Australia has a vast interior, with great tracts of land opened up by resilient settlers who tamed a formidable environment without the benefits of today’s technology. Not only were these settlers embarking on a new life, starting a new business and learning the intricacies of an isolated frontier; they also had to create homes with raw, locally sourced materials. The idea of cutting a swathe through the bush, of literally carving out a place in the world, is very much what our pioneers did during the settlement of Australia.

As The Bark Cutters traces four generations of the Gordon family and shows the settlement of a remote station, Wangallon, I wanted a title for my book that literally described their determination.
When it came to building a home early landowners needed to be versatile. Depending on your region buildings could be constructed of rocks or sandstone or even built underground. Pise`walls, a concoction of mud and straw/grass bricks waterproofed with whitewash was a popular material that has proved long lasting. Floors ranged from stamped dirt to timber, and sappy green boughs for a roof, with a drape of material for a ceiling was not uncommon.

In many areas trees were chopped down, de-barked and cut into lengths before being carted by wagon to the homestead site. Local timber provided material for house frames, walls, drays; innumerable uses. To this day many bush homes still have the tongue and groove timber walls selected, cut and built by the original owner. Hence, The Bark Cutters.