A bush mechanic (
Australian slang
Australian English is a major variety of the English language spoken throughout Australia. Most of the vocabulary of Australian English is shared with British English, though there are notable differences. The vocabulary of Australia is drawn fr ...
) is somebody who out of necessity and with immediately available materials, solves practical problems using sometimes untraditional and inventive techniques. Generally an inventive technique is required due to a lack of spare parts or tools required for normal repair procedures. Due to the vast distances, underdeveloped infrastructure, hostile natural environment of the Australian
outback
The Outback is a remote, vast, sparsely populated area of Australia. The Outback is more remote than Australian bush, the bush. While often envisaged as being arid, the Outback regions extend from the northern to southern Australian coastli ...
, spare parts, resources and tools may take months to be delivered to remote locations.
Examples include using a tree branch to fix a broken vehicle axle, or grass and leaves to plug a leak.
Bush mechanics may also be known as "bushies".
In media
The 2001 Australian television show ''
Bush Mechanics
''Bush Mechanics'' is a humorous 2001 television docudrama series directed by David Batty and Francis Jupurrurla Kelly and produced by the Warlpiri Media Association (now Pintubi Anmatjere Warlpiri (PAW) Media), featuring an Aboriginal Australi ...
'' displayed bush mechanic skills used by a group of
Indigenous
Indigenous may refer to:
*Indigenous peoples
*Indigenous (ecology)
In biogeography, a native species is indigenous to a given region or ecosystem if its presence in that region is the result of only local natural evolution (though often populari ...
men from
Warlpiri Country as they travelled through the rugged central region of Australia.
See also
*
Culture of Australia
Australian culture is of primarily Western culture, Western origins, and is derived from its Culture of the United Kingdom, British, Indigenous Australians, Indigenous and migrant components.
Indigenous peoples arrived as early as 60,000 years ...
*
Shadetree mechanic
''Shadetree Mechanic'' is a television series that was shown in the USA on TNN (now Paramount Network) for a total of 190 half-hour episodes, over eight seasons from October 4, 1992, to May 14, 2000. During each half-hour episode, Dave Bowman a ...
*''
Bush Mechanics
''Bush Mechanics'' is a humorous 2001 television docudrama series directed by David Batty and Francis Jupurrurla Kelly and produced by the Warlpiri Media Association (now Pintubi Anmatjere Warlpiri (PAW) Media), featuring an Aboriginal Australi ...
'', the Australian television documentary series (2001)
*''
MacGyver
Angus "Mac" MacGyver is the title character and the protagonist in the TV series ''MacGyver''. He is played by Richard Dean Anderson in the MacGyver (1985 TV series), 1985 original series. Lucas Till portrays a younger version of MacGyver in Mac ...
''
*
Bush flying
Bush flying refers to aircraft operations carried out in the bush. Bush flying involves operations in rough terrain where there are often no prepared landing strips or runways, frequently necessitating that bush planes be equipped with abnormal ...
*
Bush plane
A bush plane is a general aviation aircraft used to provide both scheduled and unscheduled passenger and flight services to remote, undeveloped areas, such as the Canadian north or bush, Alaskan tundra, the African bush, or savanna, Amazon rainf ...
References
{{reflist
External links
Bush Mechanics Site
Australian slang
Mechanics (trade)
Australian outback
Rural culture in Oceania
Aviation in Australia