| For all their progress into today's dazzling technology, many modern Victorians turn from it to spend their recreation hours "in the bush". From the time of our early explorers, men and women were drawn to the natural environment and walked the wild country and sea side. Then came miners, timber getters and cattlemen, and their tracks served the walkers well.
Australians did not escape the world-wide obsession to walk, the "hiking boom" of the 1930s, and clubs sprang up everywhere. The fad had hardly caught hold before it waned, but curiously, in 1934, as its popularity kept fading, eight walking clubs in Melbourne founded a Federation, to promote the activity as a reasonable form of recreation, and to lobby for political recognition. In 1939, World War 2 demanded everybody's efforts, and along with a million others, the young walkers of the country joined the Armed Forces. The Federation of Victorian Walking Clubs fell into decline, but at the Wars end, it fired up again to become the active, present-day representative of some 80 walking clubs.
Today Bushwalking Victoria (the successor to the Federation) continues to promote the benefits of bushwalking, is concerned with environmental issues essential to the survival of natural areas as a source of recreation, and maintains a strong commitment to contribute value to the community through its activities.
Our history is described in "The Scroggin Eaters: A History of Bushwalking in Victoria, to 1989" by Graeme Wheeler (1991). This book may be purchased by contacting the office.
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