ESCAPE TO THE BUSH _ New Knife_ Bush Tucker_ Gourmet Campfire Cooking

Well I've just spotted one of my favourite bush tucker plants. It's a pretty magical place here eh? Oh man, oh that is unbelievable. Oh and he's back and he's a big boy. Well g'day legends, hope you guys are doing well. Considering all that's going on at the moment, so for those of you guys who don't know, in Sydney we've been locked down for about five weeks now. It looks like we're going to be locked down for at least another month or so. Things are getting pretty crazy out there, like some sections of the city, or pretty much half of the city to be honest, are in pretty serious lockdown where they can't leave their local government area. So unless you can work from home, there's a lot of people out there who are just out of work, so people are doing it really tough at the moment. But fortunately for me, I live on the outskirts of Sydney, and even though we're in lockdown, we're still allowed to get out there and do outdoor recreation. And considering these videos actually form a pretty significant part of my income, we're allowed to leave home to go to work. And so considering this is my work, I'm pretty fortunate I can actually get out here and continue to do it. I rang up my local police station as well as a COVID hotline just to double check, and they said that, yeah, I pretty much have it all clear to come out and continue to make these videos for the time being. Because after all, what better place to isolate than out in the bush? Pretty much the chances of me seeing anyone out here is almost slim to none. So if you're going to continue working, honestly, this is probably the best work environment. So I'm very fortunate. It's something I definitely don't take for granted, because I'm sure a lot of you guys would do anything to get out here and go camping. So something that I definitely don't take for granted, that's for sure. But how about you guys sit back for the next half an hour, put your feet up, just try and forget all the madness that's happening in the world, and yeah, just enjoy this video. So let's make our way down to the river and find a nice place or we call it a Sydney red gum as well. It has to be one of the best trees in Australia for sure. It's such a twisty gnarly tree. It's so cool. They'd make like the best kids' cubby house trees, eh? The limbs are just all over the shop. Oh, absolutely love them. Man, how cool is that? There have to be probably 20 or 30 caterpillars right there. I don't know what they're doing. If anyone knows, feel free to leave a comment below. That's pretty cool. Well, here's another one of my favorite plants. That's a guinea lily, or it's orientes excelsa. It's a really cool plant. You tend to find them in these big groves. Sometimes you'll get hundreds of guinea lilies just all clumped together. And as you can see, it's got this flower spike that it shot up and there's a big red flower at the top. It hasn't opened up yet, but when they do, it's a really big red flower. And especially when you see them in big clumps like this, when they're all flowering at once, it's quite a sight to say, hey, just all these red beacons dotted throughout the bush. It's really cool. A few little useful things about the plant that I've read before is probably the flower spike, when they sort of get to about two foot tall or something, probably you can chop them off and roast them on the fire and eat the core of the flower spike. I haven't done it before, but that's what I've read. And also the leaves of this plant are quite strappy. So they're really good to sort of process down to make cordage or dilly bags or just a bunch of other things like mats and things like that. So yeah, it's quite a useful plant, this one. Well, I've just spotted one of my favorite bush tucker plants and it looks like it's got some fruit on it, which is really cool because usually this fruit doesn't ripen until sort of the summer months. This is a Leptomeria acida or a sour cone bush, where it can also go by acid drops. So yeah, it's a really cool plant. I've shown you guys a few times before. Honestly, I didn't think I'd find any fruit, but it's got these little green fruits here and they're really sour. Man, honestly, it's like eating a warhead. It is so sour, but they're bloody delicious. And usually when it's in full fruit, the whole tree is just covered in them. There's hundreds or thousands on them. So it's a really good bit of bush tucker because it's just so numerous. I'm so stoked that this is in fruit. I absolutely love this. I've just got a handful of them here. Man, that is so sour. That's so bloody good. Well, we've got another bit of bush tucker here. It's actually right next to the sour cone bush as well, which is pretty cool. This is a jibong. I'm actually not quite sure what species of jibong this is. I think it might be a broadleaf jibong, but I'm not 100%. There's a lot of jibongs around Australia. So you usually find one pretty close to you wherever you live. But yeah, this one's actually in fruit, which is cool. But the fruit isn't ripe just yet. They tend to ripen sort of late winter, which I thought would probably be pretty ripe by now. But yeah, we're in the start of August now. I'm sorry, end of July now. So probably maybe another month or so they'll be ripe. But yeah, they usually ripen once they fall to the ground and they'll turn from a green to sort of like a darker purplish black color. And they go quite soft as well. So usually you just squeeze out the inner pulp. It's got a seed inside of it. And then the pulp is attached to the seed. You squeeze that out and chew the pulp and usually spit the seed out. And it's quite tasty. It kind of tastes a little bit like a date. It's a little bit hard to describe, but I kind of think it tastes a bit like a date. Yeah, another pretty cool bit of bush tucker. And here we've got a really good example of a grass tree or a xantharia. Now I was talking about this plant so many times in my videos, so you guys are probably sick of me talking about it, but it's probably one of the most useful plants in the Aussie bush. You can get friction fire from the flower store because you've got bush glue from the resin. There's edible portions of the leaves, so the list just goes on. It's a really useful plant. And we've got it next to a jibung and that's next to the sauerkraut bush. And then back up there you've got a Banksia serrata and the glimy lilies in the background. So just in this little section like a videographer's worst nightmare. You've got the glare from the sun and then also the sun's reflecting off the water, so it's a bit of a nightmare. But man, what a spot, eh? This is really beautiful in here. Having the water moving behind me through the rocks, such a tranquil spot. Very, very nice. So I think I might try my way around there, see if we can find a spot to set up camp. Oh, this is a pretty cool spot. Nice big sandy beach. There's also some seats and benches that people have made. There's a little fire pit as well with some firewood lying around. So a pretty good spot here. You've got access to the water right there as well. for tonight. Just sleep out in the bivy. I'm not going to worry about a tarp or anything. It's meant to stay clear all throughout the night and into tomorrow. So I don't think there's any chance of rain. So I'm pretty keen to just keep it nice and simple and just sleep in the bivy. All right, so I thought I'd quickly show you guys my new goodies I got from Mitch from Core Knife and Tool. Now Mitch made my last knife and honestly, I swear he's just getting better and better, eh? Just have a look at the leatherwork in this. The stitching, just the way it finishes off that leather, it's flawless. Honestly, probably some of the best leatherwork and knife making in Australia. Here it's got a little dangle clip, so you can attach that to your belt and be able to take the knife on and off easily. Let me pull out the knife. So this is his Bushman. It's a three mil carbon steel. It's got brass liners and brass pins, and the timber is a mallee root handle. And honestly, the grain in this is just insane. I've never seen timber so beautiful. And the way the brass liners sort of set off the timber, it's such a gorgeous knife and razor sharp as well. If you have a look at the way it sort of does the contour in the handle, it means it fits in the palm of your hand really nice and snug, so it gives you some really good grip. I absolutely love this thing. Down here, we've got a beast of a ferro rod. Undo the leather. Once again, really nice leather clip here. You can clip that onto your belt and this beast of a thing. Honestly, I think this is going to last me for the rest of my life, eh? Once again, it's got a mallee root handle. Honestly, this timber almost looks fake. So gorgeous. And lastly, down here, we've got another Swaggy Spantree. So I've got another Swaggy Spantree that holds six vials, but this one holds four. And usually, quite often, I don't need six. So four is usually more than enough for just a night or two. Inside here, we've got just some salt. These ones are empty at the moment, but I'll chuck in some duca and some Moroccan spice and things like that. A really nice handy bit of kit. Yeah. So there you go. If you guys are in the market for a really nice, quality, handmade Australian product, then definitely check out Corn Knife and Tool. Mitch is honestly one of the nicest blokes to deal with, and his work obviously speaks for itself. So definitely check him out. I'll leave a link in the description so you guys can have a gaze. Cool. So just got a little bit of duck meat here. So I've got a duck breast fillet for dinner tonight, which I'm super keen to cook up. Absolutely love duck, hey? But I figured I'm pretty sure I get eels up here, so I figured I'd bring my hand line. And I've heard... I've never caught an eel before, but I've heard they like a little bit of meat. So I figured I'd just sacrifice a little bit of my duck breast, and we'll chuck it on a hook, and we'll go see if we can catch one. But like I said, I'm not going to eat it. I just purely want to see if I can catch it. So let's go give it a shot. All right. So I've just rigged it up. So I've just got a hook with the meat, and that's running down to the sinker at the bottom. Like I said, I've never fished for eel before, so I don't really know what I'm doing, but I figured I'll give this rig set up a go. All right. Well, I guess now we just sit and wait. That is such a nice drop. I've got the Filter Hazy Pale today. Really nice beer. I pretty much love everything that Filter makes. And it sure feels nice to be back out here. It's been about maybe seven weeks since my last camp, since I was in the Pilger last, and that is a mighty long time for me. Like I was saying earlier today, definitely don't take the fact that I can get out here and still make these videos and go camping for granted. I'm very privileged and very lucky to do it. I'm sure there's a lot of people out there who would do anything to be able to get back out there and go camping and go on some decent adventures. Like I was saying, I feel very privileged. I still find it crazy though. If you told me just a couple of years ago that I'd be able to start making an income off going camping I would have laughed in your face, eh? Crazy. Such a weird world we live in. The fact that we can like just do so many different things these days. It's just not your normal nine-to-five job. It really opens up so many different doors and possibilities. Yeah, this is such a nice spot. It's such a beautiful afternoon. Not a cloud in the sky, not a breath of wind. Not too cold either. It kind of feels a bit like spring weather. Just got some birds in the distance as well. Definitely a very tranquil spot, that's for sure. Well, I've had this out for about 45 minutes now and no luck unfortunately. It's about time we go back. It's starting to get a bit cold and probably got about less than half an hour until it gets dark. So let's make a move on and go get this fire started. Well, I just saw the world's biggest huntsman spider but I'm not quite sure where he's gone. I'm sure it'll turn up sooner or later. But anyway, I think it's about time we get some grub on. So we're going to cook something a little bit different tonight. I haven't cooked in the bush before. So in here, we've just got a nice duck breast, which me and the missus only got onto eating duck probably about six months or a year ago. Absolutely love it. It's such a nice meat, like kind of taste between, cross between like a pork and a chicken. It's really good. I absolutely love it. So I'm going to cook up this duck breast and then make like a nice reduced cherry sauce. So using these cherries here, then with some tawny or port and then some balsamic vinegar as well. So I'm going to make a really nice sauce out of that. And then we just got for the veggies, got a sweet potato and just some broccolini. So first course of action is we'll get the sweet potato on. Well, Andy's back and he's a big boy. Go on mate. Out of all the places you can go, right here is not the best spot. Oh, how are you arachnophobics right now? How are you guys feeling about this? So I'm just going to add a little bit of salt to this duck. All right, so I'm just going to place this skin facing down first, just to sear off that skin and then we'll flip it over. Chuck in the broccolini as well. Oh man, that skin looks so good. Now I'm going to try my hardest to not burn anything tonight. Particularly after my last video out in the Piligot. Man, I got that many comments roasting me about how I burn my food. So I'm going to try a little bit better tonight, but no promises. I think this broccolini is about done. While that's just finishing off, I'm just going to start making the cherry sauce. Start by adding the cherries and I'll add just a little bit of butter and then just in this little flask here, I've just got some port or tawny. And then lastly, I've just got some balsamic vinegar. I reckon the duck's probably about done, so I'll take that off the heat and then finish off the sauce. Man, this is already looking so bloody good. I think I'm definitely up to level in bush cooking after this. I forgot to bring a shallot. If you bring one of those little shallot onions, you chop that up and fry that up with the sauce. It's really nice, but unfortunately, I forgot it this trip. Apart from that little bit on the end there, I think it's safe to say I didn't burn my dinner for once. Well, there you have it. Duck cooked out in the bush. That is the first for me and I'm so keen to dig into this. This looks bloody delicious. Let's see how this duck's cooked. Usually at home, when Laura, the Mrs, cooks it for us, she usually puts it into the oven after frying it off in the pan. Maybe slightly overdone, but man, it's pretty damn good. For a first attempt in a fry pan out in the bush, I'm pretty damn happy with that. Oh man, that is so nice. That is unbelievable. Well, good morning, guys. Definitely wasn't the most comfortable sleep I've ever had. It's a pretty damp night. Had a fair bit of condensation build up on the outside and on the inside of the bivvy. I think in hindsight, I probably should have had a tarp above me to try and catch that condensation, but I don't think it really would have helped with the condensation on the inside of the bivvy. Throughout the night, I just kept waking up to a pretty damp quilt. How about we get up and we'll get some brekkie in, Timmy? All right, well, unfortunately, no eel. Had the line in for probably about an hour and a half. Had one spot that moved over close to the camp as well and unfortunately, no luck. If you guys have any tips for me, feel free to leave me a comment because I'd love to try and catch an eel someday soon and maybe even cook it up as well. I'm an absolute rookie when it comes to eel fishing, so feel free to let me know what kind of bait to use, maybe what kind of day, what time of year, maybe also what kind of structure to look for as well. Any help would be much appreciated. All right, well, camp's all packed up now. I made sure I haven't left anything behind and the fire pit is well and truly out. I chucked a bunch of sand on that last night before I went to bed and it's nice and cold now, so no issues there. I think it's about time we start making our way out of here. Whoops. It's a pretty magical place here. I honestly stay for another couple more days just exploring the area. It's a really beautiful spot. But on that note, I think it's about time we wrap this one up. So as always, I want to say a big thanks to all you guys watching and hope you guys enjoyed this one, particularly everyone in Sydney or around Australia or even other parts of the world. If you guys are in lockdown, hopefully this video has given you a bit of an escape for the last half an hour and sort of put your mind in a bit of a better place. Let's cross our fingers that all these lockdowns lift soon and we can get back to some sort of normality. But in the meantime, I hope you guys all stay well and stay safe and I'll see you guys in the next one. Hooroo.