. There is always an indigenous custodian to welcome us in. They paint the picture of deep time and give cultural context, sharing wisdom and an often heartbreaking story of place.

The show also delves into history and science and environment, in an organic way, as we stumble across landmarks and historical places and their concurrent events, and weave these stories into the greater walk. The people are fascinating, and the interviews are alternatively heartwarming, devastating and thought provoking, but always inspiring.

But overall, the main character is the walk itself, as Australia unfolds at walking pace, revealing the pure and nuanced majesty of this country we call home. The cinematography is breathtaking, with sweeping vistas and vast horizons, and an attention to detail that brings us across all the layers of a true walk.

For me, the true genius of the show lies in its rhythm. It's leisurely. It slows us down. The viewer has time to appreciate the view, whatever it is. Time to connect. Time to exhale. I find when I'm watching that my heartrate slows and my breathing settles, as if I am on the walk as well.

I find this show a restful antidote to the relentless push of clickbait media and bad news and doomscrolling and the general nameless existential dread that runs through so much of the content on socials, streamers and free to air. GAW is, for me, balm.

Over the next 10 weeks I'll be presenting three episodes, and I can't wait to take you with me. Come play! Kick off your shoes with me and discover bits of 'Straya you have probably never encountered.

So if you're not doing anything on Thursday night at 730pm, flick on SBS Australia and check out Great Australian Walks as I tour through Bruny Island in Tasmania for my first ep.

And if you miss it, you can always catch up on SBS On Demand. Each Thursday night, either Julia, Susie or I present an episode. Check out these two powerhouse women's walks. They are the shizzle.

Mint Pictures really pulled the bunny out of the hat with this show. This is the kind of telly that reminds me of the more beautiful world our hearts know is possible. I hope you love it as well.

Now I'm off to get my shoes off and launch into this glorious day. See you in the wild places.

Big love
G

PS
SBS Australia is an invaluable and valiant defender of community, diversity, and equality in our media. They make a stand by sharing the stories we don't get to see in mainstream media. They need our help to make sure these stories are told, so we don't end up swamped by waves of lowest-common-denominator content that may be high calorie, but are low in nourishment. And sure, we all love chocolate, but without a home cooked meal now and then, it can be hard to feel truly fed.

If you feel like sharing that love, pass this around. MWAH ###x

18/08/2024

One of my greatest teachers just passed.

Tom Brown Junior changed my life. I first went to Tom Brown Jr's Tracker School in 2008, and my trajectory changed for ever. Because of Tom I now have a life centred around rewilding, nature connection, Vision Quest and Seven Levels of Quest. Because of him, every day, a hundred times a day i ask the question, ‘what happened, and what is it teaching me?’

The ancestral skills, spiritual skills, hunter gatherer technologies and ceremonies of transformation Tom taught me are responsible for the way I walk in the world.

Without Tom I wouldn’t have had the skills to participate in Alone Australia. Because of Tom, and the journey I’ve taken since meeting him, I won. Because of Tom, our Bluegum Bushcraft Rewild Your Child camps exist. Lee and I started them over 12 years ago and they’ve touched thousands of kids, families and mentors’ lives.

Tom Brown was a mythical, controversial, outspoken, often cantankerous, always passionatete visionary who could make you quiver with one rake of thise piercingng blue eyes. He never missed a thing. He had supernatural abilities and he could bulls**t with the best of them. Part of his coyote teaching was to instil the ability to tell the difference.

I was blesed to know him outside the classroomm, where he was also soft and kind and a bit goofy. I’m really sad I’ll not see him again, but I’m glad he’s not suffering any more. The old silverback had more lives than a cat but the last decade was brutal. It was hard to see him frail and old.

Tracker School has taught and inspired tens of thousands of people and showed them how to be at home in the wild. How to trust their inner vision and wisdom. How to walk into the wilderness and find a home there. How to remember the song of the earth. Just about every primitive skills and survival school on the planet can trace its roots in some way back to Tom Brown, and through him, his teacher, a Lipan Apache he called simply Grandfather.

Tom was a tireless advocate for the earth, and taught right til the end. There is a huge outpouring of grief and respect flowing and swirling around the promitivr skills community right now, and I wish to add my voice to it.

Huge hugs and love to Celeste Brown, my beautiful friend. To the Hononinjas, my first Scout team. To Tom’s family and inner circle, and everyone at Tracker, also. To Malcolm Ringwalt and the other members of Coyote Thunder, my love at this time. To everyone who has received that Tom Brown zen stick blast at some point, I see you and grieve with you.
And to those who never met him, you will have felt the ripples of his life in some way, even if you never know why.

Tom, the world seems smaller without you in it. Travel well on your Final Walk, old friend. I’ll look for you in the wind and the clouds. And in my way, as I walk the world, I’ll be always in the lookout for your tracks. Thank you for teaching me to look through the skin of the world.

These pics are taken from one of the Tracker pages. Thanks especially Kevin Reeve for the archives.

In grief and love.
G

09/03/2024

Hello, loves.

I wrote a thing.
As always, send it forward if it sings somewhere in your bones.

Big love, always
G

International Women's Day. Every day.

02/03/2024

Sunday night 630pm check out Compass on ABC TV + iview.

I'll be having a bit of a yarn about the things you probably already know and do, but hopefully it helps spread the ripples of nature connection further into the wider world.

Big love
Gigi

Wilderness queen Gina Chick, winner of ALONE Australia, takes us deep into the world of rewilding, a growing movement in Australia. We follow a network of rewilders in Melbourne who discover ways to reconnect to nature, finding their wild hearts and nourishing their souls while living in the city. T...

20/11/2023

Honouring this beautiful bunch of humans with their big giving hearts as we celebrate their graduation as Holistic Psychotherapists!

I couldn’t have asked for a better group of students for this year’s Connection Culture Holistic Psychotherapist training.

All of them have been not only deeply committed to their clients but also profoundly committed to their own inner work and journey.
I couldn’t be prouder and I’m excited to see them deepen into the full expression of their psychotherapy gifts

Well done team ❤️

21/03/2023

Coming up on the 14th of April for the Wild and Awake online retreat, I’ll be sharing all about the emotional, psychological and spiritual aspects of ReWilding.
As well as the neuroscience of awakening, the power of storytelling and how to live your best life right now.
You can check out the whole retreat, with amazing guests speakers everyday, at the link in my bio

11/12/2022

The sky is our ceiling and glowing campfires light rapt faces, from babies to grandparents.

150 voices in three part harmony ring into the endless wilderness. Children who have grown up in our camps are now mentoring the next generation. The pristine river chuckles. Ancient cliffs encircle us in Budawang wilderness country.

For over a decade we’ve been running the Bluegum Bushcraft Rewild Your Child programme. We wanted to find out what happens in a village when two simple premises are applied.

What happens when we come together to learn to be at home in the wild as a functioning village, acting from common sense and the intent to look after each other, no matter what?
What happens in a village when everyone gets their needs met?
Everyone. Gets. Their. Needs. Met.

In our culture, answering these questions with willingness is a radical act. A decade later, we see the results in a mature village, a school without walls, a safe place for connection with nature, each other, and the mystery.

Bluegum Bushcraft pioneered rewilding family camps in Australia. Our sophisticated rewilding curriculum has provided a training ground for kids, adults and mentors all remembering how to be at home in the wild.

Come join us for our Summer camps, as a family or mentor. Jan 9-13 and Jan 16-20.
www.bluegumbushcraft.com.au

We can’t wait to see you in the wild places.

With deep gratitude and respect to the original custodians of the south coast where we run our programmes; the Yuin, Jerrinja and Dharawal people. Thank you for your wisdom and caretaking, so we can walk in your footsteps and in some small ways help more people love this amazing country.